Kalem White of White & Co: The Truth About Dubai Real Estate

From Scotland to Dubai's Second-Biggest Agency in Five Years

Kalem White didn't arrive in Dubai with a network, a war chest, or a famous name. He arrived from Scotland, spent years cycling through brokerage after brokerage, and decided that if no one was going to build the culture he believed in, he'd have to do it himself. In January 2021 — the middle of a global pandemic, when other agencies were shutting their doors — he opened White & Co.

Five years later, White & Co has 450 brokers, 750 total staff, 64,000 square feet of office space across four floors, and sits second in all of Dubai for property leads. The only agency ahead of them, fäm Properties, has been operating since roughly 2005 and fields nearly twice as many agents.

The math, as Kalem puts it, speaks for itself.

A Commission Structure Built to Keep People

One of the most direct things Kalem discussed was the economics of running a brokerage — and why his model looks the way it does.

"You have your own business inside our platform. You get 50% of the profits straight away, then it steps up. Eventually you're on 70-odd percent, making more money than most people, with overheads that don't exist. I pay for the marketing, the admins, the lawyers. All you need to focus on is doing deals."

White & Co's margin sits at 15% — deliberately thin by industry standards, where some agencies run at 30%. Kalem keeps it that way by choice, and reinvests constantly: four office floors, in-house conveyancing, mortgages, foreign exchange, a construction arm for renovations and flips, holiday homes, property management, and soon a trustee office and golden visa service. The goal is a single ecosystem where a client never needs to go elsewhere.

The incentives go beyond commission. He's known across Dubai for rewarding top performers with watches, holidays, and cash contributions toward property down payments — whatever actually means something to the person receiving it.

"Someone recently said, 'Can I get the money and put it towards a down payment on a property I'm buying?' How can I be unhappy about that?"

Why White & Co Keeps Growing — and Who They Hire

White & Co brings on roughly eight experienced brokers per month alongside a larger cohort of first-timers, predominantly recruited from the UK. The reasoning is cultural as much as practical: a working style built around urgency, early starts, and treating real estate as a high-performance profession rather than a lifestyle.

"We don't just take brokers — we make them."

The company dominates on the Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Marina, where specialists focus exclusively on one zone — trunk, crescent, villas — and cross-refer internally. In off-plan, the model is equally disciplined: rather than pushing every new launch, the whole team mobilises behind one or two projects per month that meet strict criteria on developer track record, payment plan, and location. They have sold out full buildings in Meydan and JVC using this approach.

On stock versus buyers, Kalem is unambiguous:

"Stock is king. If you have a listing, people come to you. If you have buyers, no one knows about them. You can't go on Property Finder and see what buyers someone has — but you can see what stock they have."

Wasted Potential Is His Biggest Frustration

For all the growth metrics, the thing that clearly irritates Kalem most is watching capable people underperform.

"It's not that they need more training — they need more reminding. They know exactly what they need to do."

He sees brokers arrive, earn well, spend everything, and repeat the cycle without building anything lasting. His advice is consistent: invest in property early, treat the job as the highest level of sales it actually is, and understand that the market rewards the hungry. Those putting in 100% will always, eventually, take the deals from those coasting at 30%.

On the Current Market — and Comparing Dubai to Anywhere Else

Recorded during a period of regional geopolitical tension, Kalem was measured but clear-eyed. White & Co's lead volumes had recovered to 80% of their normal baseline within three and a half weeks. Buyers were still picking up the phone.

"If you're finding time to call us on Property Finder during a geopolitical crisis, you want to buy. You still believe in Dubai."

He pushed back hard on the idea that external events represent a Dubai-specific market cycle — pointing out that every downturn the city has faced, from the 2008 financial crisis to COVID, originated somewhere else entirely. Dubai rebounded faster each time.

"People need to stop comparing Dubai to anywhere else in the world. You show me another place that built a palm tree in the middle of the sea and put houses on it. It's been done. Don't talk about Dubai in the same sentence as any other city."

On the distressed-deal frenzy gripping some buyers right now, his take was equally grounded: most sellers who genuinely need out after a single month of uncertainty were simply over-leveraged to begin with. Real distressed inventory is scarce, and the word is being thrown around far too loosely.

The Target: Number One in Dubai

When asked about expansion — Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Saudi — Kalem was direct. There are satellite offices opening in Abu Dhabi and RAK to serve investors, but conquering those markets is not the plan. The plan is to take the top spot in Dubai, the city that fäm Properties has led for nearly two decades.

"I don't think it'll take long. The math and the KPIs say we will overtake them soon. It's not me saying it — the results say it."

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There is a lot more in this conversation — including Kalem's read on where the Dubai market goes over the next six to twelve months, his views on cold calling's coming obsolescence, and how he thinks about keeping 450 brokers motivated when the market slows. Catch the full episode on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ_pX7XTQmE) or listen on [Buzzsprout](https://www.buzzsprout.com/1232855/episodes/18910831-the-truth-about-making-millions-in-dubai-real-estate.mp3). And if you're a founder or CEO building something in Dubai, find out how to join us as a guest at Dubai Stars.