When a client tells me their budget, I ask whether that number is the price or the cash they actually have. Those are two different things in Dubai. The price buys the apartment. The cash also has to cover roughly 7 to 8 percent in one-time fees that never show up in a listing. The mortgage calculator puts both numbers on the table before you fall in love with a unit.
Start with who you are
The first input is nationality, because it sets your default loan-to-value cap:
- Non-resident: 65 percent
- Resident expat: 80 percent
- UAE national: 85 percent
These are the standard Central Bank caps, and the calculator lets you override every one of them, because banks adjust for income, property value above Dh5M, and your profile. Your age matters too. UAE banks cap the tenure at the smaller of 25 years and the loan-end age minus your age, so a 38-year-old aiming to repay by 65 gets 25 years, but a 55-year-old does not.
The number people forget
The defaults are a 3.99 percent rate, 20 percent down, and 25 years. Punch in your price and the right panel splits into two big numbers: the monthly payment, and the cash needed on day one. That second number is the one that saves deals. It itemizes the full fee stack:
- DLD transfer: 4 percent plus a small admin charge
- Agency: 2 percent plus VAT
- Mortgage registration: 0.25 percent of the loan plus Dh290
- Bank processing, valuation, and trustee fees
- NOC, which is often seller-paid on a resale
Worked example at Dh1.5M
Take a resident expat buying at Dh1.5M with 20 percent down. The down payment is Dh300,000. On top of that, the one-time fees land near Dh100,000: roughly Dh60,000 for the DLD, Dh31,500 for agency with VAT, plus mortgage registration, valuation, and trustee. So the real cash on day one is about Dh400,000, not Dh300,000. That extra Dh100,000 is exactly what catches buyers who only budgeted the deposit.
If you are buying off-plan instead of resale, the fee timing is different and the payment is staged. I break that down in off-plan payment plans decoded. And once you know the monthly cost, run the yield calculator to see whether the rent actually covers it.
Source: UAE Central Bank LTV caps and Dubai Land Department fee schedule, 2026.
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