Do
- Give us the exact bay number and level, in writing, not "somewhere on B2".
- Hand over the physical access device and tell us whether the building deducts a deposit for it.
- Tell us if your building restricts the number of registered vehicles per bay, or requires plate registration.
- Tell us immediately if the bay is reassigned by the building at any point during the term.
- Read the inventory before you sign it. Correct quantities on the spot.
- Insist that existing defects are photographed and described — a chip, a stain, a dead pixel, a scratched door.
- Keep your signed copy with your other property documents.
- Tell us in writing whenever you add, remove or replace an item, so the inventory stays current.
- Remove personal documents, jewellery, medication, spare car keys and anything irreplaceable before handover.
- If the unit has a lockable cupboard or storage room you wish to reserve for your own belongings, agree it at handover and have it recorded on the inventory as an owner-locked area excluded from guest use and from cleaning.
Don’t
- Do not sublet, lend or rent out the bay separately while we are operating the unit — a guest arriving to find their bay occupied becomes an out-of-hours emergency.
- Do not assume a second car can be accommodated. Guests are entitled to the allocated bay only.
- Do not sign a blank or partially completed inventory.
- Do not leave personal items, documents or valuables in the property expecting them to be untouched — see below.
- Do not remove furniture or appliances from the property once it is live without telling us first. The listing photographs and the inventory both become inaccurate, and the guest has grounds to complain.
Handover day is the point at which operational control of your property passes to us. Everything a guest, a cleaner or a technician will need has to be in our hands and on paper before the listing goes live. A handover that is done properly takes an hour or two; a handover that is done loosely produces months of small disputes about a missing fob, a scratched worktop or a warranty nobody can find.
This article covers what you bring, the sequence on the day, and how the signed inventory protects both sides.
Why we insist on a formal handover
Three operational reasons:
- Access continuity. Guests arrive at all hours. Our Guest Relations Officer (GRO) must be able to open your door, the building lobby, the lift zone, the parking gate and the amenity floors without calling you.
- Liability. The inventory sets the baseline condition of your property. Without it, any damage that appears later cannot be attributed to a specific guest, and no deduction from a guest security deposit can be justified.
- Compliance and maintenance. DET (formerly DTCM) holiday home operation requires the unit to be safe and correctly documented. Warranties, appliance manuals and building rules determine whether a fault is a free warranty repair or an expense charged to you.
What to bring on handover day
- All copies of the unit key or key card in existence — including any you keep for yourself
- Building access cards / fobs, including any that have been issued for the lift, pool, gym or beach access
- Parking access card, remote or permit, plus written confirmation of your allocated bay number and level
- Mailbox key and its number
- Storage room key, if the unit has one allocated
- Utility account details: DEWA premise number, cooling (district cooling) account number, gas account if applicable
- Internet line details, if a permanent line already exists at the unit
- Appliance manuals and warranty certificates, with purchase dates and supplier contacts
- Furniture and fit-out invoices for high-value items, in case of an insurance claim
- Building management contact sheet and the building's house rules for short-term rental units
- Any active AMC (annual maintenance contract) documents — AC servicing, pest control, water tank cleaning
If a document exists only as a photo on your phone, send it to info@deluxehomes.com before the day. Paper originals stay with you unless we agree otherwise — we need legible copies, not custody of your paperwork.
The handover sequence
- Confirm the appointment. Agree a date and time with your account contact by phone or WhatsApp on +971 (4) 392-0202, or by email. Book it for daylight hours so the inventory photographs are usable and building management is reachable.
- Meet at the unit. Attend in person if you can. If you cannot, appoint someone in writing to act for you and tell us who they are in advance — we will not accept an inventory signed by an unidentified person.
- Walk the property room by room with our representative. Open every cupboard, run every tap, switch on every appliance and every light. Report anything already broken now, not later.
- Record the inventory. Our representative lists every item of furniture, every appliance, every soft furnishing set and every item of crockery and cutlery, with quantities and condition notes. Photographs are taken of each room and of any existing defect.
- Record utility meter readings. DEWA and cooling meter readings are noted and photographed so the split of charges before and after handover is not disputed. Confirm which accounts stay in your name — see the utilities article for how billing is handled.
- Hand over and count the keys. Every key, card, fob and remote is counted into the inventory by type and quantity, and marked with what it opens. Anything you keep back is written down as retained by you.
- Confirm the parking bay. Note the bay number and level, and hand over the parking access device. If your building requires the vehicle plate to be registered against the bay, tell us — access is otherwise refused at the gate.
- Register with building management. Some buildings require the operator's staff to be registered before fobs will function or before cleaners and technicians are allowed in. If your building does, introduce us at the desk on the day.
- Test the access. Our representative physically tests every card and fob — lobby, lift, unit door, parking gate, amenities. A card that does not work is replaced before we leave, not after a guest is standing outside.
- Sign the inventory. Both parties sign. You receive a copy of the signed inventory with photographs attached. Keep it — it is the document you will refer to if you ever query a deduction or a replacement.
