Meet four of Dubai’s elite property brokers, navigating its luxury market with strategy and style
In a highly competitive real-estate market, four of Dubai’s most successful brokers share their approach to uniting clients with their next investment.
Dubai’s property market has never lacked ambition but it has rarely looked like this. According to the Dubai Land Department, more than 40,000 licensed brokers now operate here. However, only a small fraction of them get close to the apex of the market, where single homes sell for the price of small European hotels and commissions are earned (or lost) on instinct alone. It’s a pure commission economy. There are no salaries or safety nets. Agents arrive from everywhere: Britons fleeing tired markets; Russians following capital; Arabs returning with regional clout; Europeans armed with pitch decks. Most don’t last. Those who do learn quickly that in Dubai, property is part performance, part intelligence.
For some, success is visual. They arrive sharp, glossy and conspicuously wealthy, mirroring the aspirations of their clients. Fast cars, heavy watches and an Instagram-ready life are not indulgences here – they’re tools. As one agent puts it, “If you’re selling to billionaires, you can’t look like you don’t belong in their world.” Others operate quietly. They talk less about marble finishes and more about noise corridors, flight paths and resale risk. They build businesses around discretion and repeat buyers. In a market saturated with sellers, sound advice has become a rare commodity.
The agents who survive at the top do so because they understand something fundamental: Dubai rewards conviction but punishes bluff. What matters most here isn’t where you came from or how good you look. The market only asks whether you can close a deal.
Ben Bandari
Company: Benco Real Estate
Years in business: 24
Biggest sale: AED500m (€115m)
Ben Bandari has seen Dubai at its most fragile and at its most inflated. He arrived in 2002, selling brochures and promises, long before the Palm Jumeirah had a shoreline worth photographing. Today he is widely considered to be the UAE’s most prolific broker, a status reinforced by his starring role in TV show Million Dollar Listing UAE and a contacts book that, he says, contains “at least 10 billionaires”.
Bandari understands visibility better than most. He is unapologetic about it. “If you’re not out there, you’re irrelevant,” he says. The cameras follow him, the Patek Philippe watch stays on his wrist and the deals often exceeding AED100m (€23m), continue to land. But longevity, he insists, matters more than glamour. “I stayed when others left,” he says of the 2008 crash. “That’s how reputations are built.”
The villa that he is selling on Billionaires’ Row on the Palm Jumeirah is valued at AED200m (€46m). It is a six-bedroom waterfront property with uninterrupted views, a rooftop area and a spacious basement; meanwhile, the artwork inside is worth the same as the house itself. Travertine marble, custom finishes and full water frontage make it one of the most expensive private homes currently on the market.
Bandari’s buyers are global and often already known to him. Sales are rarely public; they begin at private dinners or invitation-only events. “This isn’t about portals,” he says. “It’s about access.” In a market crowded with ambition, Bandari’s advantage is simple – he has been here longer than most and survived every cycle.
Dounia Fadi
Company: EXP Realty Dubai
Years in business: 20
Biggest sale: AED38m (€8.8m)
Dounia Fadi doesn’t sell noise. In Volante Tower, one of Downtown Dubai’s most discreet addresses, she moves with the ease of someone who has watched the city build itself from the ground up. Cartier on her wrist, Van Cleef at her neck, she speaks calmly, deliberately – more adviser than agent. “Luxury is an overused word in Dubai,” she says. “What matters is quality, serenity and trust.”
Fadi is one of the few brokers who have operated across every phase of Dubai’s modern property history, from the introduction of freehold laws to today’s hyper-regulated, data-driven market. She is also the only female mentor appointed by the Dubai Land Department, a role that she describes as “necessary but difficult” in an industry still dominated by men. “You need patience and consistency,” she says. “And you must think like an investor, not a salesperson.”
The property that she is selling here reflects that philosophy. The full-floor apartment in Volante, priced at AED60m (€13.8m), offers private lift access, generous proportions and hotel-grade services. Another listing in the same building, a penthouse valued at AED190m (€44m), pushes discretion even further. Residents have chefs, spas and security. “This is for people who don’t want to be seen,” says Fadi.
Her clients are global, high-net-worth and exacting. And they are less interested in brochures than in track records. Before she recommends anything, she asks herself, “Would I buy this myself?” It is a question that has helped to keep her relevant for two decades in a market that rarely forgives complacency.
Rami Wahood
Company: Fäm Properties
Years in business: 13
Biggest sale: AED61.5m (€14m)
Rami Wahood arrives in Al Wasl in a bright-blue Ferrari 812 Superfast, wearing loafers, a belt and a pocket square in matching shades. At 38, he looks every inch the modern Dubai broker: polished, relentless and hungry. “This is my life,” he says plainly. “I don’t have a balance.”
Born in Chicago to Syrian parents, Wahood started in Dubai at the bottom of the market, selling modest villas before climbing steadily into the eight-figure bracket. Today he is an executive partner at Fäm Properties. Exposure matters, he says, but consistency matters more. “You eat, sleep and breathe this,” he says. “That’s the job.”
The villa that he is selling in Al Wasl is priced at AED83m (€19m) and sits in one of the few freehold zones close to Downtown Dubai. With six bedrooms, Scandinavian-inspired architecture, Swedish wood cladding and views of the Burj Khalifa, it is deliberately restrained, a rarity in a city often accused of excess. “This is for people who understand taste,” says Wahood. “Minimalism is hard to do well.”
His buyers are often seasoned, internationally mobile and decisive. Wahood believes that presentation still matters. “You have to look the part,” he says. “Not for shallow reasons but because confidence is contagious.” In Dubai, ambition is not hidden. It arrives loudly and Wahood makes no apology for matching the tempo of the city.
Matt Siddell
Company: Independent
Years in business: More than 15
Biggest sale: Transactions exceeding AED250m (€58m)
Matt Siddell doesn’t look like a Dubai broker. Shirt unbuttoned and relaxed, he greets his clients on the 41st floor of a Dubai Harbour penthouse with spreadsheets rather than spectacle. “I don’t sell real estate,” he says. “I advise.”
Formerly based in London, Siddell arrived in Dubai with a network, not a brand. He avoided large agencies and built a business around retainers and risk analysis. “If your incentive is to close before someone else does, that’s a different agenda,” he says. “My clients are long term.”
The penthouse that he is showing is priced at AED24m (€5.5m). West-facing, with expansive terraces, it is positioned for appreciation rather than drama. Siddell talks about road completions, sight-lines and noise maps before he mentions views. “You make your money when you buy,” he says. “Not when you post it on Instagram.”
His clients, often family offices and institutional investors, value restraint. Helicopters are tools, not toys. “It’s easy to get carried away in Dubai,” he says. “Staying grounded is the real skill.” In a city that celebrates performance, Siddell’s success lies in refusing to perform at all.
This article is from Monocle’s March issue, The Monocle 100, which features our editors’ favourite 100 figures, destinations, objects and ideas.
Read the rest of the issue here.
