How to Verify a Dubai Real Estate Agent or Brokerage (RERA, ORN, BRN & Trakheesi)

Dubai’s property market is one of the most tightly regulated in the region — every brokerage, every individual agent and every single property advertisement has to carry a number issued by the Dubai Land Department (DLD). The problem is that almost nobody tells buyers this, so most people choose an agent on gut feel, a slick Instagram feed or whoever answered the phone first.

You can do much better than that. In about five minutes, and without leaving your sofa, you can confirm whether the person selling you an AED 3 million apartment is legally allowed to do it, whether the office they represent is licensed, and whether the listing they sent you is a real, permitted property or a bait advert for something that sold three months ago.

This guide explains the three numbers that matter — ORN, BRN and the Trakheesi permit — how to check each one against official DLD sources, what the standard RERA contract forms actually commit you to, how commission works, and the warning signs that should end a conversation. It is written for overseas buyers in particular, because the checks below are the ones that protect you when you are not in the country to see things for yourself.

The three numbers every legitimate Dubai agent can give you

Real estate in Dubai is regulated by RERA (the Real Estate Regulatory Agency), the regulatory arm of the Dubai Land Department. RERA licenses the office, licenses the individual, and permits the advert. Those are three separate things, and a legitimate agent can produce all three on request without hesitating.

1. ORN — the Office Registration Number (the brokerage)

The ORN identifies the company. Every real estate brokerage operating legally in Dubai holds a trade licence from the Department of Economy and Tourism and a RERA broker-office registration, which produces the ORN. If a firm cannot give you an ORN, it is not a licensed Dubai brokerage — whatever its website says.

The ORN is what you use to check that the company itself is current, that its registration has not lapsed, and that the office address matches the one on the licence. Homesae, for reference, operates under ORN 55177 from Business Bay.

2. BRN — the Broker Registration Number (the individual)

The BRN belongs to the person. An individual agent cannot legally broker a transaction in Dubai on the strength of their employer’s licence alone: they must complete the certified training programme run by the Dubai Real Estate Institute, pass the RERA exam, and hold a personal broker card carrying their own BRN and photograph.

This is the number that matters most in practice, because it is agent-specific and it expires. A brokerage can be perfectly legitimate while the individual you are dealing with is unregistered, newly hired, or working on a lapsed card. Ask for a photo of the broker card — it takes them two seconds and the reaction tells you a great deal.

3. Trakheesi permit — the advert

Trakheesi is the DLD’s permit system for property advertising. Since the advertising rules were tightened, every property advert in Dubai — portal listing, brochure, billboard, social post — must carry a permit number issued against that specific property, and portal listings must display a QR code that resolves to the DLD’s own validation page.

This is the check that kills bait advertising. A permit is tied to a real property with a real, contracted seller. If a listing has no permit number and no QR code, one of a few things is true: the property is not actually available, the agent does not have the seller’s authority to market it, or the listing is a fishing exercise to collect enquiries. None of those are reasons to keep talking.

How to check the numbers yourself

All three checks are free, public, and run by the government rather than by the industry. There are three official routes:

• The Dubai REST app (DLD’s official app, iOS and Android) — the most useful single tool. It includes broker and brokerage lookup, project and escrow information, title-deed verification and a QR scanner for advertising permits.
• The Dubai Land Department website — the public services section carries the broker and office validation services, the registered projects register, and the approved registration trustee offices.
• The Dubai Brokers portal — a searchable public directory of licensed brokerages and their registered agents.

A practical order of operations for an overseas buyer:

1. Search the brokerage by name and confirm the ORN matches the one you were given, that the licence is active, and that the office address is the one on their website.
2. Search the individual agent by name or BRN and confirm they are listed under that brokerage. An agent registered to a different office is a genuine problem — it usually means they have moved and the paperwork has not followed, and it complicates who is legally acting for you.
3. Scan the QR code on the listing, or enter the permit number, and confirm it resolves to the same property, the same unit type and the same brokerage.
4. For off-plan, look up the project in the registered-projects register and confirm it exists, is registered with RERA, and has a DLD escrow account attached.

