Online property purchase in Turkey

When it comes to purchasing real estate in Turkey, it is not possible to conduct a deal completely remotely. However, a one-day trip will be enough to choose a property and issue the necessary powers of attorney, even in the case of buying real estate in order to obtain citizenship. All it takes is proper preparation. In this article we will examine all the stages of buying an apartment in Turkey and show you how to optimise the process, while minimising your participation in it.

Experienced investors use all available options for a remote purchase, because it saves a lot of time and money on flights and accommodation in the country of investment during the transaction process. Even first-time buyers of overseas real estate, often, albeit with caution, choose the remote transaction option.

Remote purchase of an apartment in Turkey

Let’s see which part of the purchasing process can be done remotely and which will require a visit to the country.

Choosing an apartment through online viewing

It is better to choose 2–5 projects for viewing upon arrival in advance. This can be done remotely via online consultations with local managers.

We usually arrange a chat with the client and our Turkish managers join this chat. We send photos, videos and comments to the chat about current projects that match the client’s request.

This is usually the most interesting stage, as the client begins to understand the market and can adjust his request accordingly, and we, for our part, begin to better understand the needs of the client. In general, I believe that there is no point in looking at online property listings for a long time.

True understanding comes from interacting with agents who access these listings on a daily basis and regularly conclude real estate transactions.

Inna Schukina Tranio’s manager

After the initial selection, there are usually several favourites that you want to see via video call. If it is not possible to agree on the time of the call, our local manager goes to the project’s site and shoots a video. Online viewings are useful when choosing not only finished apartments, but also those under construction.

You will be able to see the surrounding territory and infrastructure, the progress of construction, and even evaluate the quality of the project under construction using the example of already implemented projects by the same developer.

We advise novice investors in foreign real estate, as well as those who choose an apartment for their own residence, to come to the viewings in person. Practice shows that until a person has seen the property and its surrounding area, it is difficult for them to make a choice.

I often see how the choice suddenly changes when the clients see the projects with their own eyes. More than once, our clients categorically rejected the Asian side of Istanbul when choosing remotely, but chose it upon arrival.

Olga Karayusufoglu Tranio’s manager in Istanbul

Remote consultation with a lawyer

A remote transaction is accompanied by a lawyer. Preliminary consultation with a lawyer is especially important if you buy an apartment for the purpose of obtaining citizenship by investment. The success of the transaction and obtaining citizenship largely depends on the lawyer’s awareness of the client’s situation. It is important to start a deal already having preliminary agreements with a lawyer. Your lawyer will not only make sure that the selected project is suitable for the investment citizenship programme, but will also help you prepare a sales contract and avoid mistakes when transferring payments.

Preliminary contract of sale and deposit

You can sign a preliminary contract of sale and send a deposit remotely. However, we recommend doing this only in exceptional cases, when a hot sale offer appears.

A face-to-face meeting with developer’s representatives is useful because you can bargain on the spot. The amount of a possible discount depends on various factors: the developer’s marketing strategy, the developer’s popularity, the project’s sales stage, whether it is a private or public developer, etc.

Discounts are not always available. There are projects on special offers that are already on sale with maximum discounts; an experienced manager usually sees such projects right away. We help our clients to get the best conditions from the developers. But in any case, Turkish sellers give discounts only to those they consider real customers who are ready to immediately make a deposit.

Olga Karayusufoglu Tranio’s manager in Istanbul

After making a deposit, the price is fixed in the contract; it can neither increase nor decrease. The deposit amount is 2,000–5,000 US dollars, and you can pay it in any way: by bank transfer to the developer’s account, in cash, and even in cryptocurrency. Those who book an apartment remotely usually make a deposit by SWIFT transfer.

Once I had a case when my client was unable to quickly transfer the deposit, so our partner in Alanya paid for it from his own funds, since the offer was very attractive and could not wait long. The client reimbursed the deposit to the agent in cash after arriving in the country to register the deal. Read our client's interview about this deal.

Inna Schukina Tranio’s manager

The contract contains information about the buyer and seller, about the apartment as well as the project cost and payment terms. If you buy an apartment in a residential complex under construction, the contract specifies the deadlines and penalties for delay, as well as the schedule of instalments. Read more about instalment plans from Turkish developers.

The contract can be signed remotely. It is only necessary to certify it with a notary if the buyer plans to use the property to apply for Turkish citizenship and the project under construction does not have a TAPU yet.

Tranio's local lawyers in Turkey will prepare a solid contract and inspect the property.

