--- title: "What changes when the buyer is paying in installments" description: "How off-plan installment structures affect when Dubai agents get paid, how splits work, and why every party must sign before the buyer does." category: "off-plan-developers" readingTime: 12 --- ## The deal is signed. The buyer won't pay in full for three years. Now what? Picture it: a developer launch in Business Bay. Two agencies on the deal — one brought the listing access, one brought the buyer. The booking deposit is AED 100,000, the payment plan runs 40% during construction and 60% at handover, and the total unit price is AED 2.1 million. The developer's commission to the selling agency is 4%. Both agents leave the launch convinced they have earned AED 42,000 to split. What neither has written down: when each of them actually gets paid. Who invoices the developer? When does the developer release the commission? Does the full 4% come at booking, or does part of it trail the construction milestones? If the buyer cancels at the 30% payment stage, who eats the shortfall? And — most importantly — is the split between the two agencies documented anywhere the developer will honour? These are not edge-case questions. They are the standard experience of working an off-plan deal in Dubai when the buyer is paying in installments. The installment structure does not just affect the buyer's cash flow. It restructures when money moves to every party in the transaction, including both agencies. Understanding that restructuring is the difference between a clean commission and a dispute that runs for months. ## How the developer-commission machine actually works on an installment deal In a secondary-market sale, the commission logic is clean: buyer pays full price at transfer, commissions get settled, title deed changes hands, everyone closes their file. The installment sale breaks that loop. Off-plan property in Dubai lets buyers purchase at today's prices with payment spread over the construction period, typically three to five years. The buyer isn't paying the developer once — they are paying in a series of tranches tied either to construction milestones or to a fixed time schedule. Off-plan payment plans in Dubai typically involve a booking deposit of five to ten percent, followed by construction stage payments at specific completion milestones — for example, 20% at foundation, 40% at structure, 60% at fit-out. The developer, in turn, does not receive all that buyer money into a free-use operating account. Buyer installments are paid into a project-specific escrow account held at a RERA-approved bank, never into the developer's general operating accounts. This is the mandatory escrow system established under Law No. 8 of 2007. The law establishes mandatory escrow and requires developers to open a dedicated, project-specific escrow account with a DLD-approved bank, deposit all buyer payments into that account, and withdraw funds only in stages linked to verified construction milestones. Agents rarely think about this escrow structure as something that directly affects them. They should. The developer's cash position at any given milestone determines how willing — and sometimes how able — a developer's accounts team is to process commission invoices. A developer who has only received the 10% booking deposit has not yet drawn down meaningful funds for the project. Commissions are a cost line that developers track against actual receipts. ### When does the developer actually pay the agent? This varies by developer and is not standardised across the Dubai market. Developers pay the agent directly — usually between 2% and 7% of the unit price, depending on the project, the developer's relationship with the brokerage, and current market conditions. What also varies, and matters far more in practice, is the commission release schedule. Some developers pay the full commission at booking confirmation. Others pay a portion at booking and the remainder in tranches linked to construction milestones or at handover. A small number tie part of the commission to the buyer completing specific payment stages — meaning if the buyer defaults before the 40% construction mark, the agent does not receive the trailing commission portion. None of this is publicly standardised. Each developer's sales agreement with the agency spells it out differently, and many agents discover the details only after the deal is booked. The practical consequence: on a long installment plan, an agent who thinks they closed a deal at launch may be waiting eighteen months for the second half of their fee — and if the buyer exits the deal through a cancellation, the conversation with the developer's accounts department becomes much harder. ## The split problem — and why installment timing makes it worse In a co-broke situation — which describes most busy launch days in Dubai, where listing access sits with one agency and the buyer sits with another — the two agencies must agree on how to divide the developer's commission. Form I comes into play when two RERA-certified agents, one representing the seller and the other the buyer, decide to collaborate. This formal agreement is designed to safeguard the clients and listings of both agents. Additionally, it explicitly outlines the commission split between them. Form I is an agent-to-agent collaboration agreement signed by two RERA-certified brokers from different agencies working together on the same property transaction. It defines the commission split and protects each agent's client relationship. The split itself — commonly 50/50, though negotiated differently on larger or relationship-driven deals — is only as useful as the moment it is captured in writing. In fast-moving markets like Dubai, agents sometimes proceed on trust or a phone call agreement when time is short. This almost always creates problems if the deal becomes complicated. A verbal commission split agreement is not enforceable under RERA regulations. Now add the installment dimension. When the developer pays commission in a single tranche at booking, the split is still a one-time event — complicated, but at least finite. When the developer pays commission in two or three tranches over the life of the construction, the split agreement must cover every tranche separately. Most informal verbal agreements between agents do not do this. They agree on a percentage