How college dropout sold properties worth Dh25 billion in Dubai

Dubai: If Dubai were a person, it would probably look a lot like Ben Bandari — confident, relentless, and unapologetically ambitious. The kind of man who doesn’t just sell dreams; he lives inside one.

A Canadian college dropout who landed in a dusty, half-built Dubai with little more than hustle in his pocket, Ben has since flipped that grit into gold — billions of dirhams’ worth, to be exact.

“I like to think I was here before everyone else,” he says with a grin that’s part pride, part prophecy.

Today, the Million Dollar Listing UAE star and founder of a lucrative realty company is what happens when timing, tenacity, and nerve collide — a living, breathing case study in betting big on Dubai before the city came onto its own.

Born in Montreal and raised in Vancouver, Ben first arrived in Dubai in 2000, when the city still wore its ambition like an ill-fitted suit.

“Honestly, I didn’t like it much,” he admits. “I missed home and the pace felt off.” He lasted barely a year before flying back. But he returned in 2002 — a move that would redefine his life.

“It was the right place, right time,” he says. “Emaar was launching Dubai Marina. That was ground zero for what this city was becoming.” He started selling townhouses in Meadows and Springs, hustling across projects before the skyline even had a name. The learning curve was brutal, but his consistency — that unglamorous grind — became his edge.

When the 2008 crash hit, Ben watched the empire he’d built wobble.

“It was scary. I thought it was over,” he says. But he didn’t flee. He learned. He waited. And when the market roared back, he was ready. That resilience would later define his pandemic playbook. While most agents hit pause during Covid-19, Ben pressed play.

“I saw 2008 all over again — fear, uncertainty, and cheap rent,” he says. “So I doubled down.”

He launched his real estate company in the middle of lockdowns, renting space for a fraction of the price and hiring when others were firing.

“I wanted to be ready for the rebound. And it came fast.”

Fast is an understatement. In two decades, Ben has closed more than Dh25 billion in deals. His portfolio of sales reads like a love letter to Dubai luxury — 15 floors of D1 Tower, 32 apartments in Palazzo Versace to a single client, later resold for the same buyer.

He doesn’t drop names, but he smiles the smile of someone who knows every billionaire’s assistant on speed dial.

“People think the ultra-rich are difficult,” he says. “They’re actually the easiest. They know what they want. A million dirhams up or down doesn’t break the deal.”

His latest stage, Million Dollar Listing UAE, produced by Image Nation Abu Dhabi and out on Starzplay, made him a familiar face — but don’t mistake him for a reality star.

“I’m not an actor. I’m a broker,” he says. “But I knew the power of visibility. I wanted to show the real Dubai to the world.” On-screen or off, his deals are verified with the Dubai Land Department, every sale logged and legit. “There’s no drama you can fake when the paperwork is public,” he laughs.

Behind the cameras, Ben is an investor first. He personally owns 17 properties, most of them smart one- and two-bedroom units with high rental yields.

“I like liquidity. I don’t get emotional,” he says. “If the numbers make sense, I buy. If they don’t, I walk.”

He’s currently renting a family villa in Barsha — a decision that raises eyebrows until he explains it in true Bhandari logic. “Buying to live doesn’t make sense right now. I can build the same villa for half the cost and sell it for double. So why lock up capital?”

His real estate philosophy is stripped of fluff and rich in clarity.

“If you’re buying for appreciation, go off-plan with a good payment plan,” he advises.

“If you’re an end user who can finance, buy. Don’t rent — that’s throwing money in the garbage.”

His market map is equally precise: Dubai South for future gains, Meydan for convenience, JVC for entry-level plays.

“But don’t ignore Abu Dhabi — it’s the next Dubai. The Disneyland project will change everything,” he says. “

And keep an eye on Ras Al Khaimah. The casino alone will turn that place into a goldmine.”

Ben’s sea-view obsession, though, is personal.

“Golf views are nice, but the sea? That’s Dubai’s soul,” he says. “I’ve always preferred blue over green.”

His first million-dirham profit came from flipping a Springs townhouse in six months back in 2006.

“That gave me confidence,” he says. “I used the money to buy a JBR apartment and an early Palm property. I still own that Palm one.”

But it’s the smaller stories that reveal his hustle. Like the time a lady called from a newspaper ad, couldn’t afford what she wanted, but introduced her cousin instead.

“That cousin bought three buildings from me,” he laughs. “Lesson? Never turn anyone away. Today’s studio buyer could be tomorrow’s 100-million-dirham buyer—or their uncle could be.”

Even now, his phone never stops buzzing — agents, investors, developers, all demanding his time.

Yet he stays grounded, measuring his wealth in reputation, not just revenue. “Money’s a byproduct,” he says. “My name and integrity come first. I’d rather lose a deal than sell something I don’t believe in.” It’s a line that sums up his staying power. Two decades, one market crash, and a pandemic later, Ben still commands trust in a city that changes faster than its billboards.

He may not have finished university, but he did go back later to earn an Executive MBA from DIFC.

“I came from a family of doctors and engineers. I dropped out young and always wanted to close that loop,” he says. “But what I learned from the streets of Dubai was more valuable than anything in a classroom.”

Ask him if he ever feels he’s “made it,” and he laughs. “No chance. The day you think you’ve arrived, you stop moving,” he says.

“This city rewards motion. You have to keep running.” Then, with that trademark grin that could sell a skyscraper, he adds, “I’ve been a poor man and a rich man. And I prefer being rich. But only if I can sleep knowing I didn’t sell anyone nonsense.”

That’s the Ben Bandari code — unapologetic, disciplined, and fiercely loyal to the city that made him.

In a skyline full of dreamers, he remains Dubai’s original believer — the man who built an empire out of persistence, one deal at a time.