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Issuing a power of attorney for a lawyer is the only step that cannot be done remotely

The lawyer will complete the transaction and register the buyer’s right of ownership by proxy. If an apartment is purchased for the purpose of obtaining Turkish citizenship, two powers of attorney should be issued: one for interacting with the seller, the tax service and the cadastral office; the other for submitting documents and applying for citizenship as well as for interacting with all relevant authorities. After signing the notarised powers of attorney, the buyer no longer needs to directly participate in the process and stay in Turkey as everything else will be done remotely.

In theory, powers of attorney can also be issued through the Turkish consulate in your country. In practice, however, we have never been able to do this. Firstly, it takes longer to issue a power of attorney through the consulate.

Secondly, the consulate will not sign a power of attorney with sufficient rights without the personal presence of the lawyer for whom the power of attorney is issued. Ultimately, the cadastral office may refuse to register a transaction under such a power of attorney. And you will still have to come to the country.

Elena Milishenkova Tranio’s Chief Commercial Officer

Remote payment

It is also possible to pay for buying an apartment in Turkey remotely by international bank transfer. For payment, you will need a contract of sale and an invoice from the seller. In order to pass currency control, you will most likely need a certificate of beneficiaries from the seller, so it is better to request it in advance.

You can also pay in other ways, for example, open an account in a Turkish bank, transfer funds to it and then send it to the seller. However, you will need to visit Turkey to open a bank account.

If an apartment is bought for the purpose of obtaining citizenship, then it is important to pay from the buyer’s personal currency account and under the lawyer’s supervision. The basis for obtaining investment citizenship is a bank certificate of currency exchange in the equivalent of at least 400,000 US dollars upon transfer under a sales contract (dab-döviz alım belgesi). This certificate is issued by the Central Bank, so it is important that payment is made in accordance with the rules.

You can’t just change foreign currency to Turkish liras in your bank and then transfer those to the developer. The exchange takes place upon a special request to the Central Bank, after which the bank provides the necessary certificate.

If the transfer is international, then the developer (recipient) receives the certificate. If the transfer is made from a foreign currency account in a Turkish bank, then the bank of the sender (buyer) receives the certificate. In other words, the purchase of real estate for citizenship must comply with the procedure established by the state, so the lawyer’s participation from the very beginning is important.

Olga Karayusufoglu Tranio’s manager in Istanbul

VAT tax deduction for foreigners when buying apartments on the primary market

The purchase of apartments in the primary property market is subject to VAT at a rate of 1% to 18%. The tax depends on the type of property and its area size, so the amount of VAT must be obtained from the developer in advance. Foreigners who do not have a Turkish residence permit and real estate in Turkey are eligible for a VAT refund on their first purchase.

Collecting documents and verifying the deal for registration of ownership

To conclude a deal, a foreign buyer needs an international passport. A lawyer by proxy will make a notarised translation of the passport, pay transfer tax of 2–4% and register the deal with the cadastral office.

Registration of ownership of the apartment in the cadastral office (Kadastro Müdürlüğü) takes place after full payment under the sales contract and due diligence of the project, possible encumbrances, and the deal itself. In Turkey, due diligence is not carried out by a private lawyer, but rather by the cadastral office’s specialists at the lawyer’s request. An appointment for registering a TAPU in the cadastral office will not be scheduled until due diligence is done.

You will also need a Turkish tax number (TIN) to pay taxes. Foreigners can get a TIN online in 10 minutes on the tax office website. A local manager or lawyer helps the buyers with this process.

If an apartment is bought in a building under construction, then registration of ownership takes place only after the TAPU for the apartments are ready.

A lawyer can obtain a ready-made TAPU by proxy at the cadastral office and send it to the buyer by international postal service.

Let’s summarise the main aspects of remote purchase of property in Turkey:

• You can choose an apartment, sign a contract and transfer the payment remotely.
• A lawyer can register the buyer’s right of ownership, but only with a power of attorney issued by a Turkish notary.
• It is more reliable to issue a power of attorney in Turkey than in the Turkish consulate of your country.
• The buyer does not have to visit the authorities and submit documents in person, but it is still necessary to visit Turkey to issue a power of attorney. One day is enough.

If you wish to buy property for Turkish citizenship, then you will need to issue two powers of attorney: to make a purchase and to apply for citizenship. It is better that both of these powers of attorney be issued to one lawyer: this will help to avoid mistakes and speed up the process.

We prepare a package of documents and meet the client on the scheduled date of arrival, then go to see the projects and issue powers of attorney. We do everything else ourselves, and the investor receives ready-made documents for an apartment and, if necessary, a Turkish passport.

Julia Tsorgaeva Tranio’s manager in Istanbul

We have everything ready for remote turnkey transactions. We have our own translators, notaries and lawyers in several cities of Turkey: in Istanbul, Antalya, Alanya, Bodrum.

Contact our manager