Dubai · Abu Dhabi · Freehold
The city you work in can pay you rent.
Freehold property in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for overseas Filipinos and international investors. Six vetted assets from AED 555,000. No income tax, no capital gains tax, a dirham pegged to the dollar — and a 10-year residency at AED 2 million.
The case
Most Filipinos in the Gulf pay a landlord here and buy a condo at home.
Run both sides honestly and the arithmetic usually points the other way. A Metro Manila pre-selling unit yields roughly 4–6% gross and is taxed. A Dubai unit in this portfolio is underwritten at 7–10% gross, is not taxed, and is denominated in a currency pegged to the US dollar — so a peso devaluation works for you, not against you.
None of that makes Dubai automatically right for you. It makes it worth ten minutes with a calculator instead of a feeling. That is what the rest of this page is.
Two ways in
Are you buying an income, or a life?
These are different purchases and they lead to different buildings. Be honest about which one you are making — it is the single decision that determines everything after it.
Track one
Buy an income
You want the asset to work while you keep working. Priorities: gross yield, tenant depth, low vacancy, a payment plan that does not strain your salary, and a building you never have to visit.
Where that points:
- Azizi Wares — JAFZA workforce demand, AED 555,000 entry
- The Archive — furnished, post-handover plan, rent covers instalments
- Azizi Venice — highest yield band, airport-led appreciation
Track two
Buy a life
You intend to live in it, move the family over, or hold residency independent of an employer. Priorities: location you would actually enjoy, handover date, schools and commute, and clearing the Golden Visa threshold.
Where that points:
- Binghatti Sky Rise — central Business Bay, handover from Q4 2026
- Samana Portside — resort living with a private pool on the balcony
- Bayz 102 — a landmark address, paid 1% a month
Plenty of buyers do both: one income unit now, a home later, with the two together clearing AED 2,000,000 and putting the whole family on a 10-year visa. That is the most common shape of a serious Gulf portfolio, and it is what the builder further down this page is for.
The portfolio
Six assets. Three different jobs.
Not a search portal — a shortlist. Two central blue-chip landmarks for liquidity, two transit-corridor yield engines, one masterplan growth position and one turnkey furnished play. Each elevation below is a massing study drawn to that building’s real storey count.
Downtown Jebel Ali, Dubai
Azizi Wares
Azizi Developments · Handover Q4 2027
Dubai Land Residence Complex, Dubai
The Archive
Imtiaz Developments · Handover Q3 2028
Dubai South (Madinat Al Mataar), Dubai
Azizi Venice
Azizi Developments · Handover Q4 2026
Business Bay, Dubai
Binghatti Sky Rise
Binghatti Developers · Handover Q4 2026+
Downtown Jebel Ali, Dubai
Samana Portside
Samana Developers · Handover Dec 2029
Business Bay (Marasi Drive), Dubai
Bayz 102 by Danube
Danube Properties · Handover Dec 2028
The arithmetic
Run the numbers before you fall in love with a render
Pick an asset, then move the sliders. Service charges are deducted from gross, so what you see is what actually reaches your account — in AED, USD or pesos.
Published band for this asset: 7.0%–8.5% gross.
Charged per square foot by the building, billed annually. 1.5% of value is the planning default.
The cash you actually put in to secure the unit. Everything after it is scheduled.
Net figures deduct service charges only. Budget separately for the one-off 4% Dubai Land Department registration fee, administrative charges and any letting or management fee — all of which are laid out in writing before you reserve.
10-year residency
Build a Golden Visa portfolio
The UAE Golden Visa is granted on a property investment of AED 2,000,000 — and it does not have to be one property. Combine two or three high-yield units, clear the threshold, and you hold residency for you, your spouse and your dependants while three separate rental streams pay you. Add units below and watch the threshold.
| Asset | Price | Gross yield | Units | Line total |
|---|
The Golden Visa property route is administered by the Dubai Land Department and the ICP. Requirements are verified at application; this tool models the investment threshold only and is not an immigration opinion.
For overseas Filipinos
You are already the ideal buyer. You just haven’t been sold to properly.
If you are working in the UAE you have the three things this purchase needs: dirham income, an Emirates ID, and a bank account in the country the asset sits in. What you have been offered instead is a pre-selling condo in Manila at a fraction of the yield.
The OFW guide covers what nobody puts on a brochure: what the 4% Dubai Land Department fee actually costs you, how service charges are billed, what happens to your unit if your visa ends, whether to buy in your name or your spouse’s, how the money moves, and the salary-to-instalment ratio that keeps this a good decision instead of a stressful one.
Reality check
The same money, two ways
Philippine yields vary widely by building and location and can be strong in the right unit — this is a planning comparison, not a verdict on any specific project. Bring me a real Manila computation and I will run both side by side, honestly, including the ones where Manila wins.
