Ownership passes only on registration at the land registry. Nothing signed at an estate agency, and no payment made before that moment, transfers title.
Who May Buy
Nationals of most countries may acquire real estate in Turkey, subject to statutory limits: a ceiling on the total area one foreign national may own across the country, and a proportional limit within any given district.
Purchases are also subject to clearance confirming that the property does not fall within a military or security zone. This check is carried out during the registry process and can prevent a transfer that the parties believed was agreed.
An official valuation report prepared by a licensed appraiser is required for sales to foreign nationals. The report is also what determines the qualifying value where the purchase is intended to support a citizenship application.
Checks Before Payment
The single most useful document is the current title deed record with encumbrances. It shows mortgages, attachments, injunctions and annotations that follow the property into the buyer's hands.
- Confirm the seller on the record is the person selling.
- Read the encumbrances: a mortgage does not disappear on sale.
- For a completed building, ask for the occupancy permit. Without it the building has not passed to full condominium ownership.
- For a building under construction, establish what has been registered and what has only been promised.
- Check outstanding municipal taxes and service charges; arrears attach to the property.
Promise to Sell and Deposits
A preliminary agreement to sell real estate is valid only if executed before a notary in the prescribed form. An agreement signed privately at an agency does not bind in the same way, whatever it is headed.
Such an agreement can and should be annotated on the land registry, which protects the buyer against a later sale to a third party. Deposits paid without this protection are frequently the subject of recovery proceedings.
Payments should be traceable through the banking system. Cash payments create evidential difficulties that surface precisely when a dispute begins.
After Purchase
Following registration, the utility subscriptions, compulsory earthquake insurance and property tax registration are transferred to the new owner. Where the property is to be let, the tenancy is governed by the Turkish Code of Obligations, which limits rent increases and restricts the grounds for eviction.
Where the purchase supports a citizenship application, the undertaking not to sell for three years is annotated on the deed and restricts disposal for that period.
Frequently Asked Questions
On registration at the land registry. Agreements and payments made beforehand do not transfer title.
A promise to sell real estate must be executed before a notary in the prescribed form. A privately signed document does not have the same effect.
No. Encumbrances registered on the title follow the property; they must be examined before payment.
It is required for sales to foreign nationals and determines the qualifying value where the purchase supports a citizenship application.