figure and assume the mechanics will work themselves out later. They rarely do. "Later" arrives when the second commission tranche is due, the buyer's agent has moved agencies, one agency invoiced the developer directly for the full amount, and there is no signed document that clearly states how the second payment should be divided. This is where the dispute begins — not at booking, but eighteen months in, when there is real money on the table and neither party has clean paper. ### The listing agency's leverage and the introducing agency's vulnerability In a developer deal, the listing relationship — the agency on the developer's approved broker list with the signed developer agreement — has a structural advantage. The developer knows them. The developer pays them. The introducing agency, which brought the buyer but holds no formal developer relationship, is paid through the listing agency, not directly by the developer in most cases. This arrangement makes the introducing agency's commission entirely dependent on two things: the goodwill of the listing agency, and the existence of a signed agreement that defines amounts, timing, and payment triggers. Without Form I, Agent A risks Agent B approaching the buyer directly and cutting them out of the commission. Equally, Agent B risks Agent A's buyer going back to the seller independently and removing the listing agent from the deal. The form creates mutual accountability and makes the commission split legally enforceable. With a commission that pays in installments, the vulnerability is multiplied. The introducing agency can be cut out of the second tranche simply by the listing agency processing the developer's milestone payment without notifying them. Unless the split agreement specifies that each tranche triggers a specific payment to the introducing party — and that that payment happens simultaneously with the developer's release — the introducing agency has no automatic mechanism to receive it. ## What "the buyer is paying in installments" actually changes for agents Here is the practical list of what shifts when the deal is installment-based: **Commission timing becomes uncertain.** The agent who closes the booking may not see the full commission for years. Planning cash flow around an off-plan commission requires knowing, in advance, the developer's exact commission release schedule — and getting that in writing from the developer's sales team before the deal is done, not after. **The split agreement must address every tranche, not just the booking.** A Form I signed at the launch that says "50/50 split" is ambiguous when the developer pays 2% at booking and 2% at handover. Which party invoices the developer for each tranche? When does the receiving agency pay the other? What triggers the payment obligation — the developer releasing the funds, or the date the funds are due? **Buyer cancellations create partial-commission scenarios.** Off-plan payment plans involve a booking deposit followed by construction stage payments at specific milestones, with the balance due on handover. A buyer who cancels at the 20% mark — after the foundation payment but before the structure payment — may have triggered the developer's first commission release but not the second. The agents who booked that deal need to know, up front, whether the developer claws back any commission on cancellation and whether the split agreement between agencies survives a partial cancellation cleanly. **Post-handover payment plans extend the timeline even further.** Some of the most commercially attractive payment plans in Dubai today carry a significant post-handover component — buyers continuing to pay the developer after they have taken physical possession of the unit. In these structures, some developers tie a portion of agent commission to post-handover receipts. An agent earning commission against a 40% post-handover balance is effectively waiting for money that depends on the buyer continuing to pay — sometimes years after the deal is closed. **The VAT obligation does not wait for the developer.** Agent commissions are subject to 5% VAT. The VAT invoice is issued when the service is rendered — which in an off-plan deal is typically at the point the sale is confirmed. Whether the developer pays in tranches or not, the VAT obligation exists. Agents and their agencies need to understand that a commission that trails construction milestones does not automatically trail the VAT obligation in the same way; accounting treatment should be confirmed with the agency's finance team. ## The documentation moment that most agents miss Most of the problems described above have a single root cause: the split agreement is made verbally at the launch event, under time pressure, without specifying the mechanics that govern multi-tranche commission releases. Form I comes into play when a buyer's agent identifies a suitable property that is listed by a different agent. Before the buyer's agent can arrange viewings, share the property's details, or participate in negotiations, both agents must sign Form I. This protects the listing agent's client relationship, ensures the buyer's agent receives their agreed share of commission, and prevents disputes about who facilitated the sale. Without Form I, a buyer's agent cannot legally represent their client's interests when viewing or negotiating for a property listed by another brokerage. The agent-to-agent agreement specifies the property in question, the names and RERA registration details of both agents, the commission split arrangement, confidentiality obligations regarding client information, and terms governing how the agents will cooperate through the transaction. What Form I does not automatically do — because it was not designed with installment-based commission releases in mind — is specify the payment mechanics across multiple tranches. This is where the agent's own addendum or supplementary written agreement becomes important. Every co-broke on an installment deal should have an additional, written clause that covers: - The expected developer commission schedule (tranche amounts and trigger events) - Which agency holds the primary invoicing relationship with the developer - The timeline for onward payment to the introducing agency following each developer release - The treatment of partial releases if the buyer exits the deal before completion - Who is responsible for chasing the developer if a milestone payment is late None of this is legally exotic. It is the kind of clarity any professional arrangement should contain. The problem is that most agents are moving too fast at launch to write it down — and by the time the second tranche is due, the moment for that conversation has long passed. ## What the resale-before-handover scenario adds An installment deal that stays clean until handover is already complex enough. Add a resale before handover — an assignment, where the original buyer transfers their position in the SPA to a new buyer — and the commission picture becomes genuinely complicated. The exception is a secondary sale of an off-plan unit — an assignment or resale before handover — where the buyer may still pay the standard 2%. This means the agent facilitating the assignment may be earning from the new buyer, while the agents who booked the original deal may still have trailing commission obligations with the developer on the original sale. There can, in certain structures, be two separate commission events from the same unit. The agents who booked the original deal need to confirm with the developer whether an assignment by the original buyer affects the commission agreement — specifically whether any trailing developer commission is affected when ownership of the SPA changes hands. Some developer sales agreements are explicit about this. Many are not. An assignment completed without checking the original commission agreement is a common source of confusion, particularly where the listing agency and introducing agency have different information about the developer's position. ## The Oqood registration and what it signals about timing When an off-plan sale is registered with the DLD through the Oqood system, it creates a formal record of the buyer's position in the Interim Real Property Register. Law No. 13 of 2008 concerning the Interim Real Property Register requires all off-plan property sales to be registered with the DLD through the Oqood system. For agents, Oqood registration matters because it is the event that formally confirms the transaction exists on government record. Some developers will not process commission invoices until Oqood registration is confirmed. This creates a gap between the booking event — when the agent believes the deal is done — and the moment the developer recognises the transaction for commission purposes. On a busy launch, that gap can be weeks. On a deal where the buyer's documentation has complications, it can stretch further. Agents who chase commission before Oqood registration is completed will often find the developer's accounts team unresponsive — not because the commission is being withheld, but because the transaction is not yet in the system that triggers commission processing. Knowing this, and building it into the conversation with the introducing agency, saves misunderstanding. If the split agreement specifies that payment to the introducing agency happens within ten days of the developer's commission release, and that release is itself contingent on Oqood registration, both agencies need to understand that the timeline starts at registration, not at booking. ## When the buyer misses a milestone payment Buyer payment defaults on installment plans are not rare. Life changes, exchange rates move, employment situations shift. A buyer who committed confidently at launch can find the 40% construction payment harder to make than expected. For the developer, a buyer default triggers a regulated process. The developer cannot simply cancel the agreement and keep all funds. RERA provides buyer protections, and the developer's response to a default is governed by the sale agreement and applicable regulation. For agents, a buyer default creates a specific problem: the commission tied to that milestone either has not yet been released or, in some developer structures, becomes subject to review. An introducing agency that has not yet received the second tranche of its split has no direct relationship with the developer and no direct claim to assert — only the strength of its written agreement with the listing agency. This is precisely why the written split agreement matters more, not less, on an installment deal than on a cash or mortgage transaction. The more payment milestones exist, the more events can occur between booking and final receipt. Each one of those events is a potential point where the simple verbal agreement made at launch proves insufficient. ## The principle that removes most of the friction Everything described in this article flows from a single structural problem: the split agreement is made at one moment, the money moves at multiple later moments, and the written documentation almost never bridges the two properly. The fix is not complicated. It is a matter of discipline and timing. If a commission dispute arises, RERA's Rental Disputes Settlement Centre handles the case. Having a written agreement is essential to win any dispute. That principle applies with equal force to off-plan co-broke disputes between agencies. The discipline is this: before the buyer signs the booking form, both agencies should have a signed agreement that covers not just the percentage but the mechanics — every tranche, every trigger, every scenario for partial completion or buyer exit. The split should be documented before the client pays, because once the client pays, the deal moves forward and the opportunity for a clean conversation between the two agencies closes. The ideal outcome on any installment deal is that when the developer releases each commission tranche, both agencies receive their share simultaneously — neither waiting for the other, neither dependent on the other's goodwill, neither chasing the other for money that should already have arrived. That simultaneous receipt removes the vulnerability of the introducing agency and removes the administrative burden from the listing agency. It also removes the largest single cause of inter-agency friction in the Dubai off-plan market. Getting to that outcome requires only one thing: that the agreement is complete, specific, and signed before the buyer hands over their first dirham. Every agent who has been on the wrong end of a trailing commission dispute already knows this. The ones who haven't are one installment deal away from learning it.