The advisor
Kris Chavez
I sell property to people who do not live where the property is. That is the whole job, and it is a different job from selling to walk-in buyers.
I have been a licensed property consultant since 2016, and almost every buyer I have worked with was somewhere else at the time — a different city, usually a different country, frequently a different time zone. What decides those purchases is never the render. It is whether the numbers survive scrutiny at 11pm after a shift, and whether the person who sold it to you still answers a year later.
What you get from this desk: a shortlist instead of a catalogue, arithmetic in your own currency, the objections stated out loud before you have to raise them, and one point of contact from the first message to the day the title is in your name.
- Licensed property consultant since 2016, working almost entirely with buyers purchasing from abroad
- Built for remote purchases: nobody here is expected to fly in for a site visit before deciding
- Dubai and Abu Dhabi transactions executed with UAE-licensed brokerage partners, directly with the developer
- Reachable on Philippine, Gulf and Western hours — WhatsApp first, always the same person
How this works
From first message to title deed
A conversation, not a pitch
Twenty minutes on WhatsApp or a call. Budget, timeline, whether this is income or a home, and what you already own. If Dubai is wrong for your situation I will say so on that call.
A shortlist and the real numbers
Two or three assets, with the full cost stack written out: price, booking deposit, payment schedule, the 4% DLD registration fee, service charges, and the net income after all of it — in your currency.
Unit selection and allocation
Floor, orientation, view line and layout matter more to your yield than the building does. We select from live developer inventory and hold the specific unit while you decide.
Reservation and escrow
Reservation form, passport, booking deposit. Payments go to the project’s regulated escrow account and the sale is registered in your name on the Oqood interim register. Everything countersigned before money moves.
Construction, handover, and a tenant
Milestone payments on the agreed schedule with progress updates. At handover: snagging, utilities, furnishing where relevant, then letting or short-let management. Golden Visa filed once the threshold is cleared.
Questions
Straight answers
Can a Filipino — or any foreign national — actually own property in Dubai?
Yes, outright. In Dubai’s designated freehold areas, foreign nationals hold full title in their own name, registered with the Dubai Land Department. You do not need to be a UAE resident, you do not need a local partner or sponsor, and the title is inheritable. Every asset on this site is freehold.
I’m an OFW here on a work visa. Does that change anything?
It helps. You already have an Emirates ID and a UAE bank account, which makes payments and, later, a local mortgage far simpler. But residency is not a requirement to buy — a Filipino in Manila, Toronto or London buys on the same terms as one in Deira.
What tax will I pay on rental income?
In the UAE: none. There is no personal income tax and no capital gains tax on residential property. What you do pay is a one-off 4% Dubai Land Department registration fee at purchase, plus annual service charges levied by the building. Your own country may still tax foreign income — Philippine tax residents in particular should take local advice.
How much money do I need to start?
The lowest entry in this portfolio is AED 555,000, and off-plan booking deposits typically run 10–20% of the price. That means a first reservation of roughly AED 55,000–110,000 in cash, with the rest scheduled across construction. The calculator on this site shows the exact cash-in figure for any asset in AED, dollars or pesos.
Is off-plan safe? What stops a developer taking my money?
Dubai runs an escrow regime. Buyer payments on an off-plan project go into a project-specific escrow account regulated by the Dubai Land Department and released to the developer against verified construction milestones, and the sale is registered on the Oqood interim register in your name. It is not a handshake — but developer track record still matters, which is why this portfolio is limited to six names rather than everything on the market.
Can I get a mortgage?
UAE residents with a salary here can generally finance up to 80% of a completed property through a UAE bank; non-residents typically see 50–65%. Off-plan is usually paid on the developer’s own instalment plan first, with a mortgage arranged at or near handover. The 1%-per-month structures on this site exist precisely so you do not need bank finance during construction.
What does the AED 2,000,000 Golden Visa actually give me?
A 10-year renewable UAE residency for you, your spouse and your dependent children, sponsored by your property rather than an employer — so it survives a job change. It can be met across multiple properties, which is why combining two or three high-yield units is usually a better play than one expensive one.
You’re based in Manila. Who handles things on the ground?
Transactions are executed in association with a UAE-licensed brokerage and directly with the developer under UAE law; broker registration and per-unit advertising permit numbers are given to you in writing before you reserve anything. What I do is the part most buyers get wrong: choosing the asset, checking the arithmetic, and staying reachable at Philippine, Gulf and Western hours until you hold the title.
Next step
Twenty minutes will tell you whether this is for you.
No brochure dump, no pressure. A conversation about your budget, your timeline and whether Dubai actually beats the alternative you are weighing it against.