Moving to Turkey: how a house becomes a new life

Who moving to Turkey suits

We see three groups most often. Retirees who no longer want the winter and live better on the coast on their pension than at home. Families and self-employed people who work remotely and want to give their children sea and sun. And people with Turkish roots who go back after thirty years abroad, sometimes to the area their parents come from, but often to the coast, because Antalya or Izmir is closer to their life than the village.

All three want the same thing: a home, not a holiday flat. The apartment or house is the start. The rest is paperwork, and that works.

Residence permit through property

As a visitor from the UK or Europe you can usually enter without a visa and stay 90 days within 180 days. Anyone who wants to stay longer needs a residence permit. Property in your name can be the basis. A minimum value that must be stated in the Tapu (title deed) applies, plus a list of districts where no new address-based residence permits are currently issued. Both change. That is why we check before the purchase whether the property you like qualifies for the residence permit. You only buy once that is settled.

For the application you also need health insurance that is valid in Turkey, proof of income or assets and the tax number you get for the purchase anyway. We help with the tax number, a Turkish bank account and the application itself.

Retiring to Turkey

A German pension is paid on to Turkey, into your German or your Turkish account. Germany and Turkey have a double taxation agreement that settles which country taxes what. How that looks in your case, you clear with your tax adviser at home; we tell you which documents you need from Turkey. It is important that you tell the pension insurer about the move and submit the life certificate every year.

Daily life as a retiree on the coast looks like this: you get up at eight, go to the baker, who greets you by name after a week, buy tomatoes at the weekly market that taste like tomatoes, and at ten o’clock in February you are sitting in the sun by the harbour. An afternoon walk along the promenade, in the evening the neighbours drop by. In Alanya and Antalya there are German-speaking doctors, German regulars‘ tables and German bakeries. You do not have to convince anyone that this works. Thousands of people live there who show it.

Health insurance

For the residence permit you need private Turkish health insurance. You get it from Turkish insurers; it is taken out for one year and covers doctor and hospital in Turkey. After one year with a residence permit you can switch to the state health insurance SGK, which covers state hospitals and many contracted clinics for a monthly contribution. Which option suits you depends on age and pre-existing conditions. We put you in touch with a local insurance adviser who explains it in English.

The private clinics in Antalya, Alanya and Izmir are modern, and many doctors speak German or English. For retirees this is often one of the reasons to stay after the trial winter.

Bringing your car

You can only bring your own car into Turkey for a limited period. It is registered in your name on entry and must be taken out of the country again when the period ends. A permanent Turkish registration for a car from abroad is complicated and expensive. Most people who move sell the car at home and buy a used one in Turkey. We clarify the details, with deadlines and rules, when the time comes, using the then current position.

Daily life, language, money

Food, markets, restaurants, tradespeople and services are cheaper than at home. Imported goods, cars and electronics are not. On a pension you live well on the coast, on a salary from remote work very well.

In Alanya, Side and Antalya, German and English will get you far in daily life. For offices, doctors and neighbours Turkish is worth learning, and it is easier than it sounds: it is spoken as it is written, and people are pleased about every word. If you can haggle at the market after a year, you belong.

Paperwork: tax number, bank account, residence permit, DASK (compulsory earthquake insurance), electricity, water, internet, mobile contract. We go through it with you in the order that makes sense, and we are there for the appointments.

And the link home stays. From Antalya and Izmir you fly to Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna or Zurich in three to four hours, with direct flights all year round. The grandchildren come in the summer holidays, friends in October, and you are with the family at Christmas if you want. Moving here does not mean being gone. It means living somewhere else.

Which places for people moving here

Alanya has the largest German community on the coast. Mahmutlar and Oba with everything you need, Gazipaşa airport around the corner, Antalya two hours away. Cheaper than Antalya and warmer in winter than the Aegean.

Antalya is a big city with a university, clinics, theatres and an airport with direct flights to almost every German city. Lara and Konyaaltı for those who want beach and city together. Alpa Abi lives here.

Side and Manavgat are quieter and flatter, with a river and a weekly market, for families and retirees who find Alanya too big.

Izmir is the third city of the country, on the Aegean, with cooler summers, Greek islands in sight, plenty of culture and a life that depends less on tourism. For those who want a city with the sea as well.

If you do not know which place suits you: come in February for two weeks and we will drive along the coast together. That is the best test.

The route to the house

What you need for the purchase and how the process runs is in the guide to the buying process and on Buying a house in Turkey as a foreigner. In short: you are allowed to buy, ownership arises with the entry in the Tapu, the additional costs are roughly 4 to 5 per cent, and we are with you from the search to the handover. The advice costs nothing, and the number stays after the move.