Virtual open house: how live property viewings work in the UAE
diar.tv ·
A virtual open house is a property viewing streamed live. An agent walks through the home with a camera at an announced time, and anyone watching can ask questions in the chat and have them answered on air. Unlike a recorded tour, it isn't finished before you arrive: ask to see the view from the bedroom or the inside of a cupboard, and the agent can turn the camera there.
On diar.tv, a virtual open house of a ready home is called a LIVE Viewing, and new off-plan projects are shown the same way as LIVE launches. This guide explains how to attend one, how to host one, and what to check before you trust one.
Where the virtual open house came from
Live open houses spread in 2020, when agents could not show homes in person.
That was an answer to a lockdown. The reason the format still makes sense here is different: a buyer in Berlin or Mumbai cannot drop in on a Saturday afternoon, and a buyer in Dubai may not want to spend one driving between five buildings.
How to attend a virtual open house
- Find one. A LIVE Viewing has a date and a time, like any other broadcast. On diar.tv the start time is shown in Dubai time and in your own, so there is nothing to convert.
- Open it. The stream plays on the listing page in your browser. There is nothing to install, no outside platform to open, and no login.
- Ask. The chat sits beside the video, and the agent answers while the broadcast runs, in front of everyone else watching.
- Act, or don't. Watching commits you to nothing. What you can do next depends on the kind of broadcast.
What happens in a LIVE Viewing
A LIVE Viewing is a walkthrough of a ready, existing home, with the agent in the actual apartment. Homes for rent are shown the same way.
Before a LIVE Viewing can go public, the agent uploads the owner's authorisation for that specific home, and a person at diar.tv opens the document and checks it by hand. No document, no broadcast.
The price is stated on air and on the listing, and it is one price. For a home on sale, making an offer means "I'll take it at your stated price": there is no bidding and no auction. The offer goes to the agent so they can contact you, and nothing binds either side until the sale document is signed by buyer and seller. In Dubai that document is Form F. Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah use a memorandum of understanding or a sale and purchase agreement.
If the time doesn't suit you, or you would rather see the home without an audience, you can request a private LIVE viewing. Pick a date and time, and the agent confirms directly with you. Nothing is booked until they do.
Virtual open houses for off-plan launches
An off-plan home is bought from the developer before construction is finished, so at a launch there may be no finished home to walk through. What you get instead is the project presented live by a government-approved, verified agent, with the chance to ask about a specific floor, a view or the expected handover date while the release is still open.
If you are interested, you can submit an expression of interest (EOI). An EOI is a non-binding way to tell the agent which unit you have in mind. It is not a reservation, a payment or a contract. If you later pay a booking fee, you pay it to the developer through its official channel, never through diar.tv. Read the developer's terms first, because a booking fee is not refundable.
Live, recorded or 3D: what each one is good for
| Live open house | Recorded video tour | 3D or 360 tour | |
|---|---|---|---|
| When | An announced time | Whenever you like | Whenever you like |
| Can you ask questions? | Yes, on air | No | No |
| Who picks what you see? | The agent, and you through the chat | The editor | You, within what was scanned |
| Shows it as it is today? | Yes | As of the day it was filmed | As of the day it was scanned |
They aren't rivals. A 3D tour is the better way to understand a floor plan, and a recording is there at three in the morning. A live broadcast is the one that can answer back.
What to check before you trust a virtual open house
Anyone can point a phone at an apartment, so check these whichever site you are watching on.
- The agent's licence. Brokers are licensed by their emirate's regulator: a RERA card in Dubai, an ADREC BLN in Abu Dhabi, and the equivalent in each of the other five emirates.
- The advertising permit. Each emirate has its own rules. Wherever an emirate issues a permit, the advertisement should carry its number: Trakheesi in Dubai, Madhmoun in Abu Dhabi, and the advertisement permit from RAK RERA in Ras Al Khaimah (a different authority from Dubai's RERA). Sharjah's SRERD requires written approval. Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah license their brokers and developers but issue no permit per advertisement, so look for the agent's licence there.
- The right to show the home. For a ready home, ask whether the owner has authorised this agent for this unit.
- Where the money goes. Never send money because a stream told you to. An off-plan booking fee goes to the developer through its official channel.
Questions worth asking on air
A virtual open house is only as good as what you make it show. These are easy to ask and hard to fake.
- Can you show me the view from that window, and what is being built opposite?
- Which way does the living room face, and when does it get direct sun?
- Can you run the taps and switch on the air conditioning?
- Could you open the cupboard under the kitchen sink?
- What stays with the home, and what leaves with the owner?
- Is the home tenanted at the moment, and until when?
- What is the service charge, and when was it last changed?
- At a launch: which units are in this release, and what is the expected handover date?
How to host a virtual open house
Agents who want to host on diar.tv apply to stream with their broker licence, their Emirates ID or passport, a photo and their company details. A person reviews them before they can broadcast.
Before you go live
- Get the paperwork in early. The owner's authorisation is checked by hand before a LIVE Viewing can go public, and wherever the emirate issues a permit, the listing carries its number.
- Pick a time your buyers can make. If they are in Europe or India, the time that suits Dubai may not suit them.
- Test the signal from inside the home, not from the office. Walls and lifts behave differently, and the back bedroom is where a stream drops.
- Walk the route once without a camera. Decide where you start and where you finish, so nobody watches you look for a light switch.
- Bring someone to read the chat, if you can. It is hard to walk, talk and read at once.
On air
You can broadcast from the diar+ app, from your browser, or from a streaming app such as PRISM Live Studio, using the connection details in your console.
- Say the price and what the home is at the start, and again as people join. They arrive late.
- Walk slowly, and hold each room longer than feels natural.
- Read each question aloud before answering it, so the answer makes sense to everyone.
- If you don't know an answer, say so and follow up. A guess on air is heard by everyone.
- Show what people would ask to see in person: the bathroom, the storage, the view, the corridor.
Afterwards
Enquiries and offers come directly to you. diar.tv is the room you present in, not a broker sitting between you and your buyer.
What a virtual open house can't tell you
A camera doesn't carry the noise from the road, the smell of a stairwell or how long the lift takes at eight in the morning. If you can visit in person, or send someone you trust, do it before you sign anything. A virtual open house is the best way to decide which homes are worth that trip, and the closest thing to it when the trip is impossible.
See one
LIVE launches and LIVE Viewings are listed by date on the schedule. You can also browse off-plan launches and LIVE Viewings of ready homes.