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COSTS AND YIELDS

What it costs to buy and own a home in Ras Al Khaimah

What you pay to buy a home, what it costs to own each year, and the gross yields published for RAK as a whole.

Karolina Dean

Karolina Dean, Managing Director & Co-Founder

Updated 14 October 2026

4%

transfer fee, on top of the price

RAK Municipality

2.99%

gross yield, RAK apartments

REIDIN, September 2026

5.3%

average gross yield, RAK apartments and villas

ValuStrat, Q2 2026

buy

WHAT YOU PAY TO BUY IT

About 4% on top of the price

COST

AMOUNT

PAID TO

NOTES

Transfer fee

4% of the price

RAK Municipality

Off-plan, you pay all 4% when the developer registers your purchase, unless the developer offers to cover some of it. On a finished home, RAK’s fee list puts 2% on the buyer and 2% on the seller; who actually pays is agreed in the sale.

Plan fee

AED 200

RAK Municipality

Fixed.

Title deed

AED 200

RAK Municipality

Fixed.

Our fee

AED 0

 

Off-plan, the developer pays us. If you buy a finished home through a broker, ask for their fee in writing first.

In all

4% + AED 400

On a finished home where the seller pays its 2%: 2% of the price, plus AED 400.

Buying off-plan? The 4% is charged as the registration fee when the developer registers your purchase. It is the same fee, so don’t add it twice.

Not included: a lawyer to read the sale contract (ask for a quote) and, if you borrow, the bank’s own fees. Banks lend at most 50% on an off-plan home.

 

MORTGAGES ON OFF-PLAN →  ·  EVERY FEE WE CHARGE: FEES →

 

RAK Municipality, Real Estate Sale Contract (service ZL13), read 13 October 2026. Mortgage limit: UAE Central Bank, Mortgage Loan Regulations.

year

WHAT IT COSTS EACH YEAR

What comes out of the rent

COST

WHAT IT COSTS

NOTES

Service charge

AED 10 to 15 per sq ft a year

Set by each building. RAK publishes no service charge index. Brokers’ listings for ready apartments in Mina Al Arab state AED 10 to 15 per sq ft (21 listings, Property Finder, 13 Oct 2026). Ask for the building’s current charge before you buy.

Empty months

A month’s rent

Allow one month a year without rent, for the weeks between tenants. Our assumption.

Our management

7% of the rent

7% of the rent received, plus 5% VAT, with a minimum of AED 500 a month.

Finding the tenant, first year only

5% of a year’s rent

Plus 5% VAT. After the first year, finding a new tenant is part of management.

Not included: repairs, furnishing, insurance, utilities while the home is empty, and any mortgage payments.

 

WHAT MANAGEMENT INCLUDES: LETTING YOUR PROPERTY →

yields

YIELDS IN RAK

What the published figures say

Two firms publish a gross yield for Ras Al Khaimah. Both cover the emirate as a whole, not one area, and both are before any of the costs above. They differ because each measures a different set of homes and rents.

REIDIN: 2.99%

 

Gross yield on apartments in Ras Al Khaimah, September 2026. It applies to the emirate as a whole, not to any one area or building.

REIDIN, Ras Al Khaimah apartments, September 2026.

 

ValuStrat: 5.3%

 

Average gross yield on apartments and villas in Ras Al Khaimah, Q2 2026. It also applies to the emirate as a whole.

ValuStrat Price Index, Ras Al Khaimah, Q2 2026.

Neither figure tells you what a particular home will earn. Ask us for further yield analysis: send us a home you like, and we’ll work through its numbers.

 

ASK US FOR FURTHER YIELD ANALYSIS: CONTACT →

 

BUYING? HOW WE HELP: BUYING OFF-PLAN →  ·  LETTING? BACK TO LETTING YOUR PROPERTY →

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