Real Estate Buying Process in Turkey
Buying a Property Through a Developer
As a foreigner, buying a property through a developer is very easy process in Turkish real estate market nowadays. Most of the developers have English speakers in order to assist international clients whereas you can find information in their websites and brochures in English as well.
Usually we recommend firstly you to decide in which area in Istanbul you want to buy your property to narrow down the options. Then it is essential to know whether you want to buy a property for investment or personal use and have in mind what budget range you plan to invest.
Property Istanbul is the very right source that will guide you during this process. You can see all the brand new real estate projects built in the last 20 years in Istanbul. You can also see the property options choosing the districts as well after you decide in which location you plan to buy your property.
When you want to buy a property through a developer, following steps will be followed respectively:
- Reservation will be paid to reserve a property for 2 weeks under your name.
- Sales contract will be signed within two weeks.
- Down payment will be made within two weeks (or the whole payment will be made if the agreement is cash payment).
- Instalment payments will be followed depending on the agreement monthly or quarterly.
- Apartment delivery will occur at the completion of the projects (even if the payments are not completed yet).
- Title deed will be given within 2 months after the completion if the payments are made totally by the buyer. If the payment still is not finished, the buyer will have to wait until finishing his payments to receive the title deed.
Closing Costs
- 2% Purchasing Tax
- 1% VAT (might be included in the price) (can also change to 8% or 18% if the unit is commercial property or bigger than 150 m2 residential property)
Buying a Resale Property
In most cases, buyers are looking for resale properties in Istanbul as it can be hard to find a new real estate project in old parts of the city especially. For instance, when you are looking for a property in areas such as Nisantasi, Etiler or around Bosphorus area; it is almost impossible to find a new property. For that reason, people are checking resale options, renovated new apartments eventhough the buildings might be old.
When you want to buy a resale property, following steps will be followed respectively:
- Reservation will be paid to the real estate agent or the owner of the property to reserve the apartment.
- Title deed will be transferred from the seller to buyer in title deed office.
Closing Costs
- 2% Purchasing Tax (might be 4% if the seller asks the buyer to pay the seller part as well)
- 3% Real Estate Agency commission