Because registers and app features are updated periodically, always run these checks against the DLD’s own channels at the time you are buying rather than relying on a screenshot an agent sends you.

What a compliant Dubai property advert must show

Once you know what to look for, non-compliant listings become obvious. A properly permitted advert carries:

• A permit number for that specific property.
• A QR code linking to the DLD validation record on portal listings.
• The brokerage name and ORN.
• Photographs of the actual unit — not a different unit in the same tower, not renders passed off as photographs of a completed home.
• A price the seller has actually agreed to, not a headline number designed to generate calls.

If you are comparing a shortlist across portals and one listing is materially cheaper than everything comparable, check the permit before you get excited. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the outlier is either stale, mispriced deliberately, or not genuinely on the market.

The RERA forms: what you are actually signing

Dubai uses standardised contract forms for brokered transactions. Knowing which is which prevents a lot of avoidable confusion, particularly for buyers used to other markets.

• Form A — the agreement between the seller and the listing brokerage. It authorises the agent to market the property and sets the seller’s commission. If an agent claims to represent a property, Form A is the document that proves it.
• Form B — the agreement between the buyer and their broker. It sets out what the buyer’s agent will do and the commission payable.
• Form I — the agreement between two brokerages co-operating on a deal, one representing each side.
• Form F — the Memorandum of Understanding: the actual sale contract between buyer and seller, setting price, deposit, timelines and obligations. Signing Form F is the point of commitment, and it is normally accompanied by a deposit of around 10% held by the agency or a trustee.

The practical rule: no money before Form F. Requests for a “reservation fee”, a “holding deposit” or a “unit blocking payment” ahead of a signed MOU are one of the most common ways buyers lose money in this market, and the amounts are rarely large enough to be worth chasing afterwards.

How commission works — and who pays it

In the Dubai secondary (resale) market, the market-standard brokerage commission is 2% of the purchase price plus 5% VAT, paid by the buyer to their broker at transfer, with the seller paying their own listing agent separately. It is a negotiable commercial term, not a fixed tariff, but 2% is the norm and a quoted figure far above it deserves a question.

Off-plan works differently: on a direct purchase from a developer, the developer normally pays the agent’s commission, so a buyer purchasing a new launch through a broker usually pays no brokerage fee at all. That is worth knowing, because it means using a broker for off-plan generally costs you nothing while adding negotiating leverage and access to unit inventory before public release.

Commission is separate from the transaction costs you pay the government. The one-time DLD transfer fee of 4% plus registration, trustee and mortgage costs are covered in detail in our guide to the cost of buying property in Dubai.

Off-plan: escrow accounts and project registration

Off-plan carries a specific set of protections, and they only work if the project is properly registered. Under Dubai’s escrow law, a developer selling off-plan units must register the project with RERA and hold buyer payments in a project-specific escrow account, released against verified construction milestones rather than paid directly to the developer.

Before you transfer anything:

• Confirm the project is registered in the DLD register.
• Confirm the escrow account number, and pay into that account — never into a broker’s or an individual’s account.
• Check the developer’s track record for delivery, not just for launches. Our comparison of Dubai’s leading developers covers how to read that.
• Read the SPA delay clauses and the payment schedule before signing anything.

If you are still weighing the two routes, our off-plan versus ready property comparison and the foreign investor’s off-plan guide set out the trade-offs in full.

Ten red flags

1. The agent cannot or will not produce a BRN and broker card.
2. The listing has no permit number and no QR code.
3. You are asked to pay anything into a personal bank account, or in cash.
4. You are asked for a deposit before a signed Form F.
5. The advertised property is suddenly “just sold” and a more expensive alternative appears immediately.
6. Photographs do not match the unit, or are obviously renders of an unbuilt property described as ready.
7. Pressure tactics: an offer that expires today, a “last unit” that has been the last unit for a fortnight.
8. Guaranteed returns quoted as a certainty rather than an estimate, with no basis shown.
9. Reluctance to put the commission figure in writing.
10. For off-plan: no escrow account number, or a request to pay the developer directly.

