Informations about purchasing a property in Turkey by Europeans
Reasons to buy a Turkish property
- the mild climate with more than 320 sunny days a year
- the wonderful countryside of the Turkish Riviera
- only a little bit more than 3 hours by airoplane
- prices like in Spain 20 years ago
- the increasing value because of the touristic boom
- in case of the Turkish EC-membership an additional value will increase
- secured purchase for Europeans (encl. official property registering)
- a Turkish property is also a favourable and additional old age pension
- low costs of living in Turkey
Therefore: Don't dream Your life - live Your dream !!
Legal hints
The most European nationalities are allowed to buy Turkish
properties on their own name - i.e. encl. official registering of the property (the
Turkish name of the responsible authority and of the official owner document is
TAPU). To this group belong - among other - English, German, Dutch, Austrian, Norwegian, Belgian and French
people - and since a short time also people from Switzerland.
TAPU (click for a bigger picture)
But in Turkey You don't need a notary for the property
transfer
- only the TAPU-authority arranges this transaction. You only need a notary, in
case that You will secure a contract of sale or You want to authorize a person
to apply (instead of You) for electricity, water etc. In average You need between
1 and 12 weeks for the property transfer.
If You agree with the seller, You apply for the official
registering of the ownership of the property. The TAPU-authority requests Your passport and
current passport photos. The authority sends Your application to the military
gorvernment in Izmir or Adana and they
check whether Your desired property is not located in a military closed region -
but this is only a formality. But since the last changements of the title deeds
law (January 2006) more and more Tapu-authorities are able to do the military
proovements by themselves, so that the process of transfering the ownership of a
property is going faster and faster..
When You apply for the property registering or when You sign
the contract, often the seller
insists on a down payment. So as we do, too. Please, note that we accept for
the deposit as well for the payment of the remaining amount later only cash
or a transfer on our bank account. Payments via creditcards are not possible !!
If You buy a building site or plot, there are several more
hints to know. Foreigners are only allowed to buy land in a size up to 2,5 ha -
for bigger land sizes you need a special permission of the Turkish
Government. Please, examine, if there exists a permission to build and
which conditions are connected with it. Nearly always there are conditions!! If
You need details, please, contact us.
At every time You are allowed to sell Your property and to
take the amount for it outside of Turkey. In case of death Your inheritances are
able to register the property on their name, provided that they have an official
European heritage document.
It is also important, that You need an ISKAN for Your property.
The ISKAN is the official document that allows living in a property. Without
this document it will be complicated to apply for electricity or water etc.
Please, pay attention: we
recommend
our clients to use a Turkish lawyer during the purchasing process - this is not
a must, but perhaps You feel more secure. And please,
be aware of the several non-tax paying estate agents in Turkey, who "only"
want to sell their "very cheap friend’s property" for a lucrative profit, consequently making thousands of pounds from the unsuspecting
tourists.
It is our job and a part of our service to inform our customers about all
necessary details about ownership of Turkish properties.
If
you have any doubts or further questions, don’t hesitate to contact us or
please, call the Turkish Embassy in Your Country to get detailed informations
about it for free.
(Click on our button "Links" and You will find a link to the Turkish
embassy in London).
Costs
Single costs during property purchasing:
Tax for property purchasing - 4,8 % of the registered
amount in the TAPU document (the registered amount in the TAPU-document is
usually not the real value You paid for, as a rule the TAPU-value is mostly
well under); You have to pay the taxes at the national Ziraat-Bank - shortly
before the property registering at the TAPU-authority.
Tapu-fee - approx. 25 £ for the official property
registering
Earthquake insurance (compulsory insurance) - in all about
25 £ (per year)
Fee for documents and writing - between 40 £ and 180
£
Interpreter (absolutely duty when foreigners buy) - 40 £
up to 70 £ per registered owner and translation
Fees for the estate agents - You don't have to pay for
us any fees, but according to the Turkish law an estate agent is permitted to
request 3 % of the sales price from the seller and from the buyer. But if
the estate agent requests more than 3 %, he can do this only, if You have a
corresponding contract with him.
Annual costs:
Residential property taxes - 0,4 % of the value in the official TAPU-document for real estates and for plots only
0,3 %. The taxes have to be paid every year until 31st of May.
Fees for housing parks (only if You buy a shared
property) - between 20 £ and 45 £ (is spend on maintaining the shared property)
Earthquake insurance (compulsory insurance) - in all about
25 £
Rubbish fee - 8 £ a year, must be paid also until 31
st of May each year
Electricity - 75 £ for the application (only once a
time), 18 £ for registering a new name (once a time), 0,08 / 0,12 £ each KWh
Water - 55,- £ for the application (once a time), 29,-
£ for registering a new owner (once a time), between 0,22 and 0,60 £ for each m³
Telephone (fixed) - 6,80 £ for the application, 3 £ monthly fee and
0,03 £ for each unit
Stay permission
You don't need a stay permission to buy a property.
But if You want to apply for a telephone in Your new property or if You want to
buy a car - in those cases You need this permission. We
will help You to get the permission. At first we will inform You, which
documents You need for the application of the stay permission and then we will
arrange it with You here at the foreigner's authority.
But You should also inform Yourself at the Turkish embassy in Your country.
If You have further requests - please contact us. |