97 days into a Dubai duplex deal: what should the service actually cover?

E

earnest_creek

Developer
Established
It has been 97 days and I still cannot tell where “property management” ends and simple introduction begins. I’m considering a Dubai duplex around AED 1,743,000 and need to decide whether to keep the current service involved or replace it before closing.

Some providers mention negotiation and document coordination; others apparently hand over contact details and disappear. I would expect a written fee breakdown, realistic response times, local knowledge and one person accountable for progressing matters between offer and closing. Afterward, any ongoing management duties should be separately defined.

What exact scope would you ask them to commit to, and what evidence would you require before paying further fees? I want fewer follow-ups, not the same chasing converted into app notifications.
 
First, separate acquisition support from ongoing property management. Negotiating an offer, coordinating transaction documents and tracking closing are not the same service as managing the duplex afterward.

Ask for a written task list showing who handles each step, response targets, every fee and exclusion, escalation details, and what happens if you terminate. For ongoing management, clarify tenant communication, payment administration, maintenance approvals, reporting and document retention. If they will not define the boundary, changing providers may only reproduce the confusion.
 
What has actually consumed the 97 days? Is the duplex completed, occupied or still awaiting handover? Also, is the delay with the seller, financing, documents or the service provider?

That distinction matters because no response-time promise can remove a dependency controlled by somebody else. I would ask for a dated list of completed actions, outstanding items, responsible parties and the exact wording of the quoted scope.
 
I would not make speed the main test. A quick “we are following up” message can conceal the fact that nothing has advanced. Accountability is more useful: copies of submitted or signed documents, records of payments, written explanations of blockers and confirmation of who has authority to act.

Local expertise should also be independently verifiable rather than inferred from confident language. Dubai-specific transaction and management requirements can differ from assumptions brought from elsewhere in the UAE.
 
Agreed on evidence, although I would go further on the money side. The AED 1,743,000 price does not itself justify either a high fee or a broad scope. Compare providers task by task.

The quote should say when each fee becomes due, whether third-party costs are separate, who may approve maintenance spending later, and what money or records must be transferred if the appointment ends. Otherwise the cheapest-looking offer can leave the owner paying twice for omitted work.
 
At 97 days, I would send one written request rather than another loose follow-up. Ask for the current status, complete document trail, itemised fees paid and still due, unresolved dependencies, named person for each next action, and proposed dates. Set a reasonable response deadline of your choosing.

Also request the termination and handover process now, even if you stay. If the answer remains vague, preserve all correspondence and obtain independent UAE-qualified guidance on the transaction before replacing anyone. A new provider should receive an organised file, not inherit the same uncertainty.
 
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