Questions worth asking before you commit

• What is your BRN, and what is the brokerage’s ORN?
• What is the Trakheesi permit number for this listing?
• Do you hold Form A for this property, or are you sourcing it from another agency?
• Who is paying your commission on this transaction, and how much is it?
• How many transactions have you closed in this specific community in the past year?
• For off-plan: which escrow account do payments go to, and what is the registered project number?
• What are the total closing costs, itemised, on top of the purchase price?

Good agents answer all of these quickly and in writing, because the answers are matters of public record. Hesitation on any of them is information.

Buying from overseas

Non-resident buyers can purchase freehold property in Dubai’s designated freehold areas without residency, and the process can be completed remotely — but remote buying removes the informal checks that catch problems in person, which makes documentary verification more important, not less.

Three practical safeguards. First, run all three official checks yourself rather than accepting forwarded screenshots. Second, if you cannot travel, grant a properly notarised and attested power of attorney to a named individual rather than allowing informal arrangements. Third, insist that funds move only to a registered trustee office, a developer escrow account, or a documented conveyancing route — never to an individual.

Purchases at or above AED 2 million also open the door to the 10-year Golden Visa through property investment, which is worth factoring into budgeting from the outset rather than discovering afterwards.

How Homesae is regulated

Homesae is a DLD-registered Dubai brokerage operating under ORN 55177 from Business Bay, specialising in luxury, off-plan and branded residences. Every agent holds a personal RERA broker card, every listing we advertise carries its Trakheesi permit, and we will send the ORN, the relevant BRN and the permit number for any property on request — before you ask for them, ideally.

If you are at the research stage, our Dubai community guides cover the main areas in depth, the best areas to invest guide compares them on returns, and you can browse current off-plan projects or homes for sale across Dubai whenever you are ready.

The five-step check, in order

If you only remember one thing from this guide, make it this sequence. Each step takes a minute or two and they are deliberately ordered so that the cheapest checks eliminate the worst problems first.

1. Step one — the office. Take the brokerage name and licence number from the website footer or the agent’s signature and confirm the ORN is active in the DLD register. If the registration has lapsed or the trade name does not match, stop here.
2. Step two — the person. Ask for a photograph of the RERA broker card. Confirm the BRN is valid and that the agent is registered to that brokerage. Real estate brokers move between agencies frequently, and stale registrations are common.
3. Step three — the listing. Scan the QR code or check the Trakheesi permit number and confirm it resolves to the same unit, the same building and the same agency.
4. Step four — the reputation. Licensing tells you someone is allowed to trade; it does not tell you they are good at it. Spend ten minutes on the background check described below.
5. Step five — the money. Before any transfer, confirm exactly which account the funds go to and get the full closing costs itemised in writing. For off-plan, that account should be the project’s DLD escrow account and nothing else.

Reputation and background: the checks the licence does not cover

A valid licence is a floor, not a recommendation. Regulatory compliance confirms the agent is entitled to handle a property transaction; it says nothing about whether they know the community, negotiate well, or return calls after the deposit clears. A short due-diligence pass on reputation is worth as much as the licence checks:

• Transaction history in your specific community. Dubai agents specialise narrowly. Someone with twenty deals in Dubai Marina is genuinely useful there and close to useless in Arabian Ranches. Ask for the number, and for two recent client references.
• Tenure at the brokerage. An agent who joined three weeks ago may be excellent, but they will not have the internal relationships that get you early access to developer inventory.
• Professional footprint. Check LinkedIn for a consistent employment history and the agency’s own team page for the same person, same photo, same BRN. Inconsistencies between social media profiles, the licence register and the agency site are worth asking about.
• Independent reviews. Google and Trustpilot reviews for the brokerage are more informative than testimonials on its own website. Look at how the company answers criticism, not just the star average.
• Transparency under pressure. Ask a question with an inconvenient answer — total closing costs, realistic time to rent the unit, what happens if the developer delays. An agent who gives you a straight answer that costs them something is the one to keep.

