The DealDeed Standard

Most "distressed deals" are marketing. Here is how we tell the difference.

Every week, properties are posted across Dubai as "super distress" or "urgent sale below market." Most are nothing of the kind — asking prices dressed as discounts, developer incentives misframed as reductions, or units priced at exactly what the open market already offers. Before any deal reaches our register, it passes five tests. If it fails one, it is declined — whatever the headline claims.

Five tests

What every deal must survive.

1 · The distress baseline is verified paid-in equity — not the asking price

We start from the Statement of Account: what has actually been paid to the developer or is registered on title. A "discount" measured against an inflated ask is not a discount. Distress is measured against real money in.

2 · Valuation is anchored to registered DLD transactions — never portal listings

Asking prices are opinions. The Dubai Land Department records what buyers actually paid. Every deal is benchmarked against recent registered transactions for comparable units in the same community — and if it isn't below them, it isn't below market.

3 · The buyer's all-in cost is normalised before any comparison

Transfer fees, agency fees, outstanding instalments, service-charge arrears, assignment premiums — everything is added back. A deal is only priced once the full cost of ownership is on the table.

4 · The commission structure is examined before any discount claim is accepted

Inflated commissions routinely fund "discounts." We establish who is paying whom, and how much, before we accept that a price is genuinely reduced rather than recycled.

5 · The seller's situation is verified, not asserted

A motivated sale has evidence — a payment schedule, a formal default notice, a relocation, a restructuring. "Owner needs quick sale" is a claim; we look for the paperwork behind it.

What we decline

We decline more than we accept. That is the point of the register.

Developer cash incentives repackaged as price reductions. Resales at open-market level presented as urgent. Units priced above their community's registered average per square foot. "NET ROI" claims that no Ejari or service-charge statement supports. Deals where the discount disappears once all-in costs are counted. If a deal benchmarks at parity with DLD, we will not dress it as distressed — and we will say so.

How the desk works

Verified by us. Executed agent to agent.

DealDeed is a business-to-business introduction desk, not a brokerage. Buyers and sellers are each represented by their own independent RERA-licensed agent; DealDeed verifies the deal, makes the introduction, and earns a fixed introduction fee from the agent only when a deal completes — never from the buyer or seller. Deals are presented anonymised until confidentiality terms are in place.

Submit a deal for verification → Join the register →