Decision Lab · Buying Costs
How Much Cash Do I Need to Buy This Property?
Move beyond the advertised price and estimate the actual cash required to complete. A buyer also needs funds for registration, title, map, trustee charges, brokerage, mortgage registration, valuation and lender processing. The buyer-paid sale-registration share is kept visible and editable.
Cash to close
- Property price
- Down payment
- Registration
- Finance
- Professional
Price is only the starting number.
Award
Best Real Estate Agent – Dubai
Arabian Property Awards Winner 2026–2027
Experience
20+ Years
Entrepreneurial experience
Credential
Licensed REALTOR®
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Platform / Reach
Founder & CEO — FIMCO Real Estate
2,500+ personal advisory clients · 15+ countries
Buying Cost Calculator
The property price is not the cash you need to buy. See your true cash-to-close — government, mortgage-related and editable commercial costs.
How to use this calculator
- 01Enter the propertyPrice, down payment and whether financed.
- 02Adjust cost assumptionsGovernment fees are fixed; broker/bank/valuation are editable.
- 03Read your cash-to-closeThe total initial cash updates instantly.
- 04Plan your budgetUse it to confirm the cash you actually need.
Results
Personalised branded report
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Get a branded Raj Khaleel report with your inputs, cost breakdown, financial analysis, your outcome, methodology and suggested next steps. The on-screen results above are always free.
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Open your personalised report below. We’ll also follow up on the WhatsApp number you provided if you’d like a review.
What makes up the number
Price is only the starting number
The advertised price is where a purchase begins, not where it ends. Five layers of cost stack on top of it to give your true cash to close.
Property price
The advertised figure — and the base every other cost is measured against.
Down payment
Your upfront equity — the largest single line of the cash you need on day one.
Government registration
DLD sale registration, title deed, map and knowledge fees — fixed and non-negotiable.
Finance costs
Mortgage registration, valuation and bank processing — they fall away on a cash purchase.
Professional & optional
Brokerage, trustee and service charges — editable starting points that complete the total = cash to close.
Before you commit
Know the true cost before you commit.
The calculator gives you the illustrative number. A review with Raj confirms the full cash-to-close for your specific purchase and how it fits your budget.
Methodology, assumptions & sources
Show methodology, assumptions & official sources
Method & assumptions
Pick your scenario — Ready or Off-plan, No Mortgage or Mortgage — and only the costs that apply are shown. Total buying costs = Registration / DLD (4% of price) + (Ready: purchase brokerage 2% + trustee fee) or (Off-plan: developer / admin fee) + snagging + other purchase cost, plus for a mortgage: mortgage registration (0.25% of the loan) + bank arrangement / processing fee + VAT on that processing fee (5%) + bank valuation + other mortgage cost. Total property purchase cost = price + total buying costs. On a cash purchase, your cash required is the total purchase cost; with a mortgage, it is your investor-funded share of the price plus the buying costs, and the mortgage funds the rest. EOI is credited toward the price, and the mortgage principal is financing — neither is added again as a cost.
- Registration / DLD fee is a single 4% line (editable); no title-deed, map or knowledge-fee add-ons.
- Ready: purchase brokerage 2% + trustee fee AED 4,250 (no VAT on these). Off-plan: developer / admin fee AED 2,500; snagging defaults to AED 0 (editable).
- Mortgage registration is 0.25% of the loan, distinct from the bank arrangement / processing fee; VAT (5%) applies only to the processing fee, when charged. Ready mortgage defaults to 80% LTV, off-plan to 50%.
Official regulatory basis
Official government & regulatory sources
- Central Bank of the UAEMortgage lending framework — applicable LTV, debt-burden ratio and maximum-tenor regulatory limits where relevant to the model.View CBUAE source
- Dubai Land DepartmentOfficial Dubai property registration, mortgage registration, trustee / service-partner charges, title deed and unified map government fees.View DLD source
- Federal Tax Authority (UAE)Value Added Tax basis: the 5% standard rate applied to commercial property and to taxable fees (e.g. bank processing), and input-tax recovery — recoverable in full where it relates to a taxable supply. Residential leases and second-hand residential sales are treated per FTA rules.View FTA VAT source
Formulas & methodology
- Raj Khaleel Decision Lab methodologyStandard reducing-balance mortgage amortisation, renter opportunity-cost logic, equity modelling and the year-by-year comparison — implemented transparently in this tool.
- Commercial costs are your editable assumptionsBrokerage, bank arrangement, valuation, conveyancing and insurance are not government-set. Enter your actual quote or use the clearly-labelled editable planning assumption — these are not official government charges.
Estimate only. Fees can change and transaction documents can allocate costs differently. Verify all amounts before transfer. This tool does not model ROI, yield or appreciation — see the Property ROI Calculator for returns.
Decision tools by Raj Khaleel — Best Real Estate Agent – Dubai, Arabian Property Awards Winner 2026–2027.