Version 1.0
1. About these Rules
1.1 These Rules set out how a property is sold by OpenOffers: a public offer process run by Yalla Value Property Public Auction LLC ("YallaValue", "we") under its Dubai public auction licence (RERA 60842). They are the single rulebook for everyone involved: Buyers accept them at verification (rule 4.1), Sellers by signing the Client Terms, agents by listing a property or placing an Offer.
1.2 These Rules are a framework for the process. They are not themselves a contract for the sale of any property. The sale contract is the Form F signed by the buyer and the seller; YallaValue is not a party to it and does not sell the property (rule 15).
1.3 The version of these Rules shown on a listing page at the moment the listing is published governs that listing from start to finish. A change to the Rules applies only to listings published after the change.
1.4 If these Rules conflict with the Client Terms or the Buyer Terms, those Terms prevail for the party that signed them. The numbers in these Rules (periods, percentages, steps) are also shown on the listing page.
2. Words we use
Capitalised words mean the following wherever they appear in these Rules, the Client Terms, the Buyer Terms and the listing page.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Listing | A property offered for sale by OpenOffers, from its publication on the platform until it is Sold or the campaign ends. |
| Platform | YallaValue's website and the WhatsApp channel through which offers are made, recorded and notified. |
| Publication | The moment the listing page goes live. The campaign runs from Publication. |
| Seller | The owner of the property, or the person with legal authority to sell it, who has signed the Client Terms (called the Client there). |
| Buyer | A person who has completed verification under rule 4 and may make Offers. |
| Buyer Number | The number under which a Buyer appears on the board (e.g. "Buyer 3"). |
| Listing Agent | A RERA-registered broker holding a Form A for the listing who has agreed YallaValue's agent terms. Every listing has at least one. |
| Buyer Agent | A RERA-registered broker who places Offers for a Buyer under a Form B or equivalent authority. |
| Agent of Record | For a given Buyer and listing, the agent who placed that Buyer's first Offer. |
| Asking Price | The Seller's public price for the listing. Until the Reserve Price is first met, it is also the "Buy Now" price. |
| Reserve Price | The Seller's minimum. Hidden, never above the cap in rule 3.3. |
| Seller's Conditions | The conditions on which the Seller will sell, published on the listing page and fixed at Publication, including the Cash Preference. |
| Offer | An offer to buy the listing at a stated price, made by a Buyer through the Platform and recorded on the board. Public and binding. |
| Buy Now Offer | An Offer at or above the Asking Price made before the Reserve Price has first been met. |
| Ranking Value | An Offer's price, less the Cash Preference if it is a mortgage Offer (rule 6.3). |
| Leading Offer | The Offer with the highest Ranking Value at any moment. |
| Countdown | The seven-day period in rule 8 that starts when an Offer first meets the Reserve Price. |
| Review Date | The date on the listing page on which the campaign is reviewed under rule 9 if no Offer has met the Reserve Price. |
| Winning Offer | The Offer to which the Seller is bound to sell under rule 10.1. |
| Winning Buyer | The Buyer who made the Winning Offer. |
| Sale Price | The price of the Winning Offer. |
| Form F | The Dubai Land Department's unified sale contract (also called the MOU or Contract F), signed by the Buyer and the Seller. |
| Form F Date | The date on which both the Buyer and the Seller have signed the Form F. |
| Purchase Deposit | Ten per cent (10%) of the Sale Price, paid by the Winning Buyer on signing Form F. |
| Completion | Transfer of the property to the Winning Buyer and registration of that transfer at a DLD-approved registration trustee office. |
| Completion Date | The date 56 days after the Form F Date for a cash sale and 84 days for a mortgage sale, unless the Seller's Conditions state a different period, as extended under rule 10.6. |
| Campaign Fee | YallaValue's fee, paid by the Seller only, as set out in the Client Terms. |
| Business Day | Any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or UAE public holiday. |
| Day, hour | Calendar days and clock hours, Dubai time (UTC+4). Where something must be done "within 48 hours", the clock runs from the notification that starts it. |
3. The two prices
3.1 Asking Price. The listing page shows the Asking Price, the price at which the property is marketed (and, until the reserve is met, the Buy Now price: rule 7).
3.2 Reserve Price. The Seller sets a Reserve Price before Publication. It is never shown. The listing page states that the reserve is hidden and no higher than the cap in rule 3.3, and shows at all times whether the reserve has been met.
