Rera advises buyers and sellers to engage separate agents

Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera) has advised property buyers to have two different agents representing them in a property sale transaction, according to senior government official.

"A real estate agent in Dubai can represent both the buyer and the seller as long as both the parties are aware of it. However, as per best practices, we advise investors that they should use different agents for a particular sales transaction," Mubarak Mohammad Al Jafla, Head of Brokers' Registration Section, Rera, told Emirates Business.

The benefit of having two different agents representing the buyer and the seller is that each agent has a better opportunity to protect the interests of their clients. The buyer's agent can negotiate the best price for his client without worrying about protecting the best interest of the seller, while the seller's agent can try to get the highest price for his client's property without worrying about protecting the interests of the buyer.

Al Jafla said in many cases, the reality is not always the same and that sometimes the buyer and the seller do not want to deal with two different agents.

"In this situation all the parties to the real estate transaction should acknowledge that the broker represents the interests of the seller and the buyer," he said.

Outlining the details of the commission payable to agents as per the bylaw No 85 of 2006, regarding the Regulation of Real Estate Brokers' Register in Dubai, Al Jafla said: "We have not set any rules within the law to apply any maximum limit of commission payable to a real estate agent. This is based on a standard practice and mutual agreement between the two parties involved in the transaction."

With respect to the real estate agents who have lost their jobs, the procedures to cancel their registration will be handled by government agencies, particularly the departments of labour and immigration.

"When a real estate company wants to cancel an agent's registration, as a standard procedure Rera asks for the broker agency to provide it with the agent's cancellation receipt of the labour card upon which the cancelled brokers will have to abide by the immigration department rules in order to get another job. When the agent finds employment with another real estate company they will have to apply for a new labour card," said Al Jafla.

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