Special Post

Property management fees are often discussed as if there is one simple question: What percentage does a property manager charge? That is the wrong starting point. Two companies may both say: 5% but provide completely different levels of service. One may include: rent collection; renewals; inspections; maintenance coordination; reporting. Another may charge...

Changing your property manager should not be treated as: “Stop working with Company A and start working with Company B.” A professionally managed property contains operational information that must move with the management responsibility. That can include: tenancy contracts; rent records; security deposits; keys; access cards; maintenance...

Receiving the keys does not always mean: “The movers can arrive tomorrow.” In many managed Abu Dhabi communities, moving into or out of a property may require: community approval; move-in or move-out permit; mover details; date and time booking; service-lift reservation; gate-security clearance. Aldar, for example, officially provides move-in and move-out permit...

Abu Dhabi's rental market entered 2026 with exceptionally strong demand. Rents were rising. Occupancy was high. New leases in many investment areas were becoming increasingly expensive. Then, on 3 June 2026, the Government of Abu Dhabi introduced an important temporary change: The annual rental increase percentage was reduced from 5% to 0%. According to the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre...

A tenant's rent is due. The payment date passes. Nothing arrives. For a landlord, that can immediately create concern: Is this simply an administrative delay? Is the tenant experiencing a temporary cash-flow issue? Should a reminder be sent? When does the payment legally become overdue? Can the landlord start an eviction process? What records should be kept? For the tenant,...

A tenant rents an apartment. Then someone else starts living there. Maybe: a room is rented to another person; the whole apartment is rented onward; a company places another employee inside; the tenant advertises the property online; another person begins paying the tenant instead of the landlord. At that point, a simple tenancy can become a subletting arrangement. And in Abu...

Hiring a property manager can make rental-property ownership substantially easier. But there is an important step between: “Please manage my apartment.” and “You are officially authorised to manage my property.” That step is the: Property Management Agreement — PMA A good Property Management Agreement should clearly define: what the manager can do; what they...

A tenancy can end for very different reasons. A tenant may simply decide: “I do not want to renew.” A landlord may want to: change tenancy terms; recover the property; occupy the property personally; take action because rent is unpaid; address unauthorized subletting; redevelop or alter the property. These situations are not legally identical. That is why one of...

A security deposit looks simple. The tenant pays a sum at the beginning of the tenancy. At the end: the landlord returns it; or legitimate deductions are made. In practice, this is one of the most common areas where landlord-tenant relationships become difficult. Why? Because disagreements usually begin much earlier than move-out. They begin when nobody properly...

Property investors regularly make one dangerous assumption: “The building is insured, so my apartment is insured.” That is not necessarily true. In Abu Dhabi, a jointly owned building can have insurance arranged for the building and common parts, while the individual owner may still need separate protection for: the unit; internal fixtures; furniture; appliances; landlord...