3.3 The cap. The Reserve Price may not exceed the median of YallaValue's valuation of the property.
3.4 Down, never up. Until an Offer meets the Reserve Price, the Seller may lower the Asking Price or the Reserve Price; neither may be raised. A reduction takes effect when the listing page is updated (rule 8.1 if an Offer on the board already meets the new reserve).
4. Who can make an offer
4.1 Verification, once. Before a first Offer, a Buyer provides a photo of their passport (or Emirates ID), confirms their mobile number by one-time code and accepts the Buyer Terms, which incorporate these Rules. Verification is done once and covers every listing. A company buys through a named representative who verifies in the same way and confirms their authority.
4.2 Full checks on the winner. YallaValue completes its full identity and source-of-funds checks on the Winning Buyer at Form F. A Winning Buyer who fails those checks, or does not provide what they require within 48 hours of being asked, is in default under rule 11.1.
4.3 Buyer Number. A Buyer's name is disclosed to the Seller only once their Offer is the Winning Offer; other Buyers never see it.
4.4 Represented Buyers. A Buyer Agent may verify and make Offers for a Buyer under a Form B or equivalent written authority. The Buyer Agent holds the Buyer's contact details; YallaValue receives the passport for verification and, if the Buyer wins, the Form F details. The Buyer Agent warrants that the Buyer is real, correctly identified and has authorised each Offer, and is jointly liable with the Buyer under rule 11.1. One confirmed false Buyer is a permanent ban from the Platform and a complaint to RERA.
4.5 Who may not offer. The Seller, anyone acting for the Seller, and any Listing Agent for the listing may not make an Offer on that listing for their own account, directly or through another person. An Offer made in breach of this rule is void and rule 14.2 applies.
5. Making an offer
5.1 How. A Buyer makes an Offer through the Platform, stating the price and whether the purchase is cash or mortgage. An Offer sent on WhatsApp is made when YallaValue records it on the board.
5.2 Amount. Offers may be any amount, in the price steps shown on the listing page.
5.3 Public and binding. Every Offer goes on the board the moment it is recorded, showing the Buyer Number, the price, cash or mortgage, the Ranking Value and the time. An Offer binds the Buyer from that moment: it can be improved, never withdrawn or reduced, and the improved Offer replaces it.
5.4 Below the Reserve Price. An Offer that does not meet the Reserve Price stands for 7 days from the moment it is recorded, then expires on its own; an improvement restarts the 7 days. Within that period the Seller may accept it under rule 9.1, and the Buyer must complete if they do.
5.5 At or above the Reserve Price. An Offer that meets the Reserve Price stands until the Countdown ends or it is beaten. A Buyer whose Offer is beaten is released at once and may offer again. The 7-day validity in rule 5.4 falls away the moment an Offer meets the Reserve Price.
5.6 Improve automatically. Where the Platform offers it, a Buyer may set a maximum. Whenever the Buyer's Offer is beaten, the Platform improves it by one step up to the maximum, under the same rules as an Offer the Buyer makes by hand. The maximum is never shown to anyone and may be raised, lowered to no less than the Buyer's current Offer, or removed at any time.
5.7 Mortgage Offers. A mortgage Offer is as binding as a cash Offer. A Buyer whose bank will not lend, or lends less than expected, must still complete at the Sale Price unless "subject to bank valuation" is one of the Seller's Conditions.
6. Seller's Conditions and ranking
6.1 Fixed at Publication. The Seller's Conditions are on the listing page from Publication and do not change, except as rule 6.4 allows. They state the terms every sale is made on — the completion period, whether the property is sold furnished, any tenancy, anything else the Seller requires — and the Cash Preference: a dirham amount (it may be zero) by which a mortgage Offer ranks below a cash Offer of the same price. The same conditions apply to every Buyer.
6.2 Every Offer accepts them. By making an Offer a Buyer accepts the Seller's Conditions.
6.3 Ranking Value. The board sorts Offers by Ranking Value: the Offer price, less the Cash Preference where the Offer is a mortgage Offer. Where two Offers have the same Ranking Value, the earlier one ranks higher. The Reserve Price is met when an Offer's Ranking Value reaches it. The Buyer pays the Offer price; the Cash Preference adjusts ranking only.
