Buy Dirt Part 2

We had sold everything, put in a career break at work, promoted my mum to cat sitter, and jetted off on a 1 way ticket with our 3 month old baby in tow.

Side note: turns out its a lot easier to travel with a 3 month old than it is a 1 year old. At a few months old you get a bassinet for baby to sleep in = extra legroom for you. The plane noise also works as a white noise machine (win win for baby and parents)

As soon as we arrived, we headed straight to my family home. We took a couple days to recover, rented a car for the month and got to work.

Location, Location, Location

Back in my good old police officer days, I made a really good friend. Said friend happened to now work in real estate in Dubai. I was open to looking at properties for a few months prior to visiting the UAE but knew that I would not purchase until I got an understanding of where everything was.

Due to budget constraints I couldn’t afford to have everything I wanted when looking at flats but a big selling point for me was potential.

We did a lot of research and JVC was one of the best locations when it came to price and connectivity to the rest of Dubai. Its proximity to all the main points of Dubai, how close the property was to main attractions and local amenities.

I found the following plan (figure below) for outlining the train lines by 2030, making JVC the connection point to two main train lines. Potential.

Blog Image

The biggest airport and all major international flights directed to the new airport on the left as of 2030 (4,000 new jobs), Global village 8 min away, the palm 15min away, downtown 18min away, DIFC not far and everything else you could need in walking distance.

Getting it done

Property in Dubai is similar to buying quality branded clothing. Every developer has their stamp on the buildings and some brands associated with luxury actually have their stamp on the buildings.

The biggest thing we had to look out for was reliability of the developer, as there were a few stories of buildings not being completed and taking a lot longer to complete than what was advertised.

Out of all the developers, Binghatti stood out to us for a number of factors:

Estate agent - what I found

To understand the supply and demand relationship I leveraged my relationship as a buyer and got a job as an estate agent where I purchased my property with the key goal of understanding what a good deal was and helping my friends navigate this somewhat confusing property landscape to get the best deal possible for them.

Doing a lot of research, I’ve found that the quality of the product varied significantly depending on the developer. At the time of purchasing Binghatti was the best at providing, location, luxury and most importantly was the best priced for what you got. My calculations were all based on a 50 - 60% occupancy rate (which in Dubai is a bit higher).

I have found that buying a 1 bedroom place gave you the best returns, as a 2 bed place was almost double the price and there was not a large enough rental demand for 2 bedroom places yet so the rental income wasn’t enough to justify the purchase. I also saw that 1 bedrooms were always the first to get sold in any development and would not stay longer than a couple of weeks on the books, which is key for when you have your exit strategy.

Luckily this reinforced my confidence in our decision to go ahead with the place we had purchased.

What Did We End Up With?

We purchased a one-bedroom apartment in JVC, located in a Binghatti building.

Side Note: We briefly considered selling the property before it was completed to make a quick profit. During that time, the Amir Khan (the boxer) reached out to inquire about our property (which was awesome). Ultimately, we decided to keep the apartment, and he ended up purchasing a two-bedroom unit for his family instead.

Things to consider

When we had chosen JVC we had also looked at all the other buildings being constructed there and their completion date. We knew that if we wanted to do a quick flip we would need to get a good enough price to beat the supply that will be due to come. Which we got (thankfully), but our plan is to keep the place and exit at 4 years (once the trains and airport are close to completion) or keep it for 15+ years as we see the way Dubai is being built. The places near the water have been built and the only way left is inland.

As for price per square feet, you are better off buying Two 1 bedroom places side by side and converting it into a 3 bedroom. As you only get approximately 33% more square footage for a 2 bedroom than a 1 bedroom.

Challenges Along the Way

The journey wasn't without its obstacles. Here are some of the challenges we faced:

One r assured me that securing an 80% mortgage would be straightforward, given our combined earnings. This assurance was a key factor in my decision to move forward with the purchase.

The Outcome

Due to construction delays (two months), we faced another mortgage approval challenge. By then, my salary had slightly decreased due to a job change, and my wife was on maternity leave. Despite having significant equity, the bank approval process was slow, risking late payment fees to the developer.

Instead, we opted for Option B—selling a share of our apartment to an investor friend. Rather than borrowing money outright, we structured a deal offering him meaningful returns. While our friends would have willingly loaned us the funds, we consciously decided to rely solely on Allah and maintain a business approach where all parties genuinely benefited.

What may seem like something small to some is a huge achievement (with still a long way to go) for my wife and I. We started with very little in life and worked hard towards our goals relying on resilience alone at points. It was a challenging journey, yet ultimately rewarding, reinforcing the principle that meaningful goals are rarely easy but always worth it.