With changes brought on in 2012, the reciprocity principle has been lifted. Therefore, any eligible foreign individual can now purchase property in Turkey, subject to legal restrictions.
These restrictions vary depending on the buyer’s nationality and the location of the property. For instance, if you are a national of a country bordering Turkey, you cannot acquire property in on of the cities neighbouring that country. So, if, for example, you are a Greek national, you cannot but property in Bodrum but you can in Antalya. However, if you are a U.K. national, you can buy property anywhere apart from within a prohibited military zone due to the fact that the U.K. does not share any borders with Turkey.
If you are considering buying property in Turkey, it is highly advisable that you conduct a preliminary survey. For this, it would be sufficient to provide your nationality and the details of the title deeds of the property you are planning to buy to the surveyor. This should include the location of the property as follows: city/district/quarter/village/block/plot. This information can be found on the title deeds of the property you are planning to purchase. Therefore, you should ask your seller for a copy of the title deeds. If you are the national of more than one country, you must disclose this information.
Here are the documents that are needed for the Deed Office when buying property in Turkey
- The title deeds (or the details) of the property – The property must not be in a military zone or restricted areas. The Deed Office asks for approval from the authorised command. For some cities, this obligation has been lifted as there are no restricted areas in that city.
- Power of Attorney
- The passport of the buyer (with sworn translation) and the passport or national ID card of the seller
This process is quite complex and if the warrant of attorney is invalid, it will lead to a loss of time and money.
The power of attorney needs to include the buyer’s photograph and the details of the property. If it is being issued in Turkey, it must be authorised by the notary. If it is being issued abroad, it must be authorised by the Turkish consulate. The power of attorney can also be issued by the notary of a foreign country. If that country is a member of the Hague convention, it must include an apostille. This document will then need to be translated and approved by a notary in Turkey. This is the only way it can be accepted by the deed office in Turkey.
If the power of attorney is issued by the notary of a country that is not a member of the Hague convention, then it must be authorised by the Turkish consulate or Embassy in that country in order to be accepted by the deed office in Turkey.
You should have a meeting with your attorney in Turkey and clarify how a valid power of attorney should be issued. The power of attorney must be issued in the official language of the country in which it is being issued. In other words, a power of attorney issued in the U.K. must be in English (even Turkish is not accepted), one issued in Germany must be in German and so on. The power of attorney must include your personal details as on your national ID card or passport. In case the details on the power of attorney and your passport do not match, the document is not valid. Your name should appear exactly in the same way as on your passport.
- The buyer’s photograph
- Th current market value of the property obtained from the municipality
- Earthquake insurance (DASK) (For real estates only, not for lands)
- The Property Valuation Report (From a SPK registered audit company) valid for three months. If there has been a change that affected the property’s value (change from being a construction servitude to a flat ownership, renunciation for a road, constitution of servitude, land use conversion, etc., the report becomes invalid and must be renewed. The title deeds fee is calculated based on the value that the buyer and seller have agreed based on the property’s market value, not the value stated on the report. Remember that if you would like to apply for citizenship in Turkey, the PVR value must be above $250.000. I will be talking about citizenship applications through property acquisition in another video.
- A recognisance. If the total area of the properties owned by a foreign national is bigger than 40 Ha, or larger than 10% of the total area of a district, they will be repossessed following the payment of the surplus area fee (?). You must sign a recognisance accepting these terms and conditions in advance.
Costs
- Title deeds fee (4% of the value of the property?). Normally this is shared between the buyer and the seller but it is subject to negotiation.
- Floating capital (this is a fixed fee for every year. For 2021, it is fixed at 194,75 TL).
- For transactions having a foreign element, the deed office charges a handling fee of around 650 TL.
In Turkey, the transfer of property ownership can only be realised at deed offices. Because this procedure can be completed in a notary in certain countries, some foreigners wanting to acquire property in Turkey think that they can also do so in a notary here. Unfortunately, in some instances some malevolent people may use this lack of knowledge to their own benefit and “sell” the same property to more than one person. So please be aware of this point. The procedure taking place at the notary is a “preliminary contract for real estate sale”. With this contract, the parties establish a debtor-creditor relationship. However, this is not sufficient for the transfer of ownership of the property. The debtor will have to proceed legally against the creditor with this contract to gain ownership of the property. This procedure can be lengthy and difficult if you are dealing with a fraudulent party.
If a foreign national is planning to buy a land that does not have a construction on it, he or she must present any building project to the ministry and get an approval within two years of the purchase.
Foreign nationals must have a tax ID number at the time of application. If you are a foreign national with a residence permit in Turkey, you can use your ID number starting with 99 as you tax number. If you do not have such an ID number, you need to obtain a tax ID number from a tax office.
As a rule, your passport must have been issued by your country of citizenship. One exception is the state of Palestine. Citizens of the state of Palestine can acquire real estate following an application with an ID card or passport issued by a country other than their own together with a residence permit obtained from the directorate general of migration management.
The deed office does not accept ID cards or passports that have expired.
Once you’ve purchased a property in Turkey, you are a taxpayer. You must pay the council tax for your property every year. If you are renting out your property, you must also pay income tax on your rental income.