Take a look at BAC, Scotiabank, Prival or public banks such as BCR or Banco Nacional (they have a bad reputation of being slower than private banks with foreigners).

Having worked in and around real estate including loan side for both residential and smaller specialized commercial (medical), renovation and new construction/new build with a broker & brokerage founder (who has since retired) I know from him that in addition to reputable property managers, contractors and architects we had accountants including a forensic accountant on the loan side and a handful of real estate attorneys with one on retainer.

The area has a reputation for being "sketchy". 

Check out different lenders, compare their rates and terms, and read reviews to make sure that you’re working with a reputable company.

While you like to trash a very reputable forum such as The Great MortgageGrapevine and the trolls and tools that reside there. 

the main risk for those you mentioned is Reputation and I think investors especially heavy BP followers rely on reputation bias quite a bit.

Yeah...you have to be careful with your reputation.

So in case you are looking to invest in Dubai it is a great opportunity but beware of the following:- Developer Reputation: Investigate the developer's track record, previous projects, and financial stability.

I have known Jered Sturm at SNS Capial for many years and they have an outstanding reputation.

Longhorn has been doing 100% financing for 16 years with 8000+ closed loans and has a stellar reputation and many, many repeat customers.