Two markets, one set of fundamentals
I did over ten years in UK real estate before Dubai, most of it in London and a couple of years in Devon. When I moved here in my thirties I genuinely believed I already knew this job. Twelve years later, here is what was actually different, and what turned out to be identical.
Difference one: the listing is a race, not a prize
In the UK you win an instruction and it is yours. Sole agency, you control the timeline, the marketing and the message. Here, three agents can market the same sale and six the same rental. So winning the listing is the start of a competition rather than the end of one, and speed, presentation and follow-up decide who actually transacts.
Difference two: who pays
In the UK the seller pays the agent. In Dubai the buyer pays on a secondary sale and the tenant pays on a rental. That changes the entire dynamic with an owner, because you cannot compete on price with someone who is not paying you. You can only compete on the promise, which is why exclusives and a proper launch plan matter more here than most agents realise.
Difference three: the population moves
In the UK, relationships compound in one postcode over decades. You sell to a family, then to their children. Here the city turns over constantly. Your client leaves in two years and comes back in five, or moves to a different community entirely. Most agents conclude that a database matters less in a transient market. The opposite is true: it matters far more, because if you do not own the relationship you will never know they came back.
What was identical, in both markets, over twenty three years
The agent who has more conversations wins. The agent who follows up after everyone else has stopped wins. The agent who actually knows their patch, street by street, wins. And the agent who is still doing all three in month nine, having earned very little so far, is the one who is still standing in year five.
That last one is not a Dubai thing or a UK thing. It is a real estate thing, and I have now watched it hold in two markets that agree on almost nothing else.
If you are making the move
Do not assume your experience transfers automatically, and do not assume it counts for nothing either. Learn what is genuinely different, which is mostly structural, and then trust the fundamentals, which have not changed in twenty three years and are not about to.
If you are making the move, or you have made it and it is not working yet, book a free 30 minute call and we will look at your numbers together: calendly.com/yourrealestatecoo.
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Ashley J Hawthorne is the founder of Your Real Estate COO and Managing Director of a Dubai brokerage, with 23 years in real estate across the UK and Dubai and nine industry awards. More about Ashley.
