I’m Laila Janik, CEO of MYS Real Estate, and I’ve watched savvy investors use one-bedroom properties as a sort of “financial nimble foot” – assets they can trade or leverage quickly without big friction. Let’s explore how these small units give HNWIs a unique agile edge.
Fast to Sell, Fast to Cash-In: Unlike a large commercial building or even a luxury villa which might take months (or years) to sell, one-bedroom apartments are fast to liquidate if you need cash or want to rebalance. There’s a deep market of buyers at that price point – both other investors and end-user first-time buyers. In 2024, apartments (mostly one and two-beds) made up the majority of Dubai’s record 180,000+ property transactions globalpropertyguide.com. That means if you list a well-priced one-bed, chances are you’ll get offers within weeks. For a HNWI, this is a great safety valve: should you need to free up capital for a new venture or to handle an emergency, you could sell one or two one-bedrooms relatively quickly without having to liquidate a large asset at a possibly inopportune time. I had a client who needed $1 million quickly to buy into a tech startup opportunity – he sold two Downtown one-bed apartments within one month, boom, cash in hand (and incidentally, at a profit since he’d bought years earlier). Try doing that with a $10M commercial building – not so easy. Plus, selling a couple small assets doesn’t disrupt the rest of your portfolio (his remaining properties kept earning rent). This modular selling is a huge flexibility – you can raise exactly the amount you need by selling precisely that many units, instead of having to sell one big asset and perhaps raise too much or close an entire income source.
Partial Portfolio Liquidation or Expansion: Because one-bedrooms are like “Lego blocks” of an investment portfolio, you can also expand or contract your exposure easily. If you foresee the market heating up, you can accumulate more units gradually (each unit isn’t such a big commitment, so you can average in). If you worry about a cooling, you can offload a few to reduce leverage or take profit. You can respond to cycles fluidly. Many HNWIs I know keep a portion of their portfolio in one-bed units specifically to have this agility. One called it his “cash equivalent bucket” – not that they’re cash, but compared to his private equity holdings or yachts or whatnot, these apartments could be converted to cash faster and with relatively low loss (in fact likely a gain). Data shows one-bed apartments often maintain liquid market even in slower periods, because there are always bargain hunters and renters ready to become owners at lower entry points. In the 2018-2020 dip, while uber-luxury home sales slowed, one-bedrooms in mid-market still sold steadily – transaction volumes in affordable segments stayed resilient globalpropertyguide.com. So even if you choose to trim during a dip, you can – perhaps at a slight price concession, but you won’t be stuck. That optionality is valuable.Refinancing & Leverage Options: Liquidity isn’t only about selling; it’s also about borrowing against. With multiple one-beds, banks can offer you portfolio mortgages or credit lines. For example, if you own 5 unencumbered one-beds worth AED 5M total, a bank might give you a secured credit line of 50% of that (AED 2.5M) at a decent rate, using the apartments as collateral (they like residential collateral because it’s divisible and liquid). So if you have a new investment opportunity, you can tap that line quickly instead of negotiating a complex loan against a singular big property or – worse – selling stocks or other assets in haste. I’ve seen clients treat their apartment portfolio as a “bankable asset” – one drew a loan against increased equity (as values had risen) to finance their child’s college overseas, essentially letting the tenants indirectly pay the loan via ongoing rents. That’s harder to do on say, a piece of land or a rare art collection – banks are much more willing to lend on a basket of easily valued, easily saleable apartments. Thus, one-beds give you the flexibility to extract liquidity without even selling, keeping your wealth intact yet usable.
Ease of Diversification: Another flexibility aspect: want to diversify within your real estate holdings? One-bed units allow you to scatter across neighborhoods and property cycles. Maybe you hold some in established areas (Downtown, Marina) and some in upcoming areas (Dubai Creek Harbour, future Expo City area) – this diversifies your exposure. You can pivot between segments too: if you feel the luxury rental market is taking off, you might sell two mid-range one-beds and use proceeds to buy one larger high-end unit, or vice versa if you want to de-risk from a high-end. The point is, having your capital in small chunks means you can reallocate with precision. You can even diversify outside Dubai by selling a portion to reinvest in another country swiftly if needed (though frankly, many end up reallocating to Dubai from abroad once they see the performance!). I had a HNWI client who sold three of his Dubai apartments to fund the down payment on a London commercial property purchase. That flexibility – seamlessly moving capital from one market to another – was enabled by how liquid and straightforward selling those apartments was. He commented it was easier and faster than selling some of his stocks due to market conditions at the time.
Low Emotional Attachment, High Strategic Value: One more thing – HNWIs often get emotionally attached to big trophy assets (that penthouse with a view, that estate, etc.). One-bedrooms, however, remain mostly “investment inventory”. This actually makes it easier to make rational decisions – you’ll sell when strategy dictates, without sentimental hesitation. That leads to more optimal portfolio management. You treat them as financial instruments – which, for the sake of wealth growth and preservation, is a good mindset. It’s much harder to part with a family villa at a time you perhaps should; but selling an investment apartment to seize a better opportunity is relatively painless. It keeps your portfolio lean and mean.
Conclusion: In an ever-changing investment landscape, liquidity is power. Dubai one-bedroom apartments provide that power – the ability to get in, get out, reposition, and mobilize cash with minimal fuss. For HNWIs who value agility (and you should, since opportunity cost of missing big chances can be high), these assets act as a flexible buffer in your wealth strategy.
If you’re a high-net-worth investor and you’ve focused only on big assets, it might be time to add some nimbleness to your holdings. Let’s discuss how a tranche of one-bedroom investments could be your liquid edge. Whether it’s identifying which units offer the bestresale prospects or strategizing a mix that complements your larger assets, I’m here to advise.
Message me to set up a consultation. In a world where being able to act fast is often the key to big wins, let’s equip your portfolio with the flexibility to seize the moment – using these small but mighty assets. 💼💡🏠
