How to sell an apartment in Turkey?

We continue the series of materials in the new section "The sales process" on HomesOverseas.ru . Last time, we told you how to make a deal in Montenegro, and today we will focus on Turkey.

The procedure for selling real estate in Turkey is quite simple and fast, but there are many nuances. 

Stage 1. We are preparing an apartment or house for advertising and displays

We remove personal and generally any unnecessary items, order cleaning or, if necessary, cosmetic repairs. We take promotional photos and videos of real estate, as well as the sita (residential complex) territory, if it deserves it.

We find the layout scheme, prepare a description of the apartment, a list of infrastructure within walking distance and we are placing an advertisement on the real estate portal.

We recommend contacting an experienced agency right away. Realtors will help you present your property profitably, put it up for sale through portals and channels, orient you on the price, organize screenings and preliminary communication with potential buyers.

How long will it take to sell the property?

The demand for ready-made housing is now greater than for new buildings, as "secondary" is both more reliable and cheaper. However, it must be remembered that Turkey has established a buyer's market, not a seller's, as it was 2-3 years ago. There are plenty of offers of excellent, practically new, real estate, and the speed of sale depends on the price you set. If you put it just below the market, then you can actually make a deal in 3-4 months.

It happens that people want to sell quickly and offer a price 30 percent below the market. In this case, the bill goes not for months, but for weeks and even days, as professional investors hunt for such objects for the purpose of resale.

Stage 2. We prepare the documents and submit an application to the cadastre

In Turkey, transactions are processed at the Cadastral Office, and if the seller has received the money in full, and the tax and fee have been paid, the buyer immediately receives a tapu (certificate of ownership). The agreement is not binding, and the Turks themselves usually do not sign it. When dealing with foreigners, the contract is usually signed as a kind of guarantee of intentions, but it is not really needed for the cadastre.

The agreement can be bilateral or trilateral, when a real estate agency acts as a guarantor. The contract prescribes the rights and obligations of the parties, the deadlines for submitting documents to the cadastre, and the conditions for paying taxes. The agreement, drawn up in two languages, is executed in a simple written form. Contracts are notarized, for example, when an object is purchased in a new building for citizenship. 

What is the sequence of actions when the buyer of the property is found and all the conditions are agreed?

1. It is necessary to get a certificate from the mayor's office about the cost of the apartment.

So far, this is a formality in Turkey, and the price that appears in the certificate has nothing to do with reality. The point of the help is to show if you have earned something from resale. And if you have earned and at the same time own an object for less than 5 years, you are required to pay capital gains tax. Let's say you bought an apartment 2 years ago, and according to tap, its cost was 120,000 liras, the mayor's office will add to this amount the amount of inflation over two years, and, say, estimate it at 130,000 liras. If you specify 140,000 liras when reissuing the tapu, then you will be required to pay the tax on the difference of 10,000 liras. In fact, no one does this, and in tapu, when reissuing the buyer, the amount determined by the mayor's office is indicated. This is precisely because of the widespread underestimation of the amount in the cadastre in the primorsky regions, and, accordingly, in the tapu, as a result of which most of the cost of the apartment does not go anywhere in the documents. 

However, the authorities apparently seriously intend to put an end to the practice of understating the cadaster value. Recently, a digital platform based on artificial intelligence was introduced, which will allow you to find out the average market price of an apartment in any location in any region. The cadastral administration will be instructed to focus on these platforms, and the tax authorities will use them in order to collect more taxes.

2. Next, you need to submit an electronic application for registration of the transaction to the Cadastral Office. The application includes a questionnaire from the seller and the buyer, it specifies the amount of the transaction (the one that will go to the tapu). 

Next, you will receive a message from the Cadastral Office, which will indicate the date and time of the transaction, as well as a reminder of the need to pay taxes and fees in a certain amount. Usually the message arrives in 4-5 days, but sometimes the waiting time for a response can reach up to 2 weeks.

3. Do you collect the documents that are needed for the transaction:

• passport;
• photo;
• tax number;
Earthquake Insurance Policy (DASK).

You should also make sure that there are no property tax arrears. To do this, you can contact the staff of the mayor's office and show them the tapa. They will find you in the database by phone number and will immediately give you an answer. If there is a debt, it will need to be paid, otherwise the transaction will not take place, as the clerks at the cadastre also check this information. 

Note that the sale procedure can be completed with an agency. This is the easiest way - you will only need to sign during the transaction, everything else will be prepared by realtors. But there are two alternative options:

• If you have a residence permit, then you can apply for the sale yourself through the unified state platform e-devlet. To do this, you will need to upload the seller's and buyer's data to the system.
• If you do not have a residence permit, but you have found a buyer on your own, you can contact your escorts (tapu takip). Their offices are usually located next to any cadastre office. The company's employees will prepare the documents themselves and call you to the cadastre for the transaction, but there is one thing, "but"they usually speak only in Turkish. Escort services in Alanya cost 2000 liras. 

