Five stages of an off plan launch, and why it is won before the first advertisement

A launch is won before the first advertisement runs. By the time the campaign is live, the price ladder is set, the payment plan is designed, the channel is briefed and the roadshow dates are fixed. Whatever happens after that is execution. This article sets out the five stages every launch plan on our desk follows, and what each one has to settle before the next can start.

Why the sequence matters in Dubai

According to Dubai Land Department figures, Dubai recorded more than 270,000 real estate transactions in 2025, up 20%, with 193,100 investors, of whom 129,600 were new to the market. A market that active does not wait for a developer to find its footing. A launch that opens with an unclear price ladder or a payment plan that does not match its buyers loses the first weeks, and the first weeks are where momentum comes from.

Before stage one: readiness

None of the five stages can start until the project is ready to sell. Under Law No. (8) of 2007, a developer selling units off plan applies to the Dubai Land Department to open an escrow account and needs the Department's written authorisation before advertising off plan units. Advertising, launch events, exhibitions and roadshows each need the right permit, processed online through the DLD, and for most permits the Department asks the broker for a copy of the marketing contract with the owner. The seven-step appointment sequence on the process page covers this in full.

Stage 1: position the product

Against what is actually selling, by unit type and price band. Not against what the developer hopes to sell, and not against the brochure of the tower next door. Positioning uses the registered record, which is why our market data page points to Dubai Land Department open data rather than asking prices. The output is a clear statement of who each unit type is for and where it sits in the market.

Stage 2: build the price ladder

Release inventory in phases, so early buyers are rewarded and later phases carry momentum. The ladder is the discipline that an exclusive mandate protects: one party controls releases, and nobody discounts to win a race. It is also the reason the open listing model struggles on a full building, where the ladder has to survive many phases.

Stage 3: design the payment plan

A payment plan is vendor financing. It should match the buyer profile being targeted. A plan designed for a GCC bulk buyer looks different from one designed for a family in Toronto or Mumbai buying a single suite. Under Law No. (8) of 2007 the instalments go into a project escrow account regulated by the Dubai Land Department, so the plan is also the buyer's protection, and it should be presented that way.

Stage 4: brief the channel

Co-brokers across the US, Canada, the UAE, India and Africa get one deck, one price list and one point of contact. That single point of contact is the mechanism that keeps a wide channel coordinated. Every co-broker sells the same units at the same prices with the same materials, and every client is registered with the desk on introduction so lead ownership is clear. The brokers page sets out the terms.

Stage 5: run international demand

Roadshows and direct outreach to a 1.3M+ business-profile network across the GCC, India, Africa and North America. On the current mandate that means investor roadshows and city-exclusive cycles in India and the GCC, each with its own Dubai Land Department permit, run through the group's private-access programme. Demand is generated city by city, not left to the open market.

What a launch plan contains

When a developer asks us for a launch plan, the document covers the five stages above in writing: the positioning statement by unit type and price band, the price ladder with its release phases, the payment plan matched to the target buyer, the channel brief with the deck, price list and point of contact, and the roadshow calendar. It names the team that will deliver each part and the weekly targets they will report against. That is the difference between a plan and a pitch, and it is the first thing a developer should ask any brokerage for.

What the developer sees

Weekly reporting: leads, viewings, reservations, conversions and pricing feedback, every week, signed off by the mandate holder. Suites are presented in a fixed standard, with the tower elevation and its floor band marked, a floor plate key plan with a north arrow, and a dimensioned suite plan, so a buyer in any city sees the same three views.

The plan behind the current mandate

The exclusive two-tower mandate, an 81 storey supertall and a 50 storey tower in Dubai with AED 3.7B of inventory, was won on structure and relationships before a single unit was marketed. Full building responsibility for both towers, with the developer's pricing and release strategy agreed with the desk. The mandate file holds the public facts; the developer page explains how a new mandate starts.

How to start

Share the project, the inventory and your timeline. If the mandate fits, we show you the launch plan, all five stages, before anything is signed. The process a developer follows to appoint an exclusive agent, from escrow to permits, is on the process page.