The legal basis for the acquisition of real estate by foreign persons in Turkey is stipulated in the Turkish Land Registry Law, and in the absence of specific restrictions, foreign investors from all countries can buy real estate in Turkey.
At the moment, citizens of 183 countries can acquire real estate in our country and there are no restrictions in this regard except for Syrians only among the residents of Arab countries.
It is important to point out that there is no fundamental difference between Turkish citizens and foreigners regarding the processes and procedures for purchasing real estate.
The purchase of real estate in Turkey is subject to strict procedural requirements. A sale can only take place in the Tapu Registration Department, which is known in Turkish as Tapu Müdürlüğü; This is after a date to be determined. As usual, the official Turkish translation of passports and identity documents for foreign investors is not required, basic copies of documents are sufficient, however, for identity documents issued in any alphabet other than the Latin alphabet the official translation is through Turkish embassies, consulates or notaries Turks exclusively. It is important to note that there is a special privilege for Palestinian citizens, as they can purchase real estate through any identity document or passport other than the identity document and passport issued by Palestine.
4% of the total selling price must be paid to the Land Registry Directorate and the Land Registry for official transaction fees.
According to the main rules, this fee must be shared between the investor (buyer) and the seller, however, any agreement providing for a change in this participation will be valid.
In fact, in practice, sellers usually impose the full responsibility of paying the 4% on investors.
There are two most important requirements for foreign investors, one of which is that a property valuation report must be submitted to the Title Deed and Land Registry Directorate before the sale date. This report may only be prepared and submitted by specially authorized valuation firms. The second condition is the payment of compulsory earthquake insurance which can be provided by any private insurance company registered in Turkey. As for the real estate projects that have not yet been completed and are not yet ready for the title deed; It is also possible to sign a “promise to sell agreement” with notaries public, instead of making the sale at the Land Registry and Title Dept. A promise to sell agreement only constitutes a preliminary agreement that authorizes the individual to request the sale of the property to himself at some future time, and this agreement does not enable the transfer of ownership of the property immediately. While signing such a contract, approximately 7 per thousand of the total sale price must be paid as official fees to the public notary.
Incidentally, all real estate purchase procedures can be carried out by a third person as long as this third person has a valid power of attorney from the investor.
A power of attorney document can be obtained by Turkish embassies or consulates or by Turkish notaries.
It is important to remember that the powers of attorney to be used in real estate procedures are subject to some strict formalities.
While issuing the power of attorney in this way, the investor and the authorized third person should be careful in complying with such procedures, otherwise the power of attorney granted to them may remain useless.
It should also be noted that although the basic rule is that the procedures for buying real estate are carried out with the title deed administration at the title deed at the place of the property (the place of sale), and that the investor and seller have to meet there to complete the procedures;
This rule is not strictly applied, and it is also possible that the investor and the seller complete the procedures from two different directorates of the title deed and the real estate registry remotely if - for example - they reside in different cities.
It is also expected that foreigners living outside Turkey will be able to complete the procedures for buying real estate without coming to Turkey or appointing any third person to represent them, exclusively through the Turkish embassy or consulate related to their place of residence.
However, this service is only available at the Turkish Consulate in Berlin, Germany at the present time, and it is planned to be available in the near future in 9 other countries, and there is no doubt that this service will be of great benefit to foreign investors when it is available.
Although Turkey has very liberal and lenient rules regarding property purchases by foreign investors, there are still some legal restrictions to consider:
1. The total area of the property that can be acquired by a foreign person (in his capacity as an individual and not through a company) throughout Turkey is a maximum of 30 hectares, and he cannot increase this area.
2. The total area of real estate that can be acquired by a foreign person should not exceed 10% of the area of the neighborhood in which the real estate is located.
3. If the property to be owned is located within a "special security zone", the permission of the governor of the area in which the property is located is required.
4. If natural persons of foreign origin (individual investors) purchase real estate without having buildings on it - such as land and field - the construction project must have been developed and submitted to the competent ministry for approval within two years after purchase, otherwise, it will be confiscated Real estate by public authorities and forcibly sold.
In such a scenario, the investor would be able to keep the fees arising from the forced sale.
5. Commercial companies registered in Turkey - which are not Turkish companies in the first place - can buy real estate in accordance with the laws of their countries of origin, if there are special provisions that allow this in the applicable laws, and among those special laws - for example - the Turkish Oil Law and the Incentives Law Tourism, industrial and technical development and the law of free zones.
6. Companies established in Turkey may purchase real estate regardless of whether their partners are foreign or their capital is foreign.
7. The restriction mentioned in the fourth item does not apply to the companies mentioned in the fifth and sixth items.
This restriction is only valid for individual foreign investors.