The Purchase process in Turkey
Buying a property in Turkey is no more difficult than
buying a property in the UK or any other EU country.
Provided that you have appointed a recommended
English speaking lawyer to act on your behalf from the start,
then your purchase should proceed smoothly.
Here is a breakdown of what is involved in buying a property in Turkey.
1. Reservation deposit
A reservation deposit is taken, normally for £1000 or €2000.
This takes the property off the market and freezes the price of the property.
2. Appointing an independent lawyer
The best way of appointing a lawyer is to have one recommended to you by a friend.
If this is not possible, Altinkum Dream Homes
can recommend you an independent lawyer if required.
3. Power of Attorney to your lawyer
You can decide on how much power of attorney
you would like to give to your lawyer.
Some prefer to be in Turkey for the whole process, whereas others prefer
their lawyer to complete all the transactions on their behalf.
Power of attorney can be given for
- signing the private purchase contract
- Opening a bank account
- Connecting to water, electric and phone
- Transferring title deeds into your name
Power of attorney is given at the Turkish Notary Public.
Passports are translated into Turkish and than the power of attorney is made up.
As the power of attorney is in Turkish, there is always an official oath / sworn translator
present to translate the power of attorney into English.
When clients are not present in Turkey to organise a power of attorney,
the lawyer can send it by post.
Clients will need to go with this power of attorney to a solicitor or a notary
in their country of origin and sign.
The power of attorney must be stamped at the Commonwealth office.
The power of attorney is then sent back to Turkey and is translated into
Turkish at the Notary Public by an official oath / sworn translator.
4. Title deed and building licence checks to be made by your independent lawyer
The necessary checks to be made are:
- Title deed of plot is free of debts and other charges
- Title deed of property is free of debts and other charges
- The property is a freehold property and can be purchased by a foreigner
- The current ownership of the property at the land registry
- The builder has all the necessary planning permissions and building licences
5. Private purchase contract (maximum 4 weeks from reservation)
If the title deeds are clear then your lawyer makes up a draft of the contract
between the buyer and vendor / builder. T
his contract mentions all the details of the property; from delivery date to technical specification,
payment terms and any special adjustments to be made to the property.
This draft is made up in both Turkish and English. The draft of the contract is then sent to you.
If the terms and conditions are agreed, the lawyer will then confirm
approval for the signing of the contract.
Any amend¬ments can also be made until both parties are satisfied.
6. Payment of the first instalment
If clients have their own bank account already in Turkey,
or have given their lawyer a power of attorney to open one up,
the first instalment is sent from their own account to the vendor / builder on the day of signing the contract.
If no Turkish account has been set up,
then the first instalment should be sent to your lawyers client account,
not to the vendor / builder direct. From here,
it is transferred to the vendor / builder on the day of contract signing.
All other stage payments right through until completion can be made through your lawyer's
client account or directly to the builders account.
7. Military approval by the Turkish government
Your lawyer will need to send details of the property purchase to the Turkish government military approval.
This is to check that the property is not located in a restricted zone for property.
The council of Ministers is authorised to determine specific zones to be preserved
such as lands which have strategic importance in terms of agriculture,
energy, history, mining, cultural, flora and fauna and national security.
Foreign nationals and foreign companies will not be able to purchase property
in these specially preserved zones.
8. Independent surveyor (optional)
From the second payment until the last payment of the property are due,
you have the option to hire an independent surveyor at a cost of 150 -300€ for a full report on the property
you have purchased. On receipt of a positive report, you can safely proceed with your payments.
9. Transfer of title deed (Tapu)
Once military approval has been granted and the last payment
or full amount has been paid to the vendor / builder,
the title deed transfer takes place at the
Property Registry Department. Both the buyer
(or legal representative with power of attorney) and the vendor / builder
needs to be present for exchanging of signatures and title deeds to be placed in your name.
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