Worked exampleBusiness Bay
Mixed-use tower plot
Residual appraisal on a canal-facing plot with a G+28 envelope, testing a residential-led scheme against a hotel-apartment alternative.
AED 418m
GDV
19.4%
Profit on cost
AED 71m
Residual land value
Service 01 · For developers, investment teams and family offices
Re-underwrite the scheme before the next commitment.
A fixed-fee feasibility sprint that tests a development or commercial asset against today's costs, rents, sales rates and absorption, and gives you a written verdict with the number that drives it. Built for a go or no-go decision in five working days.
Project Viability Review
AED 5,000FIXED · 5 WORKING DAYS
Download sample report · PDF
50% to start, 50% on delivery. Scope confirmed in writing before payment.
- Fee
- AED 5,000
- Delivery
- 5 working days
- Output
- 8–10 page report + live Excel model
- Payment
- 50% to start · 50% on delivery
01 — Who it's for
When this is the right service
01
A scheme approved on old assumptions
Planning, pricing or a board approval set last year. Costs, rates and absorption have moved since. You need to know whether the margin still holds.
02
A plot or asset under offer
You are about to pay for land or an income asset and want an independent residual or income appraisal before exchanging.
03
A phase that has stalled
Sales have slowed or the contractor has re-priced. You need to decide whether to proceed, re-phase, re-price or pause.
04
A partner, lender or board asking hard questions
You need a clean, independent model and a sensitivity view to put in front of them, not another internal spreadsheet.
02 — Scope
Six things we test
- 01
Re-underwriting
We rebuild the scheme on current construction costs per sqft for the asset class and specification, achievable sales rates or rents from transacted evidence, and a realistic absorption curve for the submarket.
- 02
Residual or income appraisal
GDV or ERV, land, construction, professional fees, contingency, marketing, finance and developer's return. Output as profit on cost, profit on GDV, residual land value or yield on cost, whichever drives your decision.
- 03
Market evidence
8 to 10 transacted comparables for the submarket from registered data, adjusted for size, floor, view and handover. Asking prices are shown for context only and never used as evidence.
- 04
Monthly cashflow
Built for UAE mechanics: escrow account releases against construction progress, off-plan payment plans, post-handover instalments and facility drawdown. Peak debt and levered IRR where finance applies.
- 05
Sensitivity grid
Sales rate against construction cost, plus a second grid of your choice (absorption, handover delay or finance rate). Every cell is a real re-run of the model, so you can see exactly where the scheme breaks.
- 06
Verdict and gap analysis
Proceed, re-phase, re-price or pause, with the single number that decides it and what would need to change to close the gap: a lower land price, a cost saving or a higher achievable rate.
03 — Sample output
What the numbers look like
Two pages from an illustrative report: the appraisal, and the grid that shows where the scheme breaks.
Illustrative extract · Residual appraisal
| Gross development value | 112.6m |
| Land | (24.0m) |
| Construction | (55.8m) |
| Professional fees | (4.5m) |
| Contingency | (2.8m) |
| Marketing and sales | (3.4m) |
| Finance | (1.9m) |
| Total development cost | (92.4m) |
| Development profit | 20.2m |
G+12 residential scheme, 70,375 sqft saleable. Figures in AED.
Illustrative extract · Sensitivity grid
| Rate / cost | -5% | 0% | +5% | +10% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AED 1,700 | 34.1% | 29.5% | 25.2% | 21.2% |
| AED 1,600 | 26.2% | 21.9% | 17.8% | 14.1% |
| AED 1,500 | 18.3% | 14.2% | 10.5% | 6.9% |
| AED 1,400 | 10.4% | 6.6% | 3.1% | -0.2% |
| AED 1,313 | 3.5% | 0.0% | -3.3% | -6.4% |
Profit on cost. Solid terracotta is the base case; tinted cells fall below a 15% hurdle; dark cells lose money.
Full sample report · 5 pages
Executive summary and verdict, market evidence, appraisal, cashflow, both sensitivity grids, assumptions and limits.
04 — Delivery
What happens, and when
- Day 0
Scope confirmed in writing
We review what you send, confirm the asset fits the service and agree the scope and delivery date by email. 50% deposit.
- Days 1–2
Evidence
Transacted comparables, rent and sales-rate evidence, supply pipeline and current cost benchmarks for the asset class.
- Days 3–4
Model and sensitivities
Appraisal, monthly cashflow and sensitivity grids built and checked against your current numbers.
- Day 5
Report and model delivered
8 to 10 page report and the live Excel model. Balance due on delivery.
- Within 10 days
One revision round
Send your comments or revised inputs once, in writing. We update the model and the report.
05 — Inputs and limits
What to send, and what this is not
What to send us
- Location and plot number, or the affection plan
- Your current appraisal, budget or cost plan
- Design brief or area schedule (GFA, saleable or lettable area, unit mix)
- Payment plan and any sales achieved to date
- Finance terms, if a facility is in place or proposed
- For income assets: tenancy schedule, rents and lease expiries
Not included
- RICS Red Book valuation or any statement of market value
- Building, structural or MEP survey
- Legal, title, planning or regulatory due diligence
- Design, cost consultancy or a QS-certified estimate
- Lender-grade bank reports or a fund-level business plan
06 — Examples
Schemes and assets we model
Worked example
Worked exampleJumeirah Village Circle
Mid-market residential viability
Re-underwriting a G+4 scheme approved on 2025 assumptions against current build costs and absorption.
11.2%
Profit on cost
AED 1,180/sqft
Breakeven rate
Re-price
Verdict
Worked exampleAl Quoz
Industrial and logistics asset
Income appraisal on a multi-tenant warehouse, testing yield on cost against current rent growth and near-zero vacancy.
8.6%
Yield on cost
3.4 yrs
WAULT
Proceed
Verdict
Photography is representative of location only. Figures are illustrative of method and output, not of any specific client engagement.
07 — FAQ
About the Project Viability Review
A full study covers market positioning, design input and lender-grade reporting over several weeks. This is screening depth: the evidence, the model and the verdict needed to decide whether to proceed, at a fixed fee and in five working days. If the verdict is proceed, the model can form the base of a fuller study.
Both. You receive the live Excel model with every input exposed and labelled, so your team can run its own scenarios after delivery.
Yes, across all seven emirates. Transaction evidence is deepest in Dubai. Where evidence elsewhere is thinner, we say so in the scope confirmation before any payment.
Mention your deadline in the enquiry. Where the inputs are ready and the scope allows, we will confirm a shorter delivery date in writing before you pay.
The other services
Buyer's Numbers Check
About to commit to a home or a residential investment? Independent analysis of the return at the price you have been quoted — in 48 hours.
Portfolio Review & Monitoring
Holding a UAE portfolio? An independent view of which assets still earn their place, what to sell, what to buy next, and what each unit should let for every quarter.
08 — Enquire
Request analysis, or just ask first.
Tell us the asset, the price and when you need to decide. We reply within one business day, confirm fit and scope by email, and put the fee in writing before anything is payable.
+971 52 690 0717info@plotlineuae.com