I quit train job to flog houses to Dubai billionaires – I’ve made £6k in one DAY & will be millionaire by Christmas
THEY can command half a year’s average income in just one month and spend their free time enjoying the world’s most luxurious city.
Sounds like a dream come true.
Now a new show takes us right into the heart of the cut-throat world of Dubai’s real estate, from snatching deals away from colleagues to lavish homes that come with a car turntable.
The twenty-something stars of BBC’s Dubai Hustle are all, predictably, gorgeous and glamorous.
The women rock up to the city’s haunts in skintight dresses with plunging cleavages, while the men parade their buff bodies on the beach.
High-flyer Jess Eaton, 24, moved to Dubai last year from a small village in Bedfordshire, where she worked for Network Rail.
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As a top leasing broker at Haus & Haus, where the fly-on-the-wall show was filmed, she earned a whopping £35,000 in commission in her first few months.
But after her love of the party lifestyle threatens to loosen her grip on the top spot, she vows: “I didn’t fly halfway around the world to be second best. There’s only one spot for me and that’s at the top.”
That's just one of the cringe-worthy statements in the show, which is a cross between Selling Sunset and The Apprentice.
Chris Lock, a likeable Scot, says: “I’ve always had a passion for sales. If you were to cut me open, you’d see it running through my blood.”
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The 27-year-old former car salesman grew up on a council estate in Livingston, Scotland, and moved to Dubai with his girlfriend Bernice.
He says: “Living on a council estate has taught me valuable lessons. It’s taught me how to work hard and inspired me to want more in life.
“The reason I moved out here is simple, to make money and make a lot of it - and pay no tax.”
He loves his job as a sales consultant for the plus Emirates Living residential area, not far from the iconic Palm Jumeirah.
He says: “I phone people from back home and they’ll like, ‘You got out, you’ve made it.’
“You don’t want to get stuck in a rut back home.”
A Porsche for Christmas
In Jess's best month, she took home £15,000 - almost half the average yearly salary for a worker in the UK.
At one point, she bags a deal for a 900,000 Dirham (£195,000) which nets a very impressive £6,000 commission. Not bad for a day’s work.
“I can get myself a nice outfit now,” she said.
What did she choose? A designer handbag perhaps?
Nope, she went to high street favourite, Zara.
“It’s just five minutes from where I live so it’s dangerous.”
Jess’s big treat is her Range Rover, so she can drive between viewings in comfort, although she's quick to point out "it's not new."
Ellie Washington, 26, from Hull, vows to make enough money to buy a Porsche by Christmas and Jess ups the stakes by pledging to be a millionaire in the same time.
Bentley furniture and a car turntable
While those goals might not be likely this year at least, it’s clear they’ve got big plans.
Jess, who pays £15,000 a year for a one-bed apartment in Dubai Hills, tells The Sun: “I think about treating myself but I prefer seeing the money in my bank account. I’m like a gremlin, I just want more.
“I haven’t got a set figure in mind, I just want to keep beating my personal bests and be the best broker I can. I want to invest in property.”
In the UK or Dubai, I ask?
“Both!” she replies.
The types of properties they show clients around are the very top end.
They are filled with eye-wateringly expensive features, from designer Hermès throws worth thousands of pounds to Bentley-branded sofas and one with a home office that includes a car turntable.
Ellie says: “With the one with the turntable, there's a black office chair in the same room worth about £10,000. It was just a black chair!”
Work hard, play hard
Prior to moving to Dubai in October 2020, Ellie was working at a 9-5 job in insurance in the UK.
She says: “I thought there must be more to life. I love where I’m from but there’s no comparison to living here, it’s a completely different way of life.”
Archie, Adams, a former London stockbroker and now a leasing broker agrees.
“I used to commute two hours into London, two hours back,” he says. “Now I’ve got a 15-minute commute, I’ve got beach, sea, it’s perfect. The only regret is not coming out here sooner.”
From its famous boozy brunches to fancy restaurants and non-stop sunshine, it’s easy to see why young, single Brits are flocking to live in Dubai.
While many of us in the UK are struggling with the rising cost of living, the Dubai set have rather a different level of problems.
Ellie says it’s easier - and cheaper - to rely on delivery meals if she’s not going out.
We see her worrying about having a slow month in sales and jokes she's still getting deliveries but now they are from "the 50 per cent off section."
Jess ponders the last time she cooked for herself and says: "I made overnight oats for breakfast if that counts?";
Chris jokes he is “yet to see” Bernice rustle up a meal in their kitchen.
Pressure and pleasure
But it's not one big holiday. They might play hard, but they have to work hard too.
The brokers' earnings are purely from commission earned on each deal.
As Chris says: “No deal, no Dirham.”
In the first programme, viewers see him trying to gazump one of his colleagues, Cody, in a deal that would land him £5,000 - and he has no qualms about doing so.
He says: “If it’s a difference between me getting paid and someone else, you better believe it’s me getting the money.”
Although the working day is officially 9am til 6pm, brokers find themselves working late in the evenings, arranging viewings on the weekend and taking calls from their sunbeds on their days off.
Ellie, who is dating kitchen designer, Billy, says: “We work 12 hour days. We work Saturdays.”
Jess adds: “There’s definitely more pressure. If your client’s only available in the evening and you think a deal’s going to come out of it, you’re going to meet them.”
And then there's the pressure to look good when you spend a lot of time in a bikini.
One broker has had veneers on his teeth to look the part and the girls note "everyone" seems to have some sort of tweakment.
It's easy to walk in for Botox and lip fillers without appointment.
Jess, who was diagnosed with anorexia when she was 21, and admits she looked like a ";skeleton", shares an emotional moment when talking about body image.
She's had "breakdowns" in Dubai because, as she says, it's hard not to compare herself to others.
"It's crazy how far I've come since then. I wasn't spontaneous, everything was very strict," she says.
"There's a lot of pressure on us girls. I have my days when I feel more self-conscious than others but life's too short."
Surrounded by a group of like-minded young people , dates are easy to come by.
In fact, Archie has dated THREE of his colleagues.
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But as Jess warns: "It's hard to find someone serious. And it's a small city so everyone knows everyone."
Dubai Hustle airs on BBC Three on Mondays at 8pm, with the first four episodes available on BBC iPlayer now. The second part of the series will air later this year.