6.4 Relaxing a condition. Until the Reserve Price is first met, the Seller may relax a Seller's Condition for every Buyer: a longer completion period, the furniture included, a lower Cash Preference. A relaxation applies to every Offer on the board. Where it lowers the Cash Preference, mortgage Offers are re-ranked at that moment (rule 8.1 if one then meets the reserve). The Seller may not add a condition, make one stricter or raise the Cash Preference after Publication.
6.5 Asking for something different. A Buyer who wants a term the listing page does not offer asks through the Platform before offering, and is not asked what they intend to offer. The Seller answers within 24 hours: either the condition is relaxed for everyone under rule 6.4, or it is not available to anyone.
7. Buy now
7.1 Until an Offer first meets the Reserve Price, any Buyer may buy the listing outright by making a Buy Now Offer at the Asking Price, on the Seller's Conditions as published at that moment.
7.2 The first Buy Now Offer recorded is the Winning Offer (rule 10).
7.3 Buy now switches off once the reserve is met, so competition can carry the price above the Asking Price.
8. The Countdown
8.1 Start. The Countdown starts the moment an Offer's Ranking Value first meets the Reserve Price: by a new Offer, a lower Reserve Price (rule 3.4) or a lower Cash Preference (rule 6.4). The board shows that the reserve has been met, the Leading Offer becomes the headline, and the Asking Price and buy now come off the page.
8.2 Length and close. The Countdown runs seven days from the moment it starts and closes exactly 168 hours later, at the same time of day, unless rule 8.3 or 14.3 moves the close. The close is shown on the listing page.
8.3 The 24-hour floor. Whenever a new Leading Offer is recorded with less than 24 hours left, the close moves so that exactly 24 hours remain from that Offer, as often as it happens.
8.4 During the Countdown. Any Buyer may make or improve an Offer. The Seller may not accept any Offer, change any price or condition, or deal with any Buyer outside the board.
8.5 Close. At the close, the Leading Offer is the Winning Offer (rule 10); it may be above the Asking Price.
9. Below the reserve, and the Review Date
9.1 The Seller may accept. At any time before an Offer first meets the Reserve Price, the Seller may, but need not, accept any Offer on the board that is still within its validity period, by signing a Form F that reflects that Offer and the Seller's Conditions it accepted. On the Seller's signature that Offer is the Winning Offer (rule 10). No other form of acceptance has any effect: a message, a handshake or an agreed price outside the board binds nobody.
9.2 The Review Date. If no Offer has met the Reserve Price by the Review Date:
(a) the Buyer with the Leading Offer still within its validity period is told the Reserve Price, privately, and has 48 hours to improve to it. If they do, that is the Winning Offer and rule 10 applies; there is no Countdown.
(b) Failing that, the Seller has 7 days to accept an Offer on the board (rule 9.1) or to continue to a new Review Date at the same or a lower Reserve Price (rule 8.1 if an Offer already meets the new reserve).
(c) If the Seller does none of these within the 7 days, the campaign ends. The listing is shown as Not sold, every Offer is released and nobody owes anybody anything under these Rules.
9.3 Offers during the review. Buyers may still make and improve Offers during the periods in rule 9.2, and each Offer keeps its 7-day validity from the moment it was recorded.
10. From Winning Offer to Sold
10.1 The commitment. An Offer becomes the Winning Offer in one of four ways: it is the Leading Offer when the Countdown closes (rule 8.5); it is a Buy Now Offer (rule 7.2); the Seller accepts it by signing Form F (rule 9.1); or the leading Buyer improves to the Reserve Price at the Review Date (rule 9.2(a)). From that moment the Seller is bound to sell and the Winning Buyer is bound to buy, at the Sale Price, on the Seller's Conditions the Winning Offer accepted. The board shows Sale agreed and every other Offer is released.
10.2 Form F and deposit within 48 hours. Within 48 hours of the Winning Offer, the Winning Buyer signs the Form F and pays the Purchase Deposit, and the Seller signs the Form F. Either side may sign first. The Form F records the Sale Price, the Completion Date and the Seller's Conditions that apply; neither side may ask to change any of them. Where the Seller has already signed under rule 9.1, only the Buyer's 48 hours run.
10.3 The deposit. The Purchase Deposit is paid, by cheque or transfer, to the Listing Agent in rule 12.4 and applied to the price at Completion.
