• Step 1 - Reservation

• Step 2 - Turkish Formalities

• Step 3 - Preliminary Contract & Application For Approval

• Step 4 - Completion



The process of buying a property in Turkey is not as difficult you might expect, but due to the nature of the bureaucracy and the relative immaturity of the housing market, it is extremely important to make sure you follow the procedures correctly and employ a reliable, English-speaking solicitor to represent you throughout.

If you are buying from a developer used to dealing with UK buyers, you may find that documents and contracts are already available in bilingual version.

If not, it is essential that you pay a registered translator to provide written translations. Relying on oral translations of contracts is a recipe for disaster if any questions arise later on.




Step 1 - Reservation

Once you have found a property you are interested in and negotiated an acceptable price with the seller, you will need to arrange for a reservation contract.

In return for a small fee (usually around £2000), the property will be taken off the market for 2-4 weeks to give you time to have your solicitor initiate all the necessary title checks and other searches.

This will involve requesting a copy of the title deeds (TAPU) from the local authorities to check that the building was built with planning consent and to verify that the sellers are the true owners.

The reservation deposit is non-returnable unless a legal problem is found with the property or the seller backs out.





Step 2 - Turkish Formalities

At this point you will need to open a Turkish bank account and register with the local tax office in your area.

It is a common requirement in most countries for property purchases to be made with money from a domestic bank account - this provides useful safeguards against tax evasion, fraud and money laundering.

This will be necessary even if you are not using a mortgage for the purchase.

Step 3 - Preliminary Contract & Application For Approval

Your solicitor will prepare a preliminary contract of sale soon after the reservation. This will contain details of the agreed sale price and all checks, searches and conditions which must be satisfied for the sale to proceed.

You will have to pay a deposit of around 10% at this point, which is non-returnable unless any of the terms and conditions of the contract fails to be met.

Similarly, the seller will also be unable to withdraw from this point onwards without compensating you by returning your deposit.

By this time, your solicitor should have confirmed that there are no outstanding tax bills, debts or other charges on the property.

They should also have checked whether the area around your property is slated for a change of use or has any planning applications pending on it. You don't want to buy a home in a quiet area only to find six months later that a dual carriageway will shortly be running by your front window!

Once the preliminary contract has been signed, you will then need to submit an application to the local authorities for permission to complete the purchase.

The main element of this part of the process is to check that you are not trying to buy a property in a military or otherwise sensitive zone of the country.

Naturally this is unlikely, but you should still expect this approval to take up to 2 months to be granted.

Step 4 - Completion

Once you have got approval to make the purchase, you should be ready to move to completion.

At this point, a Notary (publicly-appointed solicitor) will be required to oversee the signing and registration of the final contract.

Note that you may need a translation service for this occasion, at which you will pay the seller the final balance and pay all relevant fees and taxes.

You should budget around 10% for fees and taxes - these typically comprise:

Read On

• Introduction

• Buying A Property In Turkey - 4 Easy Steps

• Should I Get A British or Turkish Mortgage?

• Getting A Mortgage In Turkey

• Other Things To Consider Before Buying In Turkey

• Glossary of Key Turkish Terms

Buying Overseas Property and Mortgages for UK Citizens