Written By Hamzah Abu Zannad
Imagine you’re a landlord.
Not a bad one. Not greedy. Just practical.
You’re tired of tenants calling about dripping taps, squeaky hinges, and AC filters that “feel weaker than last summer.”
So you introduce a rule:
“If a repair or maintenance bill is above AED 1,000, I’ll pay.
If it’s below AED 1,000, you pay.”
You lean back in your chair.
You’ve just filtered out the nonsense.
Except you haven’t.
Three months later, something fascinating happens.
Every repair bill is AED 1,450.
Or AED 1,620.
Or AED 1,300.
Never AED 800.
Never AED 950.
Always comfortably north of your threshold.
What changed?
Nothing about the plumbing.
Nothing about the AC.
Nothing about the hinges.
Only the incentive.
The Small Leak That Became a Strategy
The tenant isn’t immoral.
He’s rational.
If he calls the technician for a small AED 600 fix, he pays.
If he waits, lets two or three minor issues accumulate, and the invoice becomes AED 1,200…
You pay.
So what does he do?
He waits.
And when the technician arrives, there’s a subtle suggestion:
“While you’re here, maybe check the compressor.”
A loose screw becomes a full assembly adjustment.
A minor fix becomes a preventive overhaul.
Not because the tenant is evil.
Because he is optimizing.
Enter the Cobras
In colonial India, under the British Raj, officials faced a cobra problem in Delhi.
So they did what any sensible administration would do:
They paid people for dead cobras.
Initially, it worked.
Then something strange happened.
People started breeding cobras.
Why chase snakes when you can manufacture them?
When the government canceled the program, breeders released the snakes.
The cobra population increased.
The solution created the problem.
Economists later gave this phenomenon a name:
The Cobra Effect.
But it’s really just human nature responding to incentives.
The Uncomfortable Truth
Here’s the part that makes people uneasy:
The tenant is not cheating you.
He is responding perfectly to the system you built.
And this is where the Freakonomics lens kicks in.
When daycare centers introduced a small fine for late pickups, lateness increased.
Why?
Because the fine transformed guilt into a transaction.
Parents were no longer “bad.”
They were simply “buying extra time.”
Your AED 1,000 repair threshold does the same thing.
You transformed:
“Be reasonable with maintenance.”
Into:
“Make sure it’s above the limit.”
The Rule Beneath the Rule
People do not respond to intentions.
They respond to incentives.
You didn’t design a maintenance policy.
You designed a pricing game.
And humans are excellent game players.
Especially when someone else is paying.
The Question That Matters
Before introducing any rule — in real estate, policy, or corporate life — ask:
“If someone wanted to game this, how would they?”
If you can answer that question in under 30 seconds…
They will too.
And they’ll do it better.
Now let me ask you something, because this matters:
In your real case —
Did repair approvals require landlord sign-off first?
Or was the tenant free to call vendors and submit invoices?
Because if the tenant controlled vendor selection, you didn’t just create a threshold incentive.
You created a collaborative ecosystem.
Which is even more interesting.
About the Author
Hamzah Abu Zannad is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Axiom Prime Real Estate Development. With over two decades of experience in Dubai’s property market, he has contributed to projects shaped by long-term strategy, disciplined execution, and sustainable growth.
At Axiom Prime, he focuses on low-density, community-centered luxury developments inspired by Dutch living principles — prioritizing walkability, natural light, and human-scale design. The company’s flagship projects in Jumeirah Village Triangle and Jumeirah Garden City reflect his belief that real estate should be intentional, functional, and enduring — not merely impressive.
With a steady, forward-looking view of Dubai’s evolution, Hamzah continues to play a thoughtful role in shaping the city’s evolving urban fabric.
For more information, visit https://axiomprime.ae
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