Buying a property in Kalkan
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Most British and other Foreign Nationals are permitted to buy property, or land for the construction of a property, providing the land or property are not on land that is in a military, strategic or security zone. Additionally, the Turkish Government has deemed certain areas throughout the country as protected zones due to a number of different elements e.g. agriculture, cultural or historical zones. We will ensure that your property is not in one of these forbidden zones, and the TAPU (land registry) will also ensure that property is legally built. In general, properties in Turkey are freehold.
It is not compulsory to hire a solicitor in order to purchase either a property or land for a property to be built. However, in view of the fact that there is much legal documentation involved in most purchases, and they can also arrange a Power of Attorney, and offer both legal and financial advice, securing the services of a good English speaking solicitor is a wise decision to make. Additionally, if they are familiar with English you may not need to employ the services of a translator. A good solicitor will always carry out searches and checks, on your behalf to ensure that rights as a buyer are protected.
For advice on finding an independent English speaking Turkish solicitor you can contact the British Embassy via the following link http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk. If you already have details of a solicitor, you can do a check to ensure that they are an authorized solicitor by following this link http://www.barobirlik.org.tr/eng/. If you need to secure the services of any other English speaking professionals – whether for property purchase or for other matters – please visit http://www.tbcci.org. This is the Turkish British Chamber of Commerce who will be able to provide details of other professionals and companies that you may wish to contact.
Delegating via a Power of Attorney (POA) is recommended if you are not available at all times for signatures on legal documents, for example if you are buying a holiday home and are not on hand to attend meetings regarding the purchase. You decide the level of legal authority that your agent has in these matters, and a POA must be signed in front of a Notary Public. When implementing a POA it is recommended that you should clearly define the period of time that it is enforced for. A POA can allow your agent to do the following on your behalf:
- Buy, sell or rent out your property
- Undertake the management of your property
- Manage your bank transactions on your behalf
- Invest or make use of your money for you
- Make legal claims or undertake litigation on your behalf
- Handle tax matters on your behalf
What you want your agent to do and not to do must be clearly stated at the time of drawing up the POA.
Once the POA is in place the agent becomes your representative, and as long as you have the legal capacity to give instructions and make decisions, they must act on your instructions. They are then duty bound to act in your best interests without self promoting or acting without your expressed instructions.
Monies relating to the POA should be kept in a separate bank account and the agent must keep accurate financial records and provide you with periodic reports/accounts for all monies and property coming in to your possession. Unfortunately, but in very rare cases, a POA can and will be abused by some agents including transferring assets to their name. Therefore you should seek out a trustworthy and preferably recommended agent, and insist upon receiving accurate periodic reports/accounts.
If the worse case scenario arises then you should in the first instance report your agent to their occupational association – another key reason for using an accredited agent. You can also complain to the local justice courts in the case of abuse of powers or fraud, in order to seek redress.
Monitoring the actions of your agent is solely your responsibility. You can at any time revoke the POA, in the same way as you appointed the POA, via a Notary Public.If you do revoke the arrangement then you must notify the agent in writing of this fact and request the return of all copies of the documentation.
Additionally you must notify your bank, and any other organization that the POA was in place for.
A POA can be prepared in the UK, but it must be legalized to ensure that it is an acceptable/valid document in Turkey – this will include translation of the document in to Turkish. Legalization means that the document drawn up by a UK solicitor, registrar or public notary is recognized by the Turkish authorities as being a legally binding/valid document; this is usually done by the Consulate General in London. For full details about legalization of documents prepared in the UK please visit http://www.turkishconsulate.org.uk/en/legali.htm.
It is highly recommended to employ the services of a Sworn-translator to translate the contracts that you are due to sign with the seller of either the land or property, and to then have them ratified by a Notary Public. If you are unsure of whom to use then you can get a full list of such translators from the local Notary Public.
You can raise capital to purchase a property in Turkey in a number of ways. Either by re-mortgaging a UK property and in some cases Turkish banks/financial organizations will accept bank guarantee letters and provide you with a long term loan. Please note that if you fail to keep up repayments of a loan you are at risk of having the property used as a guarantee confiscated by the Turkish financial organization. More details on Turkish banks can be found by following this link http://www.turkisheconomy.org.uk/banking.html.
Once you have set your heart on a property and have agreed the purchase price of the property with the owner or their representative, the next stage is to do a series of checks to ensure that the sale of the property is legal, and you are not in breach of any of the rules regarding the purchase of property in Turkey. You need to see the TAPU (title deeds) for the property and begin your checks. The following is a list of the steps you will need to take:
- Ensure that the TAPU is definitely for the property you are interested in buying
- That it is a residential (or in the case of a business, commercial) property in a zone that is covered by an Implementary or Local Development Plan (IDP & LDP). If it is not in such an area then the new Title Deed Laws that are in force in Turkey do not cover it, and you should therefore cease negotiations and look for a new property.
- The property really does belong to the person who purports to be the owner. Ask to see their identity card and compare it to the details shown on the TAPU, just to be 100% sure!
- If it is a joint ownership situation, that all parties are in agreement to the sale.
- Check that there are no notations on the TAPU prohibiting the sale/purchase of the property. The only exception to this rule is where prerequisites to the sale/purchase noted on the TAPU have been met. If there are notations then the sale/purchase is not possible.
- In the case of a sale/purchase of land only, then ensure that the Implementary or Local Development Plan (IDP & LDP) allows you to construct/erect a building on the land.
- That the property complies with all current regulations such as earthquake proof standards. Additional in the case of either an apartment or a house that that any licenses and official permits relating to the property have been legally obtained.
- The current owner/owners do not owe any outstanding taxes to the Tax Office.
The current owner/owners do not owe any outstanding monies to any of the utilities companies. - Ensure that the agent you are using works for a registered company.
- If you are using a solicitor, ensure that they are an authorized solicitor (details of how to make this check are detailed earlier in this text)
- Check whether there is still a binding contract in force for a property that currently has a tenant. At around the same time as performing these checks, it is a good idea to do the following steps in order to save time and trouble at a later date:
- Register with the local Tax Office
- Open your Turkish bank account (you can only do this once you have registered with the Tax Office)
- Arrange contracts with the legal/professional people that you will be using during the course of, and after, the purchase of the property/land e.g. a solicitor, Sworn-translator, agent and/or an accountant.
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