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What a Dubai property actually returns

Advertised yields in Dubai are almost always gross — rent divided by the asking price. That figure ignores the transfer fee, the agency fee, the service charge, and the weeks the unit sits empty. Move any figure below and watch the quoted yield redistribute between what you keep and the five things that take the rest. Nothing is filled in from market data; every figure is yours to change.

Gross yield—%

Net yield—%

Lower by—%

The whole bar is the gross yield. The dark block is what you keep; 1 to 5 are what take the rest.

The opening figures are illustrative placeholders, not market values. Replace each one with the figures on the property in front of you — drag a fader, or type an exact value.

At these numbers the running costs exceed the rent collected, so the net yield is negative. The bar shows the costs alone.

The colour code

Six parts that add back to one whole

Every cost is stated in percentage points of the same denominator, so the five subtract from the gross yield and land exactly on the net.

Net yield

—pp

AED — a year

1 · Buying costs

−—pp

AED — once

2 · Service charge

−—pp

AED — a year

3 · Management

−—pp

AED — a year

4 · Maintenance

−—pp

AED — a year

5 · Vacancy

−—pp

AED — a year

The console

Nine faders, and why each one moves the answer

Drag for feel, type for precision. If you type a figure past a fader's range, the range extends to meet it.

The property

These three set the length of the whole bar: the price is the denominator a quoted yield divides by, the rent is its numerator, and the size is what the building bills against.

Purchase price AED

The figure on the contract, before anything you pay to complete the purchase.

Annual rent AED

What a tenant pays across a full year, before any deduction. This is the number a quoted yield divides.

Size sq ft

The area the service charge is billed against, so size drives that cost rather than price does.

Paid once, to acquire it — segment 1

A quoted yield ignores these entirely. They raise what you actually put in, which is the figure a net yield has to divide by. Both feed segment 1.

Transfer fee % price

Paid at registration, when title changes hands. Entered as a share of the purchase price.

Agency fee % price

The commission on the purchase itself. Also a share of the price, also paid once.

Paid every year, to run it — segments 2 to 5

These stand between rent collected and income kept. Each one owns its own colour on the bar above.

Service charge AED/ft²

The annual building charge, billed per square foot. The one running cost that does not scale with rent, and it is set per building, not per area.

Management % rent

The share of rent paid to whoever runs the tenancy — finding tenants, collecting, handling the paperwork.

Maintenance % rent

The share of rent you set aside for repairs and replacement inside the unit.

Vacancy % year

The share of the year you expect the unit to sit empty. Rent is only collected while a tenant is in it.

The same answer in money

What that is in cash, each year

Total invested

AED—

Rent after vacancy

AED—

—%

Running costs

AED—

—%

Net income

AED—

—%

Service charge is set per building, not per area — two towers on the same street can differ by more than double. Check the real figure for your building on the DLD Service Charge Index. Check your building on the DLD index

Not included: mortgage interest, capital works or major repairs, corporate tax, and any capital appreciation. This is annual income yield only.

Bring the figures on a specific property

We will work through them with you — the service charge on that building, the terms on that unit, and what the bar looks like once each one is in.

Arrange a consultation

Documents on request

Tell us what you need, and we will send it

Brochures, floor plans, payment plans, service-charge schedules. Say which document and which property, and it goes to your inbox.

Request received

We have your request and the documents are on their way to your inbox. If anything needs clarifying first, we will call the number you gave.

This calculator is arithmetic, not advice. It holds no market data and makes no assumptions about your building — the defaults are illustrative placeholders, not typical Dubai values. Service charges are published per building on the DLD Service Charge Index and vary by more than double between towers on the same street.

What a Dubai property actually returns

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