For owners
Several Apartments in Dubai? Run Them as One
4 min read
An investor with several Dubai apartments gets more from them run as one portfolio, under one operator, one standard and one statement, than as separate units each with its own tenant, agent or host.
Short answer
If you own several apartments in Dubai, whether bought together in one tower or collected over time across the city, the simplest way to get more from them is to stop treating them as separate properties.
One operator running all of them can price them together, furnish them to one standard, let each one on the tenure that suits it, and send you one statement that shows the whole portfolio. You make decisions about a portfolio rather than chasing individual tenants, agents and hosts.
It works whether you hold them for income, for a later sale, or partly for your own use.
Why separate units cost more than they should
Owners with several units usually end up with a different arrangement for each: a yearly tenant here, an agent there, a friend running one on a holiday platform. Each has its own paperwork, its own renewals and its own surprises.
The units also compete. Two apartments in the same tower listed by different hosts undercut each other on the same dates. Two units on yearly leases expire in the same slow month. Nobody is looking at the whole picture, because nobody is responsible for it.
And the owner's time is the hidden cost. Several small problems a month across several properties adds up to a part-time job.
One portfolio, three ways to let
A portfolio does not have to be all holiday homes or all yearly tenancies. Each unit can be let on whatever suits it best, and that can change over time.
Units with views, in strong locations and in demand from visitors earn well as holiday homes, let by the night. Units that suit people relocating or working in Dubai do well as monthly stays. Units that suit residents, or that you want to leave alone for a while, can go on yearly tenancies.
Spreading the units across tenures also spreads the risk. Monthly and yearly lets give a steady base, while nightly lets catch the busy season and the big events.
If your units are in the same building
Several units in one tower are the easiest portfolio to run well. They can share one furnishing standard, one set of spares and one cleaning routine, and the team that services one can service them all in the same visit.
Pricing them together matters most here. Instead of undercutting each other, the units can be priced as one stock, with the best views held for the dates that pay for them.
Check the building's rules first. Some buildings restrict holiday lets, and the owners' association has a say over how units are let.
If your units are across the city
A spread portfolio has a different advantage: it reaches different guests. A Business Bay apartment, a Downtown studio and a City Walk two-bedroom attract different people for different reasons, and between them they fill more of the year.
What it needs is one operator with teams across those districts, so every unit gets the same standard of cleaning, check-in and maintenance wherever it is.
Licensing several units
Every unit let by the night in Dubai needs its own holiday home permit from the Department of Economy and Tourism, and every guest has to be registered. Owners can register their own units, but most investors with several units hand them to a licensed operator, who holds the permits and takes on those obligations.
Units let by the month or by the year follow the normal tenancy rules instead, so a mixed portfolio involves both.
What to ask an operator
Can they run all your units, in all their locations, to the same standard? Will they recommend a tenure for each unit and review it, or put everything on the same model?
Do you get one statement covering every unit, broken down unit by unit? How and when are you paid, and what can you see without asking? Who holds the permits, and what happens if the agreement ends?
How fäm Living runs portfolios
fäm Living, the holiday homes company of fäm Properties, runs portfolios for owners of several units, whole floors and whole buildings, with our largest concentration in Business Bay and homes across Downtown Dubai, City Walk, Palm Jumeirah and more.
We start with a review of what you own, recommend a letting mix for each unit, and bring the units on in stages, so they start earning as they are ready.