How to sell your property in Dubai and not lose the money
I decided to share the recent case that happened to one of my old clients of mine, who decided to sell his 1 bedroom apartment that is still under construction, because it will prevent you from doing very serious mistakes and let
My client messaged me saying that he was selling his property through an agent in Dubai, being outside of the country. The broker received the check from the buyer and now he stopped getting in touch....
Here is the story.
As the client was outside of the country, he decided to give a POA (Power of Attorney) to a broker. The transfer was made, the buyer’s check had been handed over to the broker.
When the broker deposited the check to his account, the bank freezed it, so he couldn’t transfer the money to the seller.
After some time the broker stopped replying the seller’s messages and picking up his calls.
Luckily, the story ended up well and the seller finally received the money. But there are many other examples when the outcome wasn’t that optimistic.
Mistakes that this case illustrates
- The broker shouldn’t represent the buyer or the seller (be a POA) and be a broker in the same deal. This obviously creates a conflict of interests and is agaisnt the law.
- The check should never be issued to the broker’s name. The reason is stated above. The check should only be issued to the seller’s name, however, in case when the seller is a non-resident and has no bank account in UAE, the 3-rd party (for example, legal firm) can represent the seller and in that case the check can be issued under the name of that firm and then the firm transfers the money to the seller’s bank account that is in his home country.
- The buyer should never transfer the money to the Real Estate account or broker’s personal account or even to the seller before the transfer. Managers checks are the safest way to make a transparent and legal real estate transaction.
