Before you publish: a Dubai property advert checklist for agents

1. Confirm the authority and the right permit route

Official requirement: DLD’s Real Estate Ad Permit service lists a marketing contract with the property owner among its broker requirements, including for online adverts.

For the ready-property sale route, the Trakheesi manual, printed page 15, instructs the broker to enter the marketing contract A number and pay the applicable fees. Its company-services route is separate: that category does not permit promotion of properties or projects.

Our working check: keep the relevant agreement, property reference and contact responsible for approval together. Confirm that the seller’s instructions are current and that the person giving them has authority. A forwarded photograph or another agent’s listing is not a sound basis for your own advert.

Use the service and permit conditions for your exact activity. Check the applicable fee, dates and required attachments there; this checklist does not assume a universal fee, validity period or approval time. Have your company’s compliance lead confirm any additional language, media or channel requirements before release.

2. Check the finished advert’s permit details

Official requirement: RERA Circular 2 of 2022 requires real estate companies’ adverts to show the permit number and company name. It makes the advertiser responsible for accurate content consistent with the permit. It covers property platforms and social media.

DLD’s April 2025 advertising update also confirms the QR-code display requirement for real estate companies’ written and visual property adverts.

Our working check: compare the issued permit with the version that will actually appear online. Check the company, property, category and dates. Inspect the mobile crop as well as the original artwork: a code or number removed by cropping is not visible to the reader.

If the wording becomes a promotional campaign, such as a fee waiver or added benefit, check that route before posting. The 2022 circular separately addresses promotional-campaign permits. Do not assume an ordinary listing permit covers every offer you add.

3. Scan the QR code and compare the official record

Official service: Madmoun links a QR code to the advertising permit through Trakheesi. DLD describes it as a way to inspect authorised advert information, including the company and property details.

Our working check: scan the code from the finished advert. Check the destination address and compare the official record with the listing you intend to publish. A familiar logo, saved screenshot or functioning code alone does not establish that this is the correct record for this advert.

Save the check date and the relevant reference privately. If the destination fails, the permit is out of date or the property differs, resolve the discrepancy through your company and the official service before publication. Do not replace an official code with a homemade one pointing to a sales page.

This verifies advertising information. It does not establish a property’s market value, condition, investment return or suitability for a particular buyer.

4. Make every property detail traceable

Our working checklist: use the same fact sheet for the portal listing, image captions and any approved social version. Record the source and date for each item.

• Identity: building or community, property type and the correct unit reference in your private file.
• Area: the documented size, what it measures and whether the figure is in square feet or square metres.
• Price: the seller-approved asking price and what any separately quoted payment represents.
• Occupancy: whether it is occupied now, and the evidence for any claim about when possession will be available.
• Images: permission to use them and a fair description of what they show. Clearly identify illustrative images.
• Availability: a recent confirmation from the responsible seller or representative.

Keep identity documents, signatures, personal contact details and unredacted ownership papers out of public marketing files. The advert should communicate the verified facts, without exposing the private evidence behind them.

5. Describe a distressed resale without inventing a bargain

At distress.ae, distress describes an individual seller’s circumstances. It does not describe a developer, bank or building. Use the seller’s permitted factual instructions; avoid turning a private deadline into a dramatic story.

Illustrative wording exercise, not a real listing: suppose the seller has confirmed that they want a sale before relocating. “Seller seeking a sale before relocation; asking price and availability checked on [date]” explains the timing. “Desperate seller, guaranteed profit, cheapest unit in Dubai” introduces claims that the instructions do not support.

Only use the first wording if the seller authorised that disclosure and the applicable advert approval covers it. A useful drafting example is not a substitute for a permit.

Before calling a price below market, identify the comparison, its date and the reasons the properties are comparable. An original purchase price, another advert’s asking price and a recorded sale are different references. If you cannot support the comparison, state the asking price without the claimed discount. Our guide to recorded sale-price differences explains the distinction.

6. Keep a short release record

The following is our suggested internal worksheet. The official requirements are explained and sourced above; the recordkeeping format is our recommendation.

Download the one-page advert checklist (PDF). Add your listing reference, reviewer and check date. Keep it with the approved advert version.

If an important fact changes, review the affected advert and permit position again. DLD’s manual, printed page 21, includes a permit-amendment route. Use the relevant process; changing a portal’s text alone does not establish that the official record has changed.

For an inaccurate advert already online, our recommendation is to pause or withdraw the affected version through its publishing channel while resolving the issue. Keep track of copies on other channels so an obsolete price or availability claim does not remain in circulation.

Common questions