Advice please- What are the procedure of setting up a Real Estate Agency in a non-freezone? | ExpatWoman.com
 

Advice please- What are the procedure of setting up a Real Estate Agency in a non-freezone?

1
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 31 March 2014 - 18:44

Hello,

I would like to find out what are the procedure of setting up a real estate agency in the non-freezone, is this difficult to do?

I was told by someone from RERA that I would need the following requirements- a local sponsor.
a trade name and a licence. I also have to do a 2 day real estate brokers course, this applies to those who have a degree (as per RERA requirements).

Would a local sponsor have 100% ownership of my company, which I would not have any control of?

Is it possible to open a real estate agency in a freezone as well?

Please advice.

Thanks.

1
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 November 2025 - 07:37
Just sharing my experience so others don’t go through the same. I’m a Canadian citizen and applied directly with RAKEZ for a freelance company. Everything looked great in the beginning — the sales rep was super responsive until I transferred AED 19,000. Once my company was set up, my visa got rejected. I kept asking for the reason, but no one gave a clear answer. I even flew to their office and was told it was “security reasons” and that people with dual nationality were facing issues. They asked me to pay more and reapply — I did, but it got rejected again. When I finally gave up and asked for a refund, they said to de-register first — but during de-registration, they asked for more money instead of returning mine. Honestly, nothing was clear, and communication stopped once they had the payment. Just be careful — make sure everything is transparent and in writing before you deal with them.
680
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 31 March 2014 - 19:28
Yes you will require a trade license, premises, sponsor and the course, dates of which are on the lands dept website. No, the local sponsor will not own the business. No, not allowed in FZ. Finally, yes it is difficult. Due to your many questions, I can predict that you will find this harder than you may think. Your local sponsor is required to have a RERA certificate I think, but it all depends on wether you want to be a broker or an agent for renting etc.
 
 

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