Sarah Serhan: From HR to $100M Broker & Million Dollar Listing Star

Zero Experience, One City, Two Years to AED 100 Million

Sarah Serhan arrived in Dubai in 2013 at 23 years old — no real estate connections, no sales background, and no one waiting for her. Born in New Zealand to Palestinian parents, she had spent her career as an HR adviser, hiring healthcare professionals and teachers across hospitals and schools. Then COVID hit, she lost her job, and she made a decision that would define the next chapter of her life.

Within six months of joining the industry she had not closed a single deal. Within two years, she had crossed 100 million dirhams in sales. Today she averages close to 3 million dirhams a day in deal flow, leads a team of eight junior brokers in Dubai Hills Estate, and just wrapped filming on the Dubai edition of Million Dollar Listing for Stars Play.

Episode 85 of Dubai Stars is one of the most candid conversations we have had on the show. Sarah does not soften anything.

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The First Deal — and the Senior Manager Who Called Her a Failure

Sarah's first six months were brutal. She switched companies after three months when the environment at her first brokerage became openly hostile — men using the women's bathrooms, verbal abuse, zero respect. She found a better firm with a healthier culture, but the pressure mounted.

"One of the senior managers came to me in front of everyone and told me, 'You're a bad broker.' I wish I could name him right now."

She hadn't closed because she refused to. She had promised herself her first deal would not be 1 million or 2 million. It ended up being 8 million. She made her first 200K in commission on a split deal with a broker who, she says, rebuilt her self-confidence from the ground up.

The 8-million deal came with its own ordeal — a seller who sent her to wait outside in the street mid-negotiation, called her at night to deliver papers in JBR, and treated her like she was irrelevant, despite Sarah bringing him a buyer willing to pay 1.5 million above market rate. She sat in her car and cried. Then she went back inside and closed it.

"I promised myself after closing my first deal — no deal is ever worth my tears in this field. I've lost a deal for 325 million last year. I didn't shed one tear."

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Why She Bet on Dubai Hills Estate Before Anyone Else Did

When most agents were chasing quick apartment rentals, Sarah chose luxury — specifically Dubai Hills Estate, at a time when people still called it "the middle of the desert."

"I saw that every waterfront community and every golf course community is a social standard when it comes to luxury internationally. Dubai Hills Estate is going to be the next big thing."

It was a financial gamble. Going six months without income while carrying overheads is not a calculated risk — it's a test of conviction. She passed it. She now has eight brokers under her, most with no prior real estate experience, that she is training from scratch.

"I want them to be better versions of me. Imagine little Sarahs everywhere in Dubai Hills."

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The Sharks, the Harassment, and What She Wants Women Entering the Industry to Know

Sarah is direct about the darker reality of real estate in Dubai. Over 30,000 licensed brokers operate in the city. She estimates more than 100,000 additional people are practising without a licence.

"In real estate, we get so disrespected just because we are women. People that just see the flesh in you — they don't see anything behind that. The moment you go in that direction, you are finished."

Her two non-negotiables for survival: don't sell something you wouldn't buy yourself, and treat your clients the way you treat your parents — not your siblings, your parents.

"With your parents, you give full honesty and full respect. That's how you treat your clients."

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Joining Ben Bandari, Filming Million Dollar Listing, and Almost Quitting Both

Sarah's move to Ben Bandari's boutique firm Bendan Core came from a chance encounter at a project launch in Dubai Financial Centre. Bandari clocked her energy, asked where she worked, asked what she earned, and handed her a business card on the spot. She took three weeks, met him three times, and eventually made the jump.

"I'm not working for the company. I'm working with Ben. And that's the difference."

The Million Dollar Listing audition ran four stages. The final round had cameras, provocative questions, and a director who asked whether a woman could genuinely manage a career, a marriage, and a family simultaneously.

"This question pissed me off. Of course a woman can be successful and have a family and have a husband."

She left convinced she had failed the audition. A week later, a Zoom call with 20 people on it told her otherwise.

Filming brought its own friction — cast drama, scheduling pressure, and at least one serious falling-out with Bandari himself. The show features five brokers: Riyad Goar from Black Oak, Ramy Wood from Fam, Ben Bandari, Mai from PSI in Abu Dhabi, and Sarah. When it drops on Stars Play, it will be worth watching.

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The Person Behind the Deals

Sarah's husband Andrew — who she eloped with in Copenhagen — is also a broker. He was the one who encouraged her to get into real estate, handed her books on negotiation, and ultimately sold his house in Montreal to follow her to Dubai. Six months into his own career, he closed a single transaction covering 10 apartments and four retail shops. She credits him as the quieter force behind everything she has built.

Every time she closes a significant deal, they travel. No exceptions.

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The full episode runs well beyond what we have covered here — including a 34-million-dirham deal where neither the buyer nor the seller had a signed contract F, a seller who handed Sarah his credit card and PIN while travelling abroad, and Sarah's unfiltered advice for anyone considering the industry. Catch the complete conversation on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezdONDGjAU8) or listen on [Buzzsprout](https://www.buzzsprout.com/1232855/episodes/18343751-million-dollar-listing-star-sarah-serhan-the-truth-about-being-a-woman-in-business.mp3). And if you are building something in Dubai and want to tell your story on the show, apply to be a guest — we are always looking for the next star.