10.4 Sold. Once both signatures are on the Form F and the Purchase Deposit has been received, the board shows Sold and the listing leaves the market.
10.5 Completion. Completion takes place at a DLD-approved registration trustee office on or before the Completion Date: 56 days after the Form F Date for a cash sale and 84 days for a mortgage sale, unless the Seller's Conditions state a different period. The Buyer pays the balance and the fees in rule 13; the Seller delivers the property as the Seller's Conditions describe it and clears anything registered against it.
10.6 Extension. The Completion Date moves by the length of any delay caused by something outside the control of the side that has to act: a developer slow to issue a no-objection certificate, no trustee appointment available, a DLD or trustee outage, a bank slow to issue a final mortgage offer, release funds or discharge a mortgage despite a complete and timely application, or a title matter not of that side's making. The extension is at most 28 days, applies only once written evidence of the cause and its length is given to YallaValue, and never covers financial difficulty, a change of mind or a side's own lateness.
11. If someone walks away
11.1 A Buyer who walks. A Winning Buyer is in default if they do not sign the Form F and pay the Purchase Deposit within 48 hours, do not pass or do not answer the checks in rule 4.2, or do not complete by the Completion Date. A defaulting Buyer owes the Seller 10% of the Sale Price, as the Buyer Terms provide: the Purchase Deposit is forfeited if it has been paid and is owed if it has not. A Buyer Agent who placed the Offer is liable with the Buyer (rule 4.4). YallaValue may bar a defaulting Buyer from the Platform.
11.2 The listing goes back on the market. If the default happens before the Form F is signed by both sides, the Winning Offer lapses and:
(a) the Buyer whose Offer was ranked second when the Winning Offer was established is offered the listing at their own last Offer, on the conditions it accepted, and has 48 hours to take it. If they do, that is the Winning Offer and rule 10 applies. Declining is not a default.
(b) Failing that, the listing returns to the board as Back on the market. Every Buyer is released and may offer again, and a new seven-day Countdown starts from the moment the board reopens, on the same prices and conditions. The Seller remains bound throughout.
If the default happens after the Form F is signed, the Form F and the law govern what follows; the Seller is free to relist.
11.3 A Seller who walks. A Seller who does not sign the Form F within 48 hours, withdraws the property or does not complete by the Completion Date is in default under the Client Terms and owes liquidated damages of 10% of the Reserve Price, capped at AED 1,000,000. The Winning Buyer's Purchase Deposit is returned in full, the Buyer owes nothing, and the Buyer receives their share of the sum recovered under rule 11.4. A Seller who withdraws before there is a Winning Offer owes Buyers nothing; their Offers are released.
11.4 Where a forfeited 10% goes. A sum paid under rule 11.1 or 11.3 is applied first to the Campaign Fee owed to YallaValue; the balance goes 80% to the side that was not in default and 20% to the Listing Agent holding the Purchase Deposit, as the Client Terms and Buyer Terms provide. YallaValue holds the Buyer's and the agent's shares for them. These sums are the only ones either side can claim from the other under these Rules for the failed sale.
11.5 Released Buyers owe nothing. An Offer that has been beaten, has expired, or has been released under rules 9.2(c), 10.1 or 11.2 carries no obligation.
12. Agents
12.1 Listing Agents. Every listing has at least one Listing Agent holding a Form A from the Seller. A Seller may appoint several Listing Agents for the same listing under non-exclusive Form As, on two conditions: the same Asking Price everywhere the property is advertised, and every offer from anyone goes through the board.
12.2 Buyer Agents. A Buyer Agent acts for a represented Buyer under rule 4.4 and receives the Buyer's alerts and one-time codes. A Listing Agent may also introduce Buyers and place their Offers, and is then their Agent of Record (rule 12.3).
12.3 Agent of Record. The agent who placed a Buyer's first Offer on a listing is that Buyer's Agent of Record for that listing. The Agent of Record earns the brokerage in rule 13 if that Buyer wins. There is no protection across listings.
12.4 Who holds the deposit. The Purchase Deposit is held by the Listing Agent who introduced the Winning Buyer. A Winning Buyer who came to the listing without an agent is placed with the Listing Agent YallaValue designates, who handles the Form F and holds the deposit.
12.5 What agents may not do. Beyond rules 4.4 and 4.5, an agent may not hold a Buyer back from the board to deal after the campaign. A Seller who sells to a Buyer who offered during the campaign, within three months after it ends, still owes the Campaign Fee under the Client Terms.
