An important thing to consider before starting the real estate business in the mainland UAE is that real estate companies can only be owned by a qualified UAE national and one person can only have a single license of such business. It means that you have to contact a local person without having any other real estate license on his/her name. This local person will have 51% shares of the company but you can agree upon different profit share with the local Emirati. But such condition doesn’t apply in case you are establishing your business in a free zone or becoming a part of a foreign company. Before starting a real estate business in Dubai, one must do some market research. You can easily do this research by talking to an expert in the regional business, reading local newspapers or attending a conference on local industry. After knowing about the opportunities for real estate business in UAE, it will be easier for you to decide whether it is appropriate for you to establish such type of business in the UAE mainland or one of the free zones or you should work as a broker for an already established real estate company in Dubai.