Checklist for buying property in Turkey: before, during and after

This checklist for buying property in Turkey takes you through the purchase in three stages: before you decide, between the preliminary contract and the land registry appointment, and after the handover. The most important points are the current Tapu (title deed) extract, the Iskan (occupancy permit), the charges and a payment plan in which the purchase price flows only at the entry in the land register. We go through the list with you on every purchase, but you can also use it on your own.

The list grew out of practice. Out of the afternoons in Alanya when someone sat in front of us with a pile of papers and asked whether it was all right. Mostly it was. Sometimes a point was missing, and exactly those points are listed here.

Checklist for buying property in Turkey: goal, region, property

• Set your goal: holiday home, retirement, moving to Turkey or investment. Everything else depends on it.
• Work out your budget including additional costs: roughly 4 to 5 per cent on top of the purchase price, plus VAT on a new build.
• Choose a region: Alanya for affordable apartments by the sea, Antalya city for everyday life and closeness to the airport, Side for peace and beach, the Aegean for villas and milder summers.
• If you plan to apply for residence: check before the search which districts are currently open for that.
• View properties on site or by video, including the cellar, roof, stairwell and surroundings by day and in the evening.
• For residential complexes: ask about the Aidat (monthly service charge), get to know the management, look at the condition of the pool and outdoor areas.
• With a developer: visit earlier projects, check the Iskan of their last complexes, get the completion date in writing.

Before the preliminary contract: checking the documents

• Get the current Tapu extract and compare the owner with the seller’s passport.
• Read the charges: mortgages, attachments, pre-emption rights, usufruct. All must be deleted before the transfer.
• Compare plot, floor and apartment number in the Tapu with the apartment you viewed.
• See the building permit and Iskan. Without an Iskan there is no normal electricity connection.
• Clarify the type of Tapu: floor ownership after the Iskan, or the pre-completion form on a new build.
• Have it confirmed that the location is outside military and security zones.
• Ask the manager and the utilities about Aidat arrears and unpaid electricity and water bills.
• Put in the preliminary contract: purchase price, payment plan, date, what is included in the price, who pays the Tapu fee, what applies on withdrawal. Contract in Turkish and English.

Between the preliminary contract and the land registry appointment

• Get a Turkish tax number from the tax office, your passport is enough.
• Open a Turkish bank account and transfer the purchase price there from your home country.
• Commission the valuation report, from about 5,000 lira, compulsory for the transfer.
• Take out DASK (compulsory earthquake insurance).
• Have a certified translation of your passport and biometric passport photos ready.
• If you are not coming yourself: have a power of attorney certified by a notary or the Turkish consulate.
• Book a sworn interpreter for the appointment.
• The day before the appointment: pull a fresh, current Tapu extract once more.

On the day of the transfer

• Pay the Tapu fee of 4 per cent of the declared purchase price at the bank and take the receipt with you.
• Pay the purchase price by bank transfer or bank cheque, simultaneously against the entry.
• Sign the transfer at the land registry office and receive the Tapu in your name.
• Record keys, remote controls, meter readings and any agreed furniture at the handover.

After the purchase: registering and setting up

• Transfer electricity and water into your name, the DASK policy is needed for that.
• Apply for internet.
• Set up the Aidat with the manager and clarify how you pay it.
• Register for property tax at the municipality, about 0.1 to 0.3 per cent per year of the cadastral value.
• Copy the Tapu, contracts and receipts and file them safely at home.
• On a new build: schedule the handover protocol with the snagging list and the fixing of defects with the developer.
• If planned: apply for a residence permit, clarify the rental licence.

All of this is part of our support. We are with you at the office, the bank and the land registry office, we register the utilities and we stay reachable if something comes up after the handover. Advice and support cost you nothing.

What we do beyond the list

A checklist checks papers. Whether you feel at home in the apartment is not in the Tapu. That is why we go twice, once in the morning and once in the evening, when the neighbours are home and you can hear how loud the street really is. We talk to the caretaker, ask the manager about the last owners‘ meeting and see whether the pool has been cleaned by March or still has the leaves of autumn floating in it.

With a developer, we go into a finished complex from their last project and ring the bells of people who live there. What they say about snagging and the Iskan is the best check there is. Alpa Abi knows most developers between Antalya and Alanya personally, and for Mersin and the Aegean we ask our people on the ground.

And if a point at the end of the list stays open and cannot be cleanly resolved, we tell you. Then we keep looking. There are plenty of good apartments by the sea, and you do not have to take one with a catch.