13. Money
The same number on both sides, as in any Dubai sale: 10%.
| Who pays | What | When · to whom |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer | Purchase Deposit, 10% of the Sale Price | At Form F · to the Listing Agent in rule 12.4, applied to the price at Completion |
| Buyer | Balance of the Sale Price | At Completion · to the Seller, by manager's cheque or as the trustee directs |
| Buyer | Brokerage, 2% of the Sale Price + VAT | At Completion · to the Buyer's Agent of Record, or to the Listing Agent in rule 12.4 if the Buyer had no agent |
| Buyer | DLD transfer fee (4%), trustee fee, title deed and NOC fees allocated to the buyer | At Completion · per the Form F |
| Buyer | To YallaValue | Nothing |
| Seller | Campaign Fee | At Completion · deducted from the sale proceeds, never from the deposit |
| Seller | Mortgage discharge, developer NOC and other fees allocated to the seller | Per the Form F |
| Whoever walks after a Winning Offer | Buyer: 10% of the Sale Price. Seller: 10% of the Reserve Price, capped at AED 1,000,000 | Campaign Fee first, then 80% to the other side and 20% to the agent holding the deposit (rule 11.4) |
The listing page shows a worked example for the Asking Price so a Buyer can see the total before offering. Government and trustee fees are set by the DLD and may change.
14. Fair play, mistakes and downtime
14.1 Conduct. Buyers, Sellers and agents must not collude on prices, make or arrange Offers intended to push the price up without a real intention to buy, make Offers through a false or borrowed identity, hold more than one Buyer Number, or approach the Seller or another Buyer about the listing outside the board. A breach is grounds for removing the Offers concerned, barring the person from the Platform and, for an agent, a complaint to RERA.
14.2 Removing an Offer. YallaValue may remove an Offer that breaks these Rules, that it reasonably believes is not genuine, or that was made by obvious mistake (a misplaced digit) and reported by the Buyer within 15 minutes and before any other Buyer has responded to it. When an Offer is removed the board re-ranks; if the removed Offer was the one that met the Reserve Price, the Countdown stops and the reserve is shown as unmet; if it had moved the close, the close moves back. A removed Offer carries no obligation.
14.3 Downtime. If the Platform is unavailable to Buyers for more than 15 minutes during the last 24 hours of a Countdown, the close moves to 24 hours after service is restored, and the listing page says so. Offers made by WhatsApp during an outage are recorded in the order received once service is restored.
14.4 Time and records. The time YallaValue records for an Offer, a notification or a close is conclusive.
14.5 Notices and alerts. YallaValue notifies a Buyer on the WhatsApp number verified under rule 4.1 (or the Buyer Agent's), and the Seller as the Client Terms provide; a notice counts as received when sent. Buyers and followers are alerted when the reserve is met, when their Offer is beaten, when the close moves, when the Review Date is reached and when a listing comes back on the market. Anyone may follow a listing without offering.
15. YallaValue's role
15.1 What we do. YallaValue runs the board, verifies Buyers, records and ranks Offers, keeps the clock, publishes the result and introduces the parties to the Form F, as a service to the Seller.
15.2 What we are not. YallaValue is not a party to the sale, is not the agent of the Buyer or the Seller, does not hold the Purchase Deposit or any other money in the transaction, and gives no warranty about the property. Descriptions, photographs and documents on the listing page come from the Seller and the Listing Agent; YallaValue's valuation is an opinion of value, not a survey. Buyers inspect and rely on their own enquiries, as they would in any purchase.
15.3 No deal outside the Rules. Neither the Seller nor YallaValue is obliged to negotiate with any Buyer outside this process, including after a listing is passed at the Review Date. Any decision to do so creates no right or expectation for anyone else.
15.4 Questions about a campaign. Whether an Offer was validly made, when a close fell, whether an extension applies and similar questions about the running of a campaign are decided by YallaValue, acting reasonably and in writing. Its decision is final as to the board and the campaign, without affecting any claim under the Client Terms or the Buyer Terms.
15.5 Law and disputes. These Rules are governed by the laws of the Dubai International Financial Centre, and any dispute about them goes to the DIFC Courts (the Small Claims Tribunal for claims up to AED 1,000,000), as the Client Terms and the Buyer Terms provide.