Three options to consider if you are selling your property in Dubai

I own a Dubai villa worth Dh2 million that I want to sell as I am moving to London permanently. I have no loans on the property and I want to sell by June. Unfortunately, I haven’t got the right price or a buyer. What are my options?

Option 1: Exclusive Sale

Take a look online to see which agency is prominent in the area or building you are in, and ask them for a property valuation. There may be no success with selling due to the price or how the property is being marketed.

Try to move forward with one agent exclusively to have one point of contact when selling the property. This will allow you to only have one point of contact handling the sale of your property, qualifying buyers, and maximising your property’s marketing while you focus on your move to the UK.

You could also take it further and provide the agency Power of Attorney. This means they can handle the entire sales process even once you are in the UK. Allowing you to sell and transfer the property without having to come back to the UAE.

Option 2: Short-term letting

The short-term letting market has grown significantly in Dubai. Owners moving in this direction have seen significantly higher yields when compared to a 12-month rental contract. Multiple agencies in the market can handle the entire process, which means you can have the property on short-term rental while in the UK. STR also comes with great flexibility, allowing you to block the unit for yourself, friends or family travelling to Dubai. Having a home base readily available can save you a lot of money if you ever need to travel to Dubai.

Additionally, you could make the STR and property sale in conjunction, permitting you to earn rental income while trying to sell it and still market the property as vacant on transfer. Vacant on transfer is a term used in the market, which is more attractive to end users, as they can move in instantly.

Option 3: Property management (PMGT)

In the event you are unable to sell and don’t want to leave the unit sitting vacant, you can also move forward with a yearly rental and get a property management company involved. The benefits include handling the entire process from marketing, qualifying leads, contracts, handover, inventory reports, check out, etc.

The PMGT company will also be able to bank the rental cheques, send the money directly to your overseas account, and handle all maintenance issues quickly and efficiently. The biggest benefit is that once the tenant vacates, the PMGT company will ensure the handover is completed professionally and that any issues with the property will be noted and deducted from the security deposit accordingly.

I have been living in a flat for three years now. I would like the place painted but the property company they are not obliged to do it though my contract says so. Please advise.

Regarding any maintenance queries on a rental, the tenancy contract should highlight what is expected from both parties. Most contracts will have a maintenance cap which should clearly state up to what amount the tenant is responsible and from what amount the owner will be responsible for the maintenance payment. If the contract states that the owner/managing party is liable to paint the property, this should be honoured. Therefore, you should try contacting the owner directly and point out that the management company is not honouring the terms noted in the signed tenancy agreement. Any concerns or problems that are not resolved can be taken up with Rera directly, but this is usually done as a last resort as it can negatively impact the relationship between tenant and landlord.

- Daimon Meredith is Senior Sales Consultant at Betterhomes. Views expressed are his own and do not reflect those of Khaleej Times

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