One of the most frequent questions our customers have is how to buy property in Turkey. Therefore, we as Luxury Properties Turkey decided to spend the time outlining the process from step 1 to completion.
On the Luxury Properties Turkey website, there are hundreds of properties available. Your needs with regard to lifestyle, family size, finances, and proximity to facilities, to name a few, will be taken into consideration by the sales specialists at Luxury Properties Turkey as they help you find the appropriate home in Turkey. Once we have found the right development, you will choose a specific unit and pay a reservation fee to the builder of approximately $1,000 USD or 1% of the purchase price (this could take 3–4 days). Major credit cards are accepted by the majority of developers, and under Turkish law, this reservation cost is also refundable for up to 14 days.
The initial steps of continuing with your purchase will then be completed. We will start by helping you get a Turkish Tax ID. (This process is quick and simple. Only a passport, home address, a phone number in another country, and your parents’ names are needed to complete)
In order to open a local account in your name, we will then take you to a bank of your choosing. (Side Note: The only services we provide for the procedure are transportation and translation. We are never given access to any account information. To make the switchover less difficult to manage, your monthly utilities will be automatically deducted from this account. The rental revenue will also be added to this account if you are purchasing as an investor.
It would be beneficial to ask any questions you may have regarding the process at this time, gather the costs and the payment plan, and highlight any obstacles you may be facing. If the purchase is for the Turkish Citizenship by Investment program, we will meet with the lawyer of your choice. If you haven’t previously retained an attorney prior to our appointment, we will arrange a meeting with one of our partner attorneys to go over the procedure and timeline. While you’re there, the attorney will go over your requirements and the procedures from making the reservation to paying the last installment. (Our list of required paperwork can be found on the Citizenship by Investment tab.)
The next step is the issuance of a Power of Attorney (POA) (1 day). This is a very important step if you do not want to stay in Turkey throughout the purchasing procedure. With the help of this POA, your lawyer will be able to represent you during the necessary purchase and immigration transactions (I.E. Purchase Agreement Signatory, Title Deed Registration, and lastly, to submit the residency and citizenship application on behalf of you and any included family members.) Please remember that if you are submitting a family application, the attorney will need to present a separate POA in order to submit the immigration application on your spouse’s behalf. The POA may be issued by Turkish embassies all over the world as well as Turkish public notaries
After the POA is complete and the agreements have been read and signed, the lawyer will ask for an Evaluation Report for your files. Normally, it takes 3–4 days and costs 1,250 TL. After reviewing and signing the Agreements, the Evaluation Report must be ordered. The whole process costs are around 10,000 TL and takes 3–4 days to finish. Please keep in mind that we are not a party to these assessments and that we have no influence over the outcomes. This report will tell you of any problems found during the procedure as well as geographical comparisons, market value, permit, and build information.
Once these procedures have been completed, and only once these procedures have been finished, you can return home and wire the remaining balance from your local bank.
The account must be in your name alone if you’re applying for citizenship through investment. The required investment for citizenship will rise because any additional account holders will be regarded as shareholders on the property.)
Although it isn’t always the case, the buyer and the developer often split the 4% TAX of Title Deed transfer. This is to be paid once the unit is done and in the owner’s possession, but some units do request it right away in order to speed up the issuance of the title deed if filing for Turkish Citizenship by Investment.
VAT is between 1-20% in Turkey.
Creating a policy for natural disaster insurance, known in Turkish as DASK with a limit of 10,000 TL, which includes gas, electricity, and water utilities. There are upfront setup expenses as well as deposits that must be given to the servicing utility companies.
Turkey imposes a yearly property tax on all real estate.This tax varies from 0.1% to 0.6% depending on the type of property and where you own it.For example, if you own an apartment in Istanbul, you will be required to pay a higher city tax of 2% based on the value of your property.
The value is decided by the municipal council using a notional value as a starting point.The market value is typically more than the nominal value.Property tax returns are submitted every four years. The amount of tax is based on the square footage of the plot and the amenities on the property. The fees are doubled for a property in a big city like Istanbul. Property tax is paid directly to the local governments each year in two installments. Even if it’s due in November, the second installment can also be paid in full at once along with the first one. March through May are the due dates for the initial payment. Payments may be made in cash, by check, online, in banks, or at the local municipality.If the tax is not paid on time, the property owner is subject to a monthly penalty equal to around 2.5% of the tax.
Although the cost of property maintenance varies from development to development (If rented, the tenant will assume the payment of these fees). For more information on expected annual costs of property maintenance, please contact to our team.
All homeowners in Turkey are subject to income taxes. It is deducted from your take-home income. Rental income can be calculated using either the lump sum method or the actual deduction method. The actual deduction method is when expenses from the rental income are subtracted, such as those for lighting, water, insurance, and depreciation. Taxpayers must deduct 25% of their gross income when using the lump-sum method in order to determine their taxable income.
This is the price of an asset’s growth during your ownership. In Turkey, you must pay capital gain tax if you sell your house during the first five years of purchasing it; however, if you sell it after those five years, you are free from paying it. This amount is calculated as a percentage of the difference between the purchase price you declare to the Land Registry when you sell your property and the reported worth at the time you first purchased it.
