UAE: Best way to buy property – via your developer’s payment plans or bank mortgage EMIs?

UAE: Best way to buy property – via your developer’s payment plans or bank mortgage EMIs?

You would either want to purchase property to build your investment portfolio or live in the unit as an end-user. The range of developers' options on payment plans and attractive bank interest rates on home loans makes it easier to realise your financial goal of buying a home in the UAE. Although the offers are enticing enough, most homebuyers often get confused about their choice to buy a property - with a developer payment plan or bank mortgage. For Dubai-based Chirag Ashok Shabnani buying properties on developer's payment plans is his most preferred choice. He is a business owner, investor cum realtor, who owns multiple properties in Dubai. He has purchased the units directly from Emaar and a few from the resale market. One of his recent purchase is a podium villa in Boulevard Heights in Downtown that he had purchased directly from real estate developer Emaar on a five-year post-handover payment plan and got a 4 per cent DLD (Dubai Land Department) fee waiver. In Dubai, when purchasing a ready or off-plan property (property which is available for purchase before it has been constructed) in Dubai, the payment terms are split into instalments which must be paid in several