Off-plan return
+59%
up to +103% in 3 years
Example: on your cash, AED 2M home
Dubai property, handled privately.
For HNWI, NRI and crypto buyers investing AED 2M and up.One advisor, the full numbers, paperwork you can verify.
Request a private consultationLyka RealtyORN 47999English & Tamil
@propertywithsanjayVerify before you pay
- Title deed(checked)
- Escrow account(checked)
- Cloned listing(checked)
- Payment email(to check)
Whether the money sits in a business in Chennai, a portfolio in London or a wallet, the questions are the same: is it real, is it clean, and what will it earn.
Three kinds of buyer. One private desk.
Tell me which one you are, and I'll show you how I'd handle your purchase.
HNWIs
You want it quiet, quick and correct.
For buyers placing AED 2 million or more: a family home, a rental portfolio, or a base that comes with long-term residency.
Start a private chatThe UAE charges individuals no tax on rent or resale gains. Your home country may, so ask your tax adviser.
- A shortlist, not a catalogue
- Three to five homes that fit your brief, each with its real return and the one thing I’d check before you pay.
- The Golden Visa route
- Property worth AED 2 million or more can qualify you for the UAE’s 10-year Golden Visa. I’ll tell you which homes qualify and what the application needs.
- The whole cost, up front
- The 4% Dubai Land Department fee, agency fee, service charges and furnishing on one sheet, before you reserve.
- Discretion
- Your name and your budget stay between you, Lyka Realty and the developer.
NRIs
Buy from India, or anywhere, without flying in.
For NRIs and India-based investors. I speak English and Tamil, and I answer WhatsApp myself.
Talk it through with meIndia taxes its residents on worldwide income, so Dubai rent may be taxable there. Remittance limits change; check the current RBI rules with your CA.
- Getting the money out, legally
- Resident Indians can remit up to USD 250,000 a year each under RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme. NRIs can pay from NRE or NRO accounts, or from income abroad. I’ll show you how buyers usually structure it; your CA confirms it.
- Everything done remotely
- Video walk-throughs, digital signing, and payments straight to the developer’s escrow account. A power of attorney covers anything that needs a signature in person.
- Numbers in dirhams and rupees
- Returns shown in both, with the dirham’s peg to the US dollar explained, so you know what currency risk you’re taking.
- After you buy
- I stay your contact here for handover, leasing and resale, while you stay where you are.
Crypto buyers
From wallet to title deed, the legal way.
Dubai regulates virtual assets through VARA, and property is still registered in dirhams. So a crypto purchase is three steps, done properly.
Ask how it works for youWhich developers and providers accept crypto changes often. Ask me what is possible today.
- A licensed conversion route
- Your crypto is converted to dirhams by a provider licensed in the UAE, or paid to a developer that accepts it through one. Never through an individual.
- A clean source-of-funds file
- Exchange statements, wallet history and ID, prepared before you reserve. Developers and brokers must run anti-money-laundering checks, and a ready file saves weeks.
- Dirhams into escrow, deed in your name
- The money lands in the project’s regulated escrow account, and the Dubai Land Department issues the title deed to you.
- What I won’t do
- I don’t take crypto myself, and I won’t send your money through anyone unlicensed. If a deal needs that, I’ll tell you to walk away.
Where serious buyers are looking
Six communities for budgets of AED 2 million and up. Open any one for the photos, the facts and the one thing I'd check before you pay.
Nakheel · Jebel Ali coast, Dubai
Palm Jebel Ali
Twice the size of Palm Jumeirah; the first villas hand over from late 2026.
Villas, apartments and townhouses · From AED 2.7M
Photos and details
Emaar · Near Al Maktoum Airport, Dubai
Grand Polo Club & Resort
Emaar’s polo-themed villa masterplan: 22 communities around three polo fields.
Villas, 3 to 5 bedrooms · From AED 5.5M
Photos and details
Emaar · Dubai Hills, Dubai
Dubai Hills Estate
A finished community around a championship golf course, still launching in 2026.
Apartments, townhouses and villas · From AED 1.84M
Photos and details
Sobha Realty · MBR City, Dubai
Sobha Hartland II
Part of Sobha’s record 6,819 handovers planned for 2026.
Apartments and villas · Price list on request
Photos and details
DAMAC Properties · Dubailand, Dubai
DAMAC Lagoons
DAMAC sold the most off-plan homes in Dubai in H1 2026.
Villas and townhouses · Price list on request
Photos and details
Arada · Al Suyoh, Sharjah
Masaar 3
Every Masaar launch has sold out within hours.
Townhouses and villas, 2 to 6 bedrooms · From AED 1.87M
Photos and details
Alef Group · Al Mamzar, Sharjah
Linar
All 2,683 homes sold out in September 2026.
Waterfront apartments · Resale only
Photos and details
Sanzen · Al Tay East, Sharjah
Sukoon
Phase 1, 241 villas and townhouses, sold out on its launch day.
Villas and townhouses · Price list on request
Photos and details
Alef Group · Emirates Road, Sharjah
Hayyan
97% sold, around Sharjah’s largest swimmable lagoon.
Villas and townhouses · Final phase selling
Photos and details
Arada · Muwaileh, Sharjah
Aljada
Sharjah’s largest project, with more than 20,000 residents already.
Apartments, 1 to 3 bedrooms · From AED 1.06M
Photos and details
Looking for something that isn't here? Tell me the brief.
Ask me on WhatsAppFigures come from the developers' own websites and announcements, Dubai Land Department data and named news reports, September 2026. Each project page lists its sources. Prices and availability change, so I'll send you the current list. Images belong to their developers.
