Monvero guide · 2026
Buying property in DubaiBuying property in Dubai from Hungary
In Dubai's designated freehold areas a foreign buyer can own property outright, with no local company, address or residence visa. This guide takes you through buying a ready home and an off-plan one, the fees, moving the money, and what comes after handover.
- 02Budget, purpose and moving the money
- 03Ready and off-plan, step by step
- 04Buying costs, worked through
- 05Yearly costs and net yield
- 06Checklist
- 07After handover, and contacts
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Buying property in Dubai
01 · Preparation
Budget, purpose and moving the money
Before you look at homes, decide what the property is for: long-term letting, holiday letting, your own use, or the Golden Visa. That decides the area, the size, and whether a ready or off-plan home suits you.
4%DLD transfer fee on the price
2% + VATtypical agency fee on a ready home
6–7%extra costs on a ready home, cash purchase
AED 55,000cash payments above this must be reported
The currency
The dirham is pegged to the US dollar at 1 USD = 3.6725 AED, so your real exposure is to the forint–dollar rate. In the twelve months to October 2026 one dirham moved between roughly 82 and 94 forints, so an AED 1.1 million home would have cost between about HUF 90 and 103 million depending on when you converted.
Rules we follow ourselves
- Transfer, don't carry cash. Agents must report property deals where AED 55,000 or more is paid in cash.
- Prepare proof of funds: salary, a property sale, savings, dividends. A tidy file saves days.
- Compare conversion costs. On a HUF 90 million sum the gap between a bank and a currency specialist can run to several hundred thousand forints.
- Plan off-plan instalments ahead, so a single day's rate doesn't decide everything.
- Pay only into the account named in the contract: for off-plan, the project's escrow account. Never send the price to a private person's account.
A new account number by email? Stop. If anyone sends "updated" bank details, check by phone on a number you already know before you pay.
monveroestates.com · +36 70 603 33332 / 7
Buying property in Dubai
02 · Process
Ready and off-plan, step by step
Ready home, resale
- Form F (MOU)
RERA's standard sale agreement: price, deadline, conditions.
- Security deposit
Typically 10% of the price, held until transfer.
- Developer NOC
Confirms nothing is owed. AED 500–5,000, usually paid by the seller.
- With a mortgage
Valuation and final loan offer.
- Transfer at the trustee office
Price, 4% DLD fee, trustee fee; the new title deed is usually issued the same day.
Off-plan, from the developer
- Reservation
Booking form and booking deposit.
- Sign the SPA
Have it checked first: payment plan, completion date and grace period, delay terms, resale terms.
- Oqood registration
Entry in DLD's interim register; the 4% DLD fee is due now.
- Instalments
Into the project's escrow account, on schedule.
- Handover
Final payment, independent snagging, keys, final title deed.
| Step | Ready | Off-plan |
|---|
| First binding document | Form F (MOU) | Booking form, then SPA |
| First payment | Approx. 10% deposit | Booking deposit, then 10–20% first instalment |
| 4% DLD fee due | At transfer | At Oqood registration |
| Where you pay | Via the trustee office to the seller | Into the project escrow account |
| Title deed | On transfer day | After handover and full payment |
Do you need to fly out? Not necessarily. Many off-plan projects can be bought fully remotely. For a ready-home transfer you attend or give power of attorney: one made in Hungary must be signed before a notary, legalised and translated into Arabic, which can take weeks.
monveroestates.com · +36 70 603 33333 / 7
Buying property in Dubai
03 · Buying costs
Buying costs, worked through
A one-bed, 750 sq ft (about 70 m²) ready apartment in Jumeirah Village Circle for AED 1,100,000, paid in cash. Property Monitor data for January–June 2026 put the average here at about AED 1,510 per sq ft. At an indicative HUF 90 per dirham that's roughly HUF 99 million.
| Item | Basis | AED |
|---|
| DLD transfer fee | 4% of the price | 44,000 |
| Trustee office fee | AED 4,000 + 5% VAT | 4,200 |
| DLD admin, title deed | approx., itemised | 1,000 |
| Agency fee | 2% + 5% VAT | 23,100 |
| Total | approx. 6.6% of the price | 72,300 |
| DEWA deposit | refundable | 2,000 |
The total outlay is about AED 1,172,300, roughly HUF 105.5 million.