- Hand over the documents. Manuals, warranties, AMC contracts and building rules are collected or emailed. We log the warranty expiry dates so we know what can still be claimed.
- Confirm go-live. Once access is proven and the inventory is signed, we confirm the date the listing goes live. This is usually 7 to 10 days after the signed handover. We go live portal by portal, because some platforms take time to review a new listing; as soon as the unit is live in our system and on our website, our sales team starts offering it.
Keys, cards and fobs: how many
We need enough sets to run the property without borrowing from a guest. In practice that means a set in circulation with the guest, a set with the GRO team, and a spare held securely.
| Item | Minimum sets we need | Why |
| Unit key / key card | At least 2 for guests, plus 1 more per additional bedroom, and 1 spare for our operations team | Guest set, operations set, secure spare |
| Building access fob | At least 2, plus 1 more per additional bedroom | Guest access to lobby, lift and amenities |
| Parking access card / remote | 1 per allocated bay, unless the building issues more | Guest vehicle access |
| Mailbox key | 1 | Collection of building notices and official mail |
If your building charges for additional cards or fobs, that cost sits with you as the owner. Order them before handover day if you can — replacement issuance in some towers takes days, and we cannot accept a booking for a unit whose guest cannot get past the lobby.
Do not keep an unregistered spare key with a friend, a broker or a previous tenant. Anyone entering the property outside our records breaks the chain of custody, invalidates the inventory as evidence, and may void a claim against a guest deposit.
Parking
Almost every property we manage has a parking spot provided by the building, usually underground. A very small number of units have no spot, or a spot located outside the building. Whichever applies to you, it must be stated at handover, because it goes into the listing and into the guest's arrival instructions.
Exception. If your unit has no allocated bay, or the bay is outside the building, say so at handover. We will state it plainly in the listing. Advertising parking that does not exist produces cancellations, refund claims and a review that costs you more than the bay ever would.
Manuals, warranties and maintenance contracts
Warranties are money. If a washing machine fails in month eight of a two-year warranty and we do not know the warranty exists, the repair is bought at your expense instead of claimed free. Hand over what you have.
- Appliance manuals — so a guest issue can be resolved by phone instead of a call-out.
- Warranty certificates with purchase date, supplier name and contact.
- Existing AMC contracts, with the contractor's contact details and the next scheduled service date.
- Smart-home or access-system credentials: smart lock, thermostat, alarm, video intercom. Include the administrator account, not just a user PIN.
- Any building-specific instruction, such as which lift is the service lift and what hours moves and deliveries are permitted.
If credentials for a smart lock or alarm are not handed over, we cannot guarantee guest access and cannot let a technician in unattended. Units in that state cannot go live.
The signed inventory
The inventory is the single most useful document either of us holds. It is what turns "the sofa looks worn" into a documented, dated, photographed fact.
What it does for you:
- Establishes the condition and quantity of your contents on day one.
- Supports a charge against a guest's security deposit when damage occurs, because we can show the before state. Note that security deposits are collected from guests on most channels, with limited exceptions depending on the booking platform.
- Prevents you being billed for the replacement of something that was already missing or broken before we took over.
- Gives you an itemised list to check against when the contract ends and the property is handed back.
Personal belongings and locked owner storage
The property goes to a guest as a fully equipped home. Anything of yours left behind becomes either a guest's problem or a liability.
We do not offer luggage or goods storage, and there is no storage available in the buildings. Items left in the unit outside an agreed, recorded owner-locked area are not insured by us and may be discarded during turnover cleaning.
After handover: what changes
- Access is held by our operations team. If you want to enter your own property while it is live, arrange it with us first — the unit may be occupied, and unannounced entry into an occupied unit is a serious guest incident.
- Owner stays are booked through us so the calendar is blocked and turnover cleaning is scheduled. A cleaning fee applies to owner stays; the current amount is shown in the owner portal. Give at least 48 hours' notice; requests on public holidays, in peak season or at shorter notice are accepted when the unit is free and ready.
- Maintenance and repairs are actioned by our team within the agreed spend limit, above which we ask for your approval. The limit is set in your signed management agreement — see maintenance approvals.
- Income and deductions for the previous month are settled on the 15th of each month, or the next working day if the 15th is a non-working day.
- The unit is registered and operated in line with DET (formerly DTCM) holiday home requirements. Keep your title deed and Ejari or ownership documents accessible — they are required for permit renewal.
If something is missing on the day
Handover does not have to be perfect to proceed, but the gaps must be recorded and closed before go-live.
- Note the missing item on the inventory as an open point, with who is responsible for closing it.
- Agree a date by which it will be supplied — usually a replacement fob from building management or a missing appliance manual.
- We confirm in writing once the open point is closed.
- Go-live is confirmed only when access items are complete. Non-access items, such as a warranty certificate, will not hold the listing but stay open until supplied.
Contact
To arrange or reschedule a handover, or to report a lost key or fob: phone or WhatsApp +971 (4) 392-0202, or email info@deluxehomes.com. In an emergency — fire, flood, gas, medical — contact the local emergency services first, then tell us.