MORTGAGE SYSTEM

Buying a second house (with a mortgage) in Turkey is a great decision that will give you a lot of pleasure and joy. Getting to that point is not always easy. Foreigners can face several different procedures and legal obligations.

Buying a house in Turkey as a foreigner

Turkey has a reciprocal agreement for the purchase of land and property with many countries. This means that the people of these nations that allow Turks to buy land in their countries, can in return, buy land in Turkey. Foreigners may purchase in their own name if the property is outside military zones. Based on these agreements foreigners of the following countries are eligible. England, Germany, Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Holland, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Canada, Luxemburg, Norway, Greece as well as some African and South American states.

No matter where the land or the house may be situated if the buyer is a foreign person, the deed office has to officially ask the prior approval or permission of the highest military command of the area before transferring the title (Approval of the ministry of Defense: Savunma Bakanliği). The duration of the request for permission is estimated on 30-60 days. The reasons for this are to ensure that foreign buyers will not acquire a property within military zones. No land or property within forbidden regions and safety regions can be sold, transferred or rented. (Forbidden regions - Military zones).

More and more foreigners are interested in buying property in Turkey. In 2006 around 50,000 purchases from foreigners have been taking place. More and more foreigners are looking for financing their new property at a local bank.

Foreigners, with different behavior/features, require a different application approach.