The most expensive off-plan mistakes I have seen rarely come from a bad project. They come from signing too quickly. And the market has become more selective: ValuStrat reports that Dubai off-plan sales fell 10.1% quarter on quarter and 45.7% year on year in Q3 2026, while resale picked up again. That is no reason to stay away. It is a reason to choose better. Here are the five mistakes I see most often.
1. Buying the brochure instead of the developer
Every render looks good. What matters is who is building: completed projects, timelines kept, the real quality of the finishes. I work with names like Emaar, Nakheel and Meraas, but I apply the same method to everyone, younger developers included. I go and see a building they have already delivered.
Check the basics too. The project must be registered with the Dubai Land Department and your payments must go to the project’s escrow account, which you can verify in the official Dubai REST app. Never pay into a personal or intermediary account. I cover this in more depth in my guide to payment plans and escrow.
2. Trusting the marketing handover date
The date that counts is the one in the SPA, the sale and purchase agreement, and it often comes with a grace period that can run to 12 months, during which the developer generally owes you nothing. If your plans hinge on a specific date, because you need to let the unit, relocate or fund another purchase, build in a margin. Even good sites run late sometimes.
3. Looking at the price and nothing else
Two units at the same price can perform very differently. On top of the price come the 4% Dubai Land Department fee, Oqood registration and admin costs. After handover come service charges, which can bite in amenity-heavy projects. Read post-handover plans with care as well: the convenience of long instalments is sometimes already built into the price. Before you decide, work out the net yield, not the gross one.
4. Signing a payment plan with no plan B
Many investors count on reselling before the final instalments. It can work, but not always and not always in time. Developers often allow resale only after a set percentage has been paid, and in a slower market a buyer takes longer to find. The instalments have to be affordable even if you never resell.
Missing them is expensive. Dubai law sets out a precise procedure: the Dubai Land Department notifies you of the default and gives you 30 days to pay or reach a settlement. If that fails, depending on construction progress the developer can terminate the contract and retain a significant amount, in some cases up to 40% of the unit’s value. If you are ever in doubt on this, take advice from a local lawyer.
5. Buying without an exit strategy
Before you sign, you should know what happens at handover: hold and let, resell, or move in. Each path points to a different unit. Cavendish Maxwell counts roughly 136,000 homes in the pipeline for 2027 and more than 155,000 for 2028. Not all of them will arrive on schedule, but future supply has to be part of the decision. That is why I look for areas with real demand and layouts that will not exist in a hundred identical copies down the street. If resale is your plan, read how off-plan flipping works.
How I assess an off-plan project for clients
Before I put a project in front of anyone, it goes through these checks:
- Developer, project registration and escrow account verified
- Handover date, grace period and resale clause read in the SPA
- Total costs and estimated service charges, with net yield calculated
- Payment plan affordable without relying on a resale
- Clear exit strategy and real demand in the area
- A licensed adviser: always check the RERA licence, mine is 81689
Every home I recommend is one I would buy myself. The starting point is never the most heavily advertised launch, it is your goal. To see where I apply these criteria, start with projects such as Solaya, Palace Residences Hillside B or, in Abu Dhabi, Talay Marsa Al Saadiyat.
Weighing up a project? Browse the off-plan projects, run the numbers with the calculators, book a private call or message me on WhatsApp.
