Before You Buy
If you’re eyeing a property from Kalkan Properties, it’s essential to ensure everything’s legal and know your rights in a new country. Your Real Estate and Property Services Agent will provide you with unbiased and expert advice throughout the process.
Before you finalize your purchase, your agent will explain all the fees and taxes involved in buying a property in Turkey, helping you plan your finances accordingly. Generally, these costs come to about 2% of the property price. After you make a deposit, your agent can recommend a legal advisor to handle all necessary paperwork and clearly outline your contractual obligations. If you prefer, a lawyer can also perform a thorough search for extra security.
Managing Your Funds
Once you’ve decided on a property, the next step is sorting out your finances. To complete the purchase, you’ll need to make an initial deposit of 5% of the total property price and draft a sales contract. International money transfers can take between 2 to 5 days, depending on the method. If time is tight, Western Union, in partnership with a local bank in Kalkan, offers the fastest international transfers. If you plan to use cash from a credit card advance, inform your credit card company beforehand to prevent any issues.
Before making your deposit, you can get help drafting a sales contract with the assistance of an approved translator or an English-speaking lawyer. The average fee for a lawyer to draft a sales contract is around £300, though this can increase with additional needs like power of attorney.
You can also receive help in opening a local bank account in Kalkan or Kaş to facilitate your deposit transfer.
Finalizing the Purchase
In Turkey, the property registration isn’t done by a public notary but by an official from the Property Registry Department (in Kaş for Kalkan properties).
If the title deed transfer process takes a while, you can secure the property with a legally-binding agreement at a public notary, allowing you to place a hold on the sale.
Should you want a notary to authorize the sale, there’s a 0.3% fee of the property’s price. Both buyer and seller, along with an authorized translator, must be present during the title deed transfer. If the property is jointly owned, all owners must be present. Although this means you need to be in Turkey, you can assign someone through power of attorney to act on your behalf, saving you time and travel costs. The power of attorney allows them to handle tasks like passport submissions, money transfers, sales tax payments, and exchanging the Title Deed or ‘Tapu’. Ownership is obtained once construction (if applicable) is complete and full payment is made.