Off-plan or ready to move in?
Both can be right. For a buyer who wants their money to grow, my numbers favour off-plan. Here is the case for each, then the same AED 2 million home bought both ways.
Off-plan
What you get
- Escrow protection. Your payments go into a regulated escrow account, released as the building goes up.
- A payment plan. Pay in stages, with no interest during construction.
- Stronger price growth. Launch to handover has outpaced ready homes in recent years, and you gain on the whole home while paying for half.
- First pick of units. The floor, the view and the layout you want.
- A new building. New systems and finishes, under the developer’s warranty.
What you give up
- No rent until handover. Your money earns nothing while you wait.
- Delay risk. Handover dates move, and your plans move with them.
- You buy from a plan. The finish, the view and the community can differ from the brochure.
- Less bank lending. Banks lend far less on off-plan, so most of it is your own cash.
Ready to move in
What you get
- It’s real. You inspect the actual home, the view and the building before you pay.
- A mortgage. Up to 50% for non-residents; up to 80% for UAE residents on a first home under AED 5M.
- Rent from day one. Move in, or let it and collect rent straight away.
- Lower risk. No construction risk and no waiting for handover.
- A mature community. Schools, shops, and a real history of rents and service charges.
What you give up
- Slower growth. You pay a premium for certainty, so less of the rise is left for you.
- More fees up front. Land department, agency, bank and registration fees are due at once.
- An older building. Maintenance comes sooner, and it may need work.
- Less choice. Only what owners are selling, and no payment plan.
The same AED 2 million, both ways
About AED 1.1 million of your own money in each, held for three years. Returns are measured on that cash, after fees, rent and mortgage.
Off-plan
50/50 payment plan, handover in 3 years
- Cash you put in
- AED 1,085,000Instalments 1,000,000 + 4% land department fee + registration
- Rent collected
- NoneNot until handover
- Loan paid down
- NoneNo interest, no mortgage
- Still to pay
- AED 1,000,000Due at handover
Prices up 12% a year
+59%
+AED 635,000 on your cash
Prices up 20% a year
+103%
+AED 1,115,000 on your cash
Ready to move in
50% mortgage at 5% over 20 years, rented out
- Cash you put in
- AED 1,140,00050% deposit + land department, agency, bank and registration fees
- Rent collected
- AED 420,000Mortgage AED 237,600 and upkeep AED 52,500 leave AED 129,900
- Loan paid down
- AED 94,300Paid by the rent, and it is yours
- Still to pay
- AED 905,700Mortgage balance
Prices up 5% a year
+34%
+AED 384,200 on your cash
Prices up 7% a year
+44%
+AED 504,200 on your cash
My read: for growth, off-plan wins. The same cash holds the whole home and catches the rise from launch to handover. Ready wins if you need rent from day one, or a home to move into now.
Run this on my budgetRun my numbersA worked example, not financial advice. Rent AED 140,000 a year, service charge and upkeep AED 17,500 a year, mortgage at 5%. A UAE resident can borrow up to 80% on a first home under AED 5 million, which lifts the return on a ready home. Off-plan instalments are paid in stages, so its yearly return is a little higher than shown. Selling costs are not included.
Where the growth rates come from. Dubai home prices rose 16.1% in the year to Q3 2025 (Cavendish Maxwell) and 8.9% in the year to March 2026, with villas up 12.1% (ValuStrat). Property Monitor's index was up 6.7% in the year to April 2026, which is the basis for 5% to 7% a year on ready homes. No official index tracks launch-to-handover gains, so 12% to 20% a year for off-plan is my estimate from recent launches.
Past growth is not a promise. In August 2026 Cavendish Maxwell recorded the first annual fall in average prices in more than five years, down 1.7%. If prices stayed flat, the off-plan buyer would be down AED 85,000 in fees, while the ready home would still earn AED 84,200.
Sources:Cavendish Maxwell, Q3 2025, ValuStrat Price Index, March 2026, Property Monitor, April 2026 (via Worldwise), Cavendish Maxwell, August 2026 (TradeArabia).
How I protect your capital
Four checks before a dirham moves. The larger the transfer, the more they matter. Run them yourself, or send me the listing and I'll run all four.
0 of 4 checked
Send me a listing to checkGet the printable checklist
These checks use Dubai's systems. Sharjah has its own registration department, and I'll walk you through the equivalent checks for a Sharjah listing.
How it works
Four steps, the same whether you're in Dubai, Chennai or London.
A private call
Twenty minutes on your budget, your purpose, your timeline and where the money sits today.
A shortlist with the full numbers
Three to five homes, each with its net return, every fee, and the one thing I’d check.
Verification and paperwork
Four checks on the documents and the payment, payment into the regulated escrow account, and registration with the land department.
Handover, and after
The inspection before you accept the keys, then leasing or resale when you want it.
I'm Sanjay.
Portfolio Manager at Lyka Realty in Dubai. Before property, I studied computer science with a focus on cybersecurity, then spent a year and a half in financial-services sales here in Dubai. So I read a payment plan like a spreadsheet, a payment email like a phishing test, and a source-of-funds file the way a compliance desk does.
I speak English and Tamil, and I answer WhatsApp myself.
- B.Tech Computer Science (Cybersecurity), SRM Institute of Science and Technology
- Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate
- Financial-services sales and KYC in Dubai
Know someone buying?
Forward this page. They get a private conversation, the full numbers and four checks before they pay, and you'll have saved them from the expensive mistakes.
Tell me the budget. I'll bring the shortlist.
A private conversation on WhatsApp, with no obligation to buy through me.
Request a private consultationPrivate consultation@propertywithsanjay