Legal procedures for transferring property ownership to foreigners
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In the past six months, specifically in February 2022, the Turkish government made several amendments to the law of real estate ownership for foreigners, and many amendments to the conditions of ownership, as well as laws related to real estate residence and its new conditions, as well as the law for foreigners to obtain Turkish citizenship, these amendments that raised many questions from foreign investors, especially since the Turkish government, on the other hand, announced the closure of 1,200 neighborhoods in the city of Istanbul in front of foreigners who wish to obtain real estate residency.
At the end of last April 2022, the Turkish government raised the minimum purchase price for real estate in Turkey to $75,000 in major cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya and Aiden, and $50,000 in other cities if the investor wanted to obtain a real estate residence. In May of the same year 2022, the value of Turkish citizenship was raised to 400,000 dollars instead of 250,000 dollars, a decision that entered into force in mid-June of the same year.
Documents the investor should extract before buying a property:
• Translating the passport with a certified translator and notarizing it at Noter Department.
• Tax Number
• Opening a bank account in one of the Turkish banks.
Required documents to buy a property:
There are some required documents from the buyer as well as from the seller in order to transfer the ownership of a property, whether the property is a land, an apartment or a shop, and whether the transfer of ownership of a property is from a Turkish person or from a construction company to a foreigner, and to ensure the integrity of procedures in documenting your ownership of the property with the government agencies responsible for this, These documents must be submitted to the Tapu Department responsible for registering the contract and transferring ownership. These documents are:
1. A copy of the investor’s passport that translated and certified at the notary.
2. The tax number is extracted from the Tax Department.
3. Four biometric personal photos (at white background) of the buyer, to be inserted at the title deed.
4. A copy of the preliminary contract of sale (in case the purchase is through a construction company to buy an apartment in installments or cash, the primary purchase contract is required until the ownership is transferred from the company to the investor, provided that the contract is in both Turkish and the buyer’s native language.
5. A bank account at one of the banks operating in Turkey, in which the investor deposits his money in dollars in the bank before converting it to Turkish Lira, as it is required that purchasing process should be made through banks.
6. A transaction document (and this document was created by the state at the end of 2021, it is a bank document that the buyer transfers his money from dollars to Turkish lira and then the buyer transfers the purchase amount later from his account to the construction company or the person selling the property, and the state obliged the investor to attach it among the required documents.
7. A copy of the building permit for the project.
8. A copy of the original title deed of the property to its first owner, whether a company or a person, before transferring its ownership to the new buyer
9. An insurance policy for the property against natural disasters such as earthquakes, known as the (DUSK).
Although these papers are known to everyone, but how to extract and obtain these papers and it must be prepared before a period of real estate registration.
1- The tax number:
It is known in Turkish as (Vergi Numarasi), which is a number assigned with the Tax Department in Turkey, and it is required to be for many legal or official processes. It is a paper that can be extracted from any Turkish city from the Tax Department easily, regardless of whether you have an official permit residence in Turkey or not, it is enough to have a translated passport that certified at the Notary, or a copy of a notarized rental contract.
You will need this number to carry out any official transaction in the Turkish state (marriage, title deed.. etc), and it is issued without fees, the tax number is required to open a new bank account in Turkey, in addition to many transactions, or any financial activity with the Turkish government.
2- Title Deed Fees (Tapu):
There are fees should be paid when transferring the title deed (Tapu) of the property from one person to another. These fees is 4% of the value of the property that written in the contract, and the property buyer pays it to the state, but sometimes the amount of the fees is paid equally between the seller and the buyer, especially if the seller is a construction company to encourage customers to buy, so in this case the seller pays 2% and the buyer pays the other 2%, unless the seller agrees with the buyer that one of them pay it all.
Title deed fees should be paid through a bank by sending a text message to the buyer’s phone and seller’s phone while transferring process of the title deed. The message informs them about the amount they must pay and to inform them which account they must transfer the fees to, so that the process of paying the fees should be done before signing the transfer of ownership between the two parties (seller and buyer).
Conditions that the investor must know before obtaining Turkish citizenship
At the same time, the state has set some conditions for the investor in the real estate field, according to which he is granted citizenship. In the event of a breach of these conditions, a foreigner is not entitled to grant citizenship to a foreigner, including:
- The property must be worth 400 thousand US dollars or more or its equivalent in Turkish lira.
- Obtaining an evaluation report for the value of the property approved by the Turkish government.
- The value of the property with the title deed should be at the same real purchase price.
- The value of the property should be paid through bank transfers, and transfer receipts that prove bank transfers between the buyer and seller should be submitted in the file for applying for citizenship.
- The property must be owned by a Turkish person or Turkish company.
- Keeping the property for a period of 3 years from the date of purchase, and the investor is not allowed to sell or give up the property and then repurchase it.
- The price of the property is fully paid, and there are no external installments or mortgages on it.
- When applying for Turkish citizenship or after obtaining it, when you discover a deficiency or forgery in identification papers or any required files that can withdraw Turkish citizenship from you even after you obtain it.
At Ramzy Real Estate Company, we are glad to accompany you on the journey of buying property in Turkey and to provide you with a range of services to make the process smooth and easy , as we are always keen to present a variety of options for residential and investment properties in addition to helping you obtain Turkish citizenship for those looking for it.
Our services:
- Legal advice.
- Property Management.
- After-sales services.
- Legal services and obtaining Turkish citizenship.
- Buying and selling real estate in Turkey.
- For more details, you can contact us via the communication platforms or via the WhatsApp attached on the site.
Editing by Ramzy Real Estate Team ©
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