Personal shopping service

Mark Leale, sales and marketing director of Luxury Homes in Dubai explains how his company is taking the pain out of house hunting for buyers in the UAE.

How would you describe what you do?

We provide a personal shopping service for people who want to buy property either to live in or to let. We will even find commercial premises for companies and then find suitable apartments for heir staff.

So we're a cross between being a real estate agent, a rental service and a property management company. We provide a snagging service and help
with relocation.

If it's a company they might say they have 20 guys coming out next month, we'd help with everything from getting their driving licences sorted out to telling them how to apply for their liquor licence.

Why can't people find their own property?

It takes all the hassle out of things. There's just too much going on in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for one person to do all the research and then try to narrow it down.

If they arrived here and jumped in a car and started driving around the city they would never make a decision. It's nearly impossible. We know what's going on here, how everything works and what the developers are doing which makes it much easier for someone who has never been here.

How do you set about helping them?

I prefer to start with a phone call to find out as much as possible about what attracted them to Dubai and what they expect from their investment. It's an education process. A lot of people still prefer to come our here and meet their agent face-to-face.

Who are your clients and what age and income bracket do they come from?

They're mostly western expats, British and other Europeans, some South Africans and Australians either based here or overseas.

About 40% of our business comes from the UK. It could be somebody in the UK who wants a holiday home.

They might have say US$140,000 to spend on a place in the sun. We get 60% of our business through referrals. Or it could be a premiership footballer earning ridiculous amounts of money and wondering what to do with it.

There's a lot of interest from sportsmen because of Sports City and all the golf courses that are being built.

What kind of deals are they looking for?

Some people are prepared to take a risk and buy off-plan because they believe it will give them the greatest profit.

Others prefer to wait till building is at least half way there. In other words you would be buying someone's contract. Then there are those who want to wait till the whole thing is complete.

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