The Comprehensive Guide to Real Estate Acquisition in Turkey Part 2/3
The Comprehensive
Guide to Real Estate Acquisition in Turkey
(Part 2/3)
Step 3
Property Background Check
The background of a property consists of details including but not limited to:
1) Any debts, mortgages, or reservations that may be registered in the title deed of the property
2) The construction permit and the residential permit of the building that is issued by the municipality
3) Any contradictions between the architectural project upon which the construction permit is based and the actual state of the property.
These details in the background bind the buyer regardless of whether the buyer was made aware of them at the time of the purchase. It is the buyer’s obligation to do their due diligence and be aware of any encumbrances in the title deed.
Step 4
Establishing Price and Other Crucial Terms
The sale price should not be the buyer’s only focus point as there are other important terms that the parties should clearly agree upon. The realtor’s commission, the deadline for finalizing the purchase, the amount of downpayment to be paid to the seller (if any) and the method of payment are all details that the buyer should be concerned with. Some of these terms may be verbally agreed upon whereas other terms must be put in writing. Before drafting and signing any written agreement, it is crucially important that the buyer involves an independent real estate attorney in the process. This independent real estate lawyer should not have any relation to the seller and/or to the realtor and should represent only the buyer’s interest.
Step 5
Procurement of Essential Buyer’s Documents
The following documents should be procured by the buyer in order to submit to the title deed office during the application for the real estate purchase:
∙ (For non-residents) Potential tax ID number of the buyer
∙ Notarized translation of the buyer’s passport,
∙ Buyer’s headshot photos in the format required by the title deed office
Step 6
Expert Report
In a real estate transaction where a foreign party is involved, it is mandatory to have a surveyor issue an expert report on the property. The application is made online and a surveyor/expert is randomly appointed by the state.
It is the seller’s responsibility to apply for an expert to be appointed to the real estate. However, it is often forgotten that the purpose of this report is to avoid financial abuse towards foreign buyers. More importantly, buyers are presumed to have read the expert report and cannot claim ignorance of its content upon purchasing the real estate. Therefore buyers are strongly advised to obtain a copy of this report and have their attorney thoroughly review it in order to make sure that there are not any unpredicted aspects of the property or any disadvantages to buying it.
Step 7
Opening a Turkish Bank Account
Opening a bank account is necessary for both safely paying the seller by bank and obtaining the document described in Step 8. It is also the most practical way of paying the taxes described in Step 10 and collecting rent after they buy the property and rent it out. Therefore foreign buyers often open a bank account in a Turkish bank for the purpose of buying a property.
Antalya lawyer Baris Erkan Celebi and his Antalya law firm offer legal counsel and representation for buying real estates in Turkey, including property background check, procurement of buyer’s documents, reviewing the expert report and assisting with the opening of a Turkish bank account.
