Maria Alkhazova

They started talking about increasing the minimum amount of investment in real estate from 250,000 to 400,000 US dollars back in April. On 12 May, the law came into force and a transitional date of 13 June was announced. But there were still no official explanations of what exactly needed to be done before this date.

Was it to conclude an agreement, to obtain a certificate of ownership or to apply for citizenship?

Only on 2 June did the Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre of Turkey offer an explanation. Turned out, it was necessary to apply for a TAPU before 12 June in order to participate in the citizenship by investment programme under the old rules with a 250,000 US dollar threshold.

There was a lot of anxiety and worry because of this ambiguity at that time; we rushed our clients, lawyers, and developer partners.

Source: «Tranio’s client experience of buying an apartment in Istanbul for relocation and capital protection», 22 Aug. 2022

The deal was made quickly: only 2 weeks passed from the moment of the first application to the payment of the deposit.

Source: «Tranio client's first-person account of buying an apartment in Antalya», 22 Aug. 2022

Although there were no legal restrictions on bank transfers to pay for property in Turkey, in practice, each transaction had to be acted upon empirically: some banks refused to make transfers for their own internal reasons, others were simply disconnected from SWIFT.

Therefore, the payment was one of the most difficult steps for the clients. We tried to consolidate the experience of our clients to determine the best options.

Source: «Tranio client's first-person account of buying an apartment in Antalya», 22 Aug. 2022

According to Turkish law, real estate transactions must be carried out in the presence of a licensed real estate agent, whose activities and rates are regulated by the Cadastral Office.

The brokerage commission in Turkey — unlike most European countries — is paid by the seller, not the buyer.

Source: «Tranio client's first-person account of buying an apartment in Antalya», 22 Aug. 2022