None of this is exotic. It is ordinary due diligence, and it takes less time than choosing a hotel.

Outside Dubai: how verification differs across the UAE

RERA, ORN, BRN and Trakheesi are Dubai systems. If you are looking at property elsewhere in the UAE, the principle is identical — licensed office, licensed individual, permitted advert — but the authority and the terminology change, and a Dubai broker card does not automatically qualify someone to transact in another emirate.

• Abu Dhabi — regulated by the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC) under the Department of Municipalities and Transport, with its own broker licensing and the Dari platform for registration and services.
• Sharjah — the Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department licenses brokers and registers transactions.
• Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain — each municipality runs its own registration and escrow regime for the designated freehold zones now open to foreign buyers.

If an agency is marketing across several emirates, ask which regulator licenses the individual handling your purchase, and check that licence with that authority rather than assuming a Dubai registration carries over.

Keep the paperwork

Whatever you buy, keep a documented trail: the ORN and BRN you verified, screenshots of the permit validation, the signed forms, payment receipts showing the destination account, and the title deed or Oqood certificate. Overseas buyers in particular tend to rely on WhatsApp threads that disappear when a phone is replaced. If a dispute ever arises, the documentation is what determines your rights, and reconstructing it after the fact is far harder than saving it as you go.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if a real estate agent in Dubai is licensed?

Ask for three things: the brokerage’s ORN (Office Registration Number), the individual agent’s BRN (Broker Registration Number) from their RERA broker card, and the Trakheesi permit number for the specific listing. All three can be verified free of charge through the Dubai Land Department’s official channels, including the Dubai REST app, the DLD website and the Dubai Brokers portal. An agent who cannot produce them should not be handling your transaction.

What is a BRN number in Dubai real estate?

The BRN, or Broker Registration Number, is issued by RERA to an individual agent, not to the company. To hold one, the agent must complete the certified training programme at the Dubai Real Estate Institute, pass the RERA exam and carry a personal broker card showing their name, photograph and BRN. Broker cards expire, so a legitimate brokerage can still employ an agent whose own registration has lapsed.

What is an ORN number in Dubai?

The ORN, or Office Registration Number, identifies the brokerage itself. Every real estate company operating legally in Dubai holds a trade licence plus a RERA broker-office registration, which produces the ORN. It lets you confirm the firm is currently registered and that its licensed address matches the office you are dealing with. Homesae operates under ORN 55177 from Business Bay.

What is a Trakheesi permit and why does it matter?

Trakheesi is the Dubai Land Department’s advertising permit system. Every property advertisement in Dubai must carry a permit number issued against that specific property, and portal listings must show a QR code that resolves to the DLD’s own validation record. A permit means a real property with a real, contracted seller, so a listing without one is the clearest single sign of bait advertising or an agent marketing a property they have no authority to sell.

How much commission do real estate agents charge in Dubai?

In the secondary (resale) market the standard brokerage commission is 2% of the purchase price plus 5% VAT, paid by the buyer to their own broker at transfer, with the seller paying their listing agent separately. It is a negotiable commercial term rather than a fixed tariff. On off-plan purchases direct from a developer, the developer normally pays the commission, so the buyer usually pays no brokerage fee at all.

What is Form F in a Dubai property purchase?

Form F is the RERA Memorandum of Understanding — the actual sale contract between buyer and seller, setting the price, deposit, timelines and obligations. It is the point of commitment, and is normally accompanied by a deposit of around 10%. Forms A and B cover the seller’s and buyer’s agreements with their brokers, and Form I covers two brokerages co-operating on one deal. The practical rule for buyers is simple: no money before Form F.