Stage 3. Transaction and renewal of tapu to the buyer

On the appointed day, you, along with the buyer and intermediaries, if any, come to the Cadastral Office. By this time, you have all the documents prepared, the tax and fee have been paid, and there are no property tax arrears.

It is important to remember that a sworn translator must be present for transactions with foreigners. They work in any notary office. Their services cost about 100 euros.

Next, the clerk who handled your documents calls you. He asks the seller on camera: "Did you get the money?""And the buyer: "Did you give the money?». If the answers are in the affirmative, the seller and the buyer put their signatures in the registration book and in the application. After 15-20 minutes, the buyer will receive a tap in the next window.

Immediately after the transaction (or immediately before it), it is important to go to the energy company and the water utility and ask them to turn off the meters or reissue them to the buyer. The service contract with these companies is not for the apartment, but for the owner, and if you skip this step, the bills will continue to come to you, not to the new owner. 

The seller gives the keys to the buyer on the day of the transaction or by agreement after a few days, if you need to take things out. 

Calculations for the sale of real estate

Payments can be made either in cash or from an account to an account in a foreign currency at the request of the seller. If real estate is acquired for citizenship, then only from account to account.

Payments through the bank are made in advance, and in cash immediately before the transaction in the cadastre. There is usually an office of escorts next to the Cadastral Office, where there is a counting machine.

Often, the amount shown for the cadastre is transferred by wire transfer, and the rest is in cash.

Important: the foreign buyer needs to prove before that he imported the amount in the currency that will be indicated in the cadastre into the country. Therefore, it will need to be converted to lira and back to euros or dollars if you need the entire amount in one currency. The proof that the currency has been imported is a certificate from the currency exchange bank (DAB bilgisi). It can be requested by both the buyer and the seller after receiving the money. Such certificates are issued by banks: VAKIF, ZİRAAT, DENİZ.

If the payments were made in cash, then deposit the amount to your account.The seller can easily account by presenting a copy of two taps and a copy of the contract to the bank, which will be a confirmation of the source of the funds. You can also transfer money to the CIS countries by presenting the same documents, however, if the amount is over $50,000, you may need to verify your trustworthiness as a bank customer. In Russia, transfers are only possible to accounts with a few banks that support SWIFT.

If the buyer is from the seller's country, it is possible to arrange the transfer of money (with the exception of the cadastral value) in the country of which they are both citizens. For example, at the moment when the seller and the buyer make a deal in the Cadastral Office, their relatives in Russia make the payment, it is possible even in rubles.

Taxes on the sale of real estate in Turkey

1.Tax on real estate purchase and sale transactions: 4% of the cadastral value. According to the law, 2% is paid by the seller and 2% by the buyer. In practice, the buyer usually pays the tax if it is stipulated in the contract.

The cadastral value is the price of an apartment or house, which is indicated in the tapu. In Turkey, especially in the coastal regions, for a long time there has been a practice of significant underestimation of inventories, as we have already discussed. For example, a villa costs a million dollars, but according to the cadastre it is only 50 thousand. Although there are cases of overestimation of the cadastral price, for example, when real estate is purchased for citizenship or a residence permit, and it is necessary to exceed the threshold of 400,000 / 100,000 dollars according to the cadastre.

2. Cadastral fee, or the so-called amount of working capital. Since May 1, the tariff has increased and now amounts to about 35,000 liras for foreigners.

3. Capital gains tax if the seller has owned the home for less than 5 years. Now, in fact, almost no one pays it, since understated information about the price is submitted to the cadastre.

If the practice of checking the market value of real estate through an online platform is introduced, sellers will have to face this tax, which ranges from 15 to 40% for individuals, depending on the amount of profit.

• up to 158,000 Turkish liras - 15%
• from 158,000 to 330,000 Turkish liras - 20%
• from 330,000 to 800,000 Turkish liras - 27%
• from 800,000 to 4,300,000 Turkish liras - 35%
• over 4,300,000 Turkish liras 40%

Is it possible to conduct a transaction remotely?

It is not necessary for the seller to come to the transaction if he has issued a power of attorney for someone.

An important point: Russian notaries do not put photos on power of attorney, and the Cadastral Office of Turkey requires that there be a photo. For this reason, it is more correct to order a document at the consulate.

A power of attorney issued in Russia appears in the database on the same day, and it can be redeemed at any notary office in Turkey.

Thank you for your help in preparing the material:

Anastasia Kezik, Marketing DirectorAlanya Property Sales

Alain Asorgin, DirectorExcluzival Group