With a mortgage
Non-resident mortgages typically cover 50–65% of the price. On an AED 550,000 loan:
| Mortgage registration at DLD | 0.25% of the loan + AED 290 | approx. 1,700 |
| Valuation | AED 2,500–3,500 + VAT | 2,600–3,700 |
| Bank arrangement fee | up to 1% + VAT | up to 5,800 |
| Together | | approx. 10,000–11,000 |
Off-plan there is no agency fee, but the 4% DLD fee is due at Oqood registration, at the very start. With a 20% first instalment on AED 1.1 million, you pay about AED 220,000 plus AED 44,000 DLD fee on signing.
monveroestates.com · +36 70 603 33334 / 7
Buying property in Dubai
04 · Owning and yield
Yearly costs and net yield
Dubai has no annual property tax, and an individual's rental income is not subject to local personal income tax. Even so, a good share of the rent goes on service charges, management and empty weeks.
| Yearly item | What it means |
|---|
| Service charge | Per sq ft per year, approved by RERA. In JVC AED 15–20/sq ft is typical (DLD, 2025–2026). In the example 750 × 16 = AED 12,000. |
| Cooling (chiller) | Included in the service charge in some buildings, billed separately in others. Ask before you buy. |
| Management | Typically 5–8% of gross rent for long-term letting. |
| Vacancy | To be cautious we allow one month a year. |
| Upkeep, insurance | Insurance about AED 500–1,800 a year; with repairs we budget AED 3,000. |
| AED a year | Base case | Cautious case |
|---|
| Annual rent | 79,000 | 72,000 |
| Service charge | −12,000 | −12,000 |
| Management (5%) | −3,950 | −3,600 |
| Vacancy (1 month) | −6,583 | −6,000 |
| Upkeep, insurance | −3,000 | −3,000 |
| Net income | 53,467 | 47,400 |
| Net yield on total outlay | 4.6% | 4.0% |
| Gross yield on the price | 7.2% | 6.5% |
Rent: Bayut H1 2026 report (one-bed in JVC). Per Cushman & Wakefield, average rents fell 6% in Q2 2026 compared with the previous quarter.
In short: around 7% gross is realistic for a well-chosen JVC apartment, but what you keep is closer to 4–5% net, and that is before any Hungarian tax.
monveroestates.com · +36 70 603 33335 / 7
Buying property in Dubai
05 · Checklist
Checklist before you buy
Agent and property
| Agent's RERA registration checked in the DLD app |
| Ready home: copy of the title deed |
| The building's approved service charge in DLD's service charge index |
| Tenanted? Lease and its Ejari registration |
| Cooling: included in the service charge or a separate provider? |
Off-plan project
| Project registration, progress and escrow account in the Dubai REST app |
| SPA: payment plan, completion date and grace period, delay terms |
| Any discount, fee waiver or furniture pack is written into the contract |
Money and paperwork
| Proof of funds ready |
| Several currency conversion quotes compared |
| With a mortgage: bank pre-approval before Form F |
| Power of attorney started in time if you won't travel |
| The 6–7% extra costs are in the budget |
Common mistakes
- Paying a booking deposit before checks. After a "today only" offer it's hard to say no.
- Verbal promises. A guaranteed rent or fee waiver only counts if it's in the contract.
- Finding out the service charge later. It's public and takes a minute to check.
monveroestates.com · +36 70 603 33336 / 7
Buying property in Dubai
06 · After handover
After handover
- DEWA: put electricity and water in your name, with a refundable deposit of about AED 2,000 for an apartment.
- Service charge: paid quarterly or yearly to the building manager.
- Long-term letting: the lease must be registered in Ejari. For a sitting tenant, rent can only rise in line with DLD's rental index and with at least 90 days' notice.
- Holiday letting: needs a DET permit (AED 370 a year up to one bedroom).
- Hungarian tax: whether Dubai rent is taxable at home depends on the treaty and your situation. Get individual advice.
What we see most: delays rarely come from the authorities. They come from paperwork: missing proof of funds, a power of attorney legalised too late, a NOC requested at the last minute. Start these alongside the property search.
Who we are
Monvero Estates is a Budapest agency working with partners in Dubai. We guide you in Hungarian or English from shortlist to keys, with our own legal adviser.
Urbán Rékafounder, lead advisor
Zelina Grétaproperty advisor
Dr. Gősi Georginalegal advisor
Online calculator for full cost and yield: monveroestates.com/en/calculators.html
Sources: Dubai Land Department fee schedule and agency cost summaries (2026), Property Monitor (H1 2026), Bayut (H1 2026), Cushman & Wakefield (Q2 2026). Amounts are indicative estimates; fees can change, and the contract and DLD set the final amount. General information, not legal or tax advice.
monveroestates.com · +36 70 603 33337 / 7