SPECIALISTS IN RAK REAL ESTATE
CHOOSING A BROKER
Choosing a real estate broker in Ras Al Khaimah
Four things to check before you use any broker in RAK, whether you are buying, renting or letting. Each takes a few minutes.
Karolina Dean, Managing Director & Co-Founder
Updated 8 October 2026
WHY USE A BROKER
Why not buy straight from the developer?
A developer's sales team sells the homes that developer has, in its own schemes. It won't tell you that a scheme down the road fits your needs better.
Developers also use brokers as their sales force. In our experience they often make better offers through brokers than they make themselves: a better unit, a better payment plan or a better price.
So a good broker should do two things: put you in the scheme that fits what you need, and get you the best deal available on it. Off-plan, the developer pays the broker, so it costs you nothing extra.
Because the developer pays, ask which developers the broker works with, and whether they will show you schemes from others.
THE FOUR CHECKS
What to check, and how
The same four checks work for buying, renting and letting.
01
Is the broker licensed?
WHAT TO ASK
Ask to see the company's trade licence. It should be in the company's own name, in date, and list real estate brokerage among its activities.
HOW TO CHECK
The licence names the authority that issued it. For a RAKEZ licence, use RAKEZ's online document check with the reference printed on the licence. For any UAE licence, the Ministry of Economy's National Economic Register shows whether it is valid and what it covers: search by company name or licence number.
WATCH FOR
A licence that has expired, or that does not cover real estate.
RAKEZ, Aug 2025
02
What will you pay, and who pays it?
WHAT TO ASK
Ask for the fee in writing before you start: how much, who pays it, and when. RAK law expects a written agreement between the broker and the client that sets out the fee.
HOW TO CHECK
Off-plan, the developer usually pays the broker, and you can ask to see the broker's commission agreement. On a rental, the person the broker acts for pays.
WATCH FOR
A broker acting for both landlord and tenant without telling both of you in writing. RAK law says both must be told.
RAK Law No. 6 of 2008, Articles 11 and 12; RAK Law No. 12 of 2023, Article 46
03
What do their clients say?
WHAT TO ASK
Read their Google reviews: search the company's name on Google Maps.
HOW TO CHECK
Read the newest first, look at the dates, and see whether the broker replies, especially to the critical ones.
WATCH FOR
No reviews at all, or many reviews posted within a few days of each other.
04
How fast do they reply?
WHAT TO ASK
Send a message before you commit, and see how long the reply takes and what is in it.
HOW TO CHECK
Ask who will look after you, and how to reach them in the evening and at weekends.
WATCH FOR
A reply that doesn't answer what you asked.
OUR ANSWERS
Our own answers to the four checks
Ask us the same questions. Here are our answers.
LICENCE
Dean Property Real Estate FZ-LLC, RAKEZ licence 47030098, document reference 1684440-km8C-sS5H-81709991.
FEES
Off-plan, the developer pays us, so you pay us nothing. Renting and letting: 5% of a year's rent.
REPLY
We reply within the hour, 8am to 10pm UAE time, every day. Outside those hours, by 9am.
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