The questions we are asked, and our answers
These are the questions owners and investors ask us before they decide.
Buying
Through our selection, in four steps:
Location: established areas with a strong business presence, close to the water or at a strategic point in the city. Business Bay, DIFC, Downtown, Creek Harbour, Dubai Marina, Jumeirah, Jumeirah Islands, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Mina Rashid, other locations on the water, and townhouse communities such as Tilal Al Ghaf and Tilal Al Furjan.
Building: the developer, the master plan and the quality of construction.
Unit: the apartment or house itself.
Numbers: long-term value, how easily it lets, and the net return.
We present one property, two at most, and tell you which one we prefer. If nothing fits, we advise you not to buy.
Yes. In Dubai's freehold areas, foreigners can own property outright. The title deed is in your own name and registered with the Dubai Land Department, and you can check it yourself at any time in the Dubai REST app. We only propose freehold properties, never leasehold.
When you buy on the secondary market, we earn 2% of the purchase price. You pay it, because we represent you.
Buying or selling: we are paid by the party we represent, and by no one else. If both buyer and seller come to us, we charge our 2% only once, shared between them.
Letting: the tenant pays us a fixed fee when the property is let, and again when the tenancy is renewed. It costs you nothing.
Off-plan: the developer pays the agent's commission, usually between 3% and 8% of the purchase price. At the moment, we don't propose off-plan projects.
Partners: we take no money from our partners and pay them none. When we refer clients to each other, it is never for a fee.
What you pay that doesn't go to us: 4% to the Dubai Land Department, the registration trustee's administration fee, and the developer's administration fee.
Ask what we earn on any transaction, and you will be told.
Yes. For a purchase or sale only, we charge 2% of the price and a one-time fixed fee. Our stewardship is then not required.
From accepted offer to title deed usually takes around three weeks.
We agree the price and terms with the seller and sign the sales agreement. The developer then issues a no-objection certificate, and the transfer is registered at a Dubai Land Department trustee office, where the title deed is issued in your name.
No. You can sign a power of attorney from home, and we complete the purchase for you in Dubai, together with our notary partner.
It is possible. A loan can raise the return on your own capital, but it raises the risk too: you then depend on interest rates, the bank's terms and the market. Without financing, the return rests on the rent alone.
It can. From a property value of AED 2 million, an investor can apply for a UAE Golden Visa. For that, and for other residence visas, we work with specialised partners. As with all our partners, we take no fee for the introduction.
Every return we mention is net. We deduct the two costs that are certain: the building's service charges and our subscription.
Maintenance and periods without a tenant are not in the figure, because nobody can predict them. That makes the figure an indication: what the property returns if everything goes to plan. Nobody can guarantee a return, and anyone who does is telling you a story.
We talk about rental return, not increase in value. Some locations have a better chance of growth than others, and we will tell you which and why. But a chance is not a certainty, so we don't put a figure on it.
What we do take on is responsibility: for the choice of property, its condition, the tenant and every expense.
Two things: more supply than demand in certain areas, and falling prices.
That risk is greatest off-plan: the price is currently above the market, and the home only arrives years later. That is why we don't propose off-plan projects at the moment, nor new and emerging areas that don't meet our criteria.
Established areas are not immune either. In the last correction, prices in Dubai fell by almost 30% between 2014 and 2020. Whoever bought at the peak in September 2014 only saw that price again at the end of 2023, more than nine years later. What holds up in a correction is not an address, but a purchase price that works on today's rent.
So for now, we buy only on the secondary market, in established areas. What lies outside our control, we cannot prevent. What we can do is keep the property at a standard that protects it as much as possible.
Nobody knows the right moment, and we don't pretend to. What we do know is that we only buy when the price works on today's rent. In a quieter market, there are fewer buyers and more room to negotiate the price.
In the UAE, there is no tax on rental income from property you own personally. At home, that depends on your situation, and we are not tax advisers. We work with tax lawyers in several countries, for national and international tax, and put you in touch with them. For wills and succession, we work with a specialised partner as well. As with all our partners, we take no fee for the introduction.
Owning
Yes. A property you already own comes straight into our stewardship. You then pay only our subscription, without any commission.
Three costs every year: the building's service charges, our subscription, and insurance if you choose to take it.
Our subscription is not a percentage of your rent, as is common in the market. It is based on the time a property really takes us, at an hourly rate that covers our costs and our margin. It is fixed per property, so we earn the same whether your property is let or empty. You pay it quarterly, in advance. Once a year it is adjusted to the UAE consumer price index; if the index falls, the amount stays the same.
Costs that depend on the property:
– maintenance, based on what is needed rather than a fixed yearly budget;
– new bed linen and towels for every tenant, and every year on longer tenancies;
– replacing furniture and equipment when it wears out;
– utilities and cooling while the property is empty between two tenants.
Above an amount we set together in your agreement, nothing is done without your approval. Every expense comes with its quotation, invoice and photographs.
Rent is paid in AED and arrives with us first. Within three days, we send you a payout report: what came in, what is deducted, and the invoice behind each deduction.
