Reportage Developments

Developer overview

Reportage was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Abu Dhabi. Its website says it develops homes and complete communities both in the UAE and in other countries, and sums up its vision as making home ownership a realistic choice for more people. Several of its schemes, including names such as Sila and Sensi on its projects list, are in Abu Dhabi, which is outside the scope of this page. In Dubai, the developer's presence is concentrated in one large community, so almost every Reportage listing a Dubai buyer will meet sits inside it.

That community is Verdana, in Dubai Investments Park. Reportage has released it in numbered phases, and each phase has its own mix of homes and its own timeline. For a resale buyer, the phase number is the single most important detail on a Reportage listing.

Portfolio and locations

Reportage's Verdana page describes a townhouse-led "community within a community", close to the former Expo 2020 site:

• Verdana (phase one) – four-bedroom townhouses with private pools and a gym, according to the developer.
• Verdana II – townhouses set among parks, schools, mosques and community retail. DPF's Reportage listing is a studio filed under "Verdana 2" in Dubai Investments Park 2, while the developer's page describes Verdana II as a townhouse phase. The registered documents should settle which phase and unit type the listing really is.
• Verdana III – a mix of townhouses and apartments.
• Later phases – the developer lists further Verdana releases running up to phase ten, and its overall project headline covers homes from studios to four bedrooms.

Browse Dubai Investments Park 2 listings, Dubai Investment Park listings and the Dubai Investment Park area guide.

Property types

Across its phases, Verdana combines townhouses with apartment buildings, and Reportage's headline range runs from studios to four-bedroom homes. A townhouse with a private pool and a compact studio sit at very different points on the market, so it only makes sense to compare a listing with others of the same type and phase. If a listing describes a studio, confirm which apartment building it belongs to. Townhouse buyers, meanwhile, should look at plot position, distance to the community parks and retail, and whether the private pool shown in marketing is part of the specific unit. Small differences like these separate two otherwise identical homes and explain much of the spread in asking figures within one phase.

What buyers should verify

1. Phase and building. Ask for the Oqood or title deed and check the phase, plot or building, and unit number. This is especially important where a listing's phase label and unit type do not match the developer's description.
2. Unit type and size. Confirm that the contract floor plan shows the same layout the listing advertises.
3. What remains on the payment plan. Request Reportage's statement of account showing instalments paid and the balance outstanding.
4. Construction progress. Check the phase's registered status with the Dubai Land Department; phases at Verdana are at different stages.
5. Resale rules. Ask whether Reportage requires a set proportion of the price to be paid before it approves a transfer, and what its transfer fee is.

Finding distressed and below-market Reportage properties

Verdana's phased release creates a steady supply of contracts held by investors, and that is where Reportage distress tends to come from. An owner may decide not to keep paying instalments, need funds elsewhere, or want out before handover. That owner is a motivated seller, and the unit may appear as an urgent sale. Where the asking figure is less than the price in the original Reportage agreement, it is called below original price, or below OP. Below market value is judged against recent resales of the same type of unit in the same phase.

Taking over one of these contracts is an off-plan resale, or assignment. The buyer settles with the seller for the amount already paid, as negotiated, and assumes the remaining instalments. Reportage must issue its NOC before the Dubai Land Department will register the new owner on the Oqood. Cash buyer deals can speed things up but skip none of the checks. DPF collects these listings so buyers can compare them; it does not value or vouch for any of them.