How to verify a Dubai off-plan project before you sign anything

Two checks come before anything else: is the project actually registered with the DLD against a government-controlled escrow account, and does the listing itself carry a valid Trakheesi advertising permit. Skip either and a buyer is exposed in ways that are hard to undo later — an unregistered escrow means payments have no legal protection if the developer stalls, and an unpermitted listing puts a client's name against a marketing activity that was never authorised in the first place.

The rest is comparison and arithmetic, done before a deposit rather than after. We check the asking price against actual DLD transaction records for that community, not brochure comparables. We confirm visa eligibility against the exact unit and price, not a general assumption. We get DLD fees, service charges and handover costs in writing before booking. And we assess resale and rental demand for that specific unit, so the exit is planned alongside the entry. None of this is unusual due diligence — it is simply done before the client signs, not after something goes wrong.