Within two days of receiving your signed report, we transfer the balance, in AED to your UAE account or to your account abroad, as you prefer.
No. Contractors and suppliers are charged to you exactly as invoiced: no margin, no handling fee, no commission. That includes work between two tenants, such as cleaning, repairs or repainting, which is not part of the subscription. When we furnish a property, you pay what we pay.
We choose the contractor, by our own criteria, and show you the one we consider best for the job. Above the amount set in your agreement, nothing goes ahead without your approval.
What we earn is our subscription and, when we buy or sell for you, our 2%. Nothing on the work in between.
We do, within the limits you set: the minimum rent and the number of cheques you accept.
We look for someone who will treat the home with care and keep to the agreement. Every tenant meets us in person before anything is signed.
That sometimes means turning down the highest offer. We have refused tenants who offered more, because they would not keep to our standards or our rules. A higher rent from the wrong tenant costs more than it brings.
We only let furnished properties, for a year or longer: no short stays, no holiday rentals.
Not while it is let. We let for a year or longer, so for that period the property is the tenant's home. Between two tenants, you can use it.
Then the rent stops, and putting it right takes time and money.
Rent in Dubai is paid in advance, usually by cheque. Since 2022, a bounced cheque is no longer a criminal matter. Recovering the rent, and ending the tenancy if needed, goes through a legal procedure. We run that procedure for you; the costs are yours as the owner.
That is why we work to prevent it:
– we meet every tenant in person, interview them and check their employer;
– we ask a deposit of 10% of the annual rent;
– we accept at most four cheques a year. More and more tenants ask to pay in twelve. As long as nothing protects the owner in that case, we won't take that risk on your behalf.
The tenant calls us, and we send a contractor within 24 hours.
Reporting: in the tenancy agreement, the tenant commits to reporting urgent matters, such as a leak, within 24 hours. We are reachable outside office hours.
Approval: urgent repairs we approve ourselves, up to the amount set in your agreement, so the work doesn't wait. Above that, we ask you first.
Informing you: we pay the contractor. For an urgent repair, you hear from us within 24 hours, and by then the work has already started. Other repairs appear in your next report, with the invoice.
Through inspections, reports, and records you can check yourself.
Inspections: every six months, halfway through and at the end of each tenancy year, also on tenancies of several years. After each one, you receive a report, with photos when something is wrong.
Strategic report: every six months, on what your property is worth, how the market is developing, our assessment, and the decisions and next steps ahead.
Meetings: every quarter, online or in person.
Rent statements: after every payment, with the invoice behind each deduction.
Access: while the property is let, only our own property manager goes inside. You see it between two tenants, when it is empty.
What you can check without us:
– your title deed, in your own name, in the Dubai Land Department's Dubai REST app;
– the tenancy in Ejari, with you as landlord, so the rent and dates match what we report;
– the service charges, in the official Mollak system;
– the amount on your account, against the statement you signed.
Selling
We are. When we sell for you, we represent you, and you pay us 2% of the selling price.
We set the asking price from a market analysis, our own valuation and the difference our standard makes. You decide your price, and how low you will go.
If the buyer also comes to us, we only bring them to you if everything fits. In that case, we charge our fee only once, shared between both sides.
We sell a property vacant, after the tenancy has ended, so it can be shown as it should be without disturbing anyone.
About us
Everything from acquisition to transfer: we select the property, guide its purchase, bring it to our standard, choose and manage the tenant, maintain it, report on it, and handle its eventual sale. One company, accountable for the result of all of it.
Our subscription is fixed per property, so our income does not depend on filling a vacancy quickly or on selling.
Two founding partners, supported by a team.
Aline Elsermans has lived in Dubai since 2019 and has worked in UAE real estate since 2022. In 2023 she co-founded Mystique Invest, a real estate and property management company she built and led for three years, reaching more than 50 properties under management, a portfolio value of AED 186 million and a team of eight. Within EAP, she is responsible for all operational matters.
Maarten Adams spent close to seven years at Coca-Cola before moving into a leadership role at a Belgian property developer. Since 2024 he has worked independently with leaders and their organizations, in Europe and the UAE. Within EAP, he is responsible for strategy and direction.
EAP is new; the experience behind it is not. We built it on what we saw in this market: a property passes through six companies, and none of them is accountable for what it is worth in ten years.
Your position does not depend on us. Your title deed and the Ejari are in your name, every document is shared with you, and another manager could take over without starting from scratch.
Within EAP, everyone works by the same principles and the same way of working, so that no one is indispensable. That is why we invest in our people early: time and room to grow, so they can carry the work.
Either side can end the subscription with three months' notice.
Anyone investing less than AED 4 million. Below that, our model costs too much for the return it protects.
Anyone looking for a guaranteed return. We take responsibility for the property, not for a figure.
Anyone who wants short-term or holiday rental. We let for a year or longer.
Anyone who puts the highest rent above the right tenant.
Anyone who wants to decide every small matter themselves. Small matters are ours to handle; what needs your decision comes to you.