Turkish Property. Protecting your investment

Many people have a dream to buy a home in the sun whether it is to use as a holiday home, for future relocation or purely as an investment. The attractive prices of Turkish Property for sale make it an ideal investment however how do you protect your investment from going badly wrong?

There are many stories on the world-wide web of people who have lost their life savings or the actual property itself. They have lost it for a number of reasons however as a buyer you should makes sure your first aim is protecting your investment to ensure this does not happen to you. So what procedures are in place to protect the buyer when purchasing Turkish Property?



If you are buying off plan then your payment plan should be staged to reflect the building status. Paying 50% of the price of the property when the foundations are only laid is not ideal. You should consulate with the particular agent or builder as to the starting date of construction and the finishing date, then come to an agreement for payment at specific stages.

At each specific stage try to view the construction or insist on photographs before handing over the money. When handing over the payment for each stage insist on a bank bond from the builder. These are free and will only cost money should you instruct a solicitor to make them active. In this case you would use only the bank bonds to apply for your money back because the builder has not given you a property that you can take possession over.

If you are buying a new or resale property then you can ask the seller to sign an Ipotec. This costs roughly 1% of the property price and the buyer has to pay for it. It puts a block on the tapu that will stop the seller from selling the property to someone else or taking a loan out on it. If for any reason the seller refuses an Ipotec then it would be wise to walk away as the seller, if honest has nothing to lose by doing it

Another option is to look into the requirements for a mortgage. Many mortgage companies will not hand over the money until the Tapu ( title deeds ) have been received. The mortgage companies will also assess the property to ensure that you receive what you are paying for. Generally mortgages tend not to be available on off plan properties and sometimes the owner is looking for a quick sale so will not accept mortgage payments.

Protecting your investment will take research and time however this option is better than losing your life savings and ending up with no property at all.