How to Avoid Problems with Property Purchases and Sales in Turkiye
MyTapu Associates are the leading experts in Transaction Services for residential real estate in Turkiye. Between 2007 and 2013 our experts have guided, advised on and managed more than 3,000 property purchase & sale transactions in Istanbul and coastal regions of Turkiye, and thousands more since then.
What are Transaction Services ?
The process by which a property purchase or sale is negotiated, the steps to be followed, the documents required for Due Diligence, the Payments Types to be used, the transfer of ownership at the Land Registry, and the means of obtaining possession. These latter aspects are often referred to as ‘Conveyancing’ in the UK.
The procedures, practices, and documents are different in Turkiye than in other countries, and an un-suspecting buyer that believes otherwise, places his capital at risk and his peace of mind in jeopardy....
Negotiating:
A property purchase or sale negotiation by unknowing foreigner buyers in Turkiye begins at the earliest step of first contact with an agent- but local Turks do NOT do business this way, instead avoiding agents. The first essential step to starting the process correctly, is specifically to avoid the steps agents recommend to guide buyers, which enable agents to prey on the buyers and sellers to capture huge profit mark-ups, which are hidden from the buyer.
A simple generalization of guidance provides some insight into the challenges of services provided by agents:“Believe half of what you see, and nothing that you hear…"
The Best Way to Begin:
For a buyer, the best way to begin the process, is at the first stage of looking for a property, and MyTapu Associates provides a Property Search & Selection Service that not only provides the widest selection of property choices from the whole market, many directly from owners (without agents), and also integrates Negotiation and the complete range of Transaction Services, if the investing buyer so instructs. More information here.
For a seller, the best way to begin the process, is at the first stage of looking for a buyer for the property, and MyTapu Associates provides a Property Sales Services that are the standard method used by locals, making it possible to attract the widest selection of buyers from everywhere in Turkiye and the world, (without agents), and also integrates Negotiation and the complete range of Transaction Services, if the seller so instructs. More information here.
Both buyers and sellers benefit from the digital internet based on-line portals that are the source of 95% of all property transactions in Turkiye. If an agent is saying their website is a portal, avoid that agent- because saying that is a false claim. 'On-line Portals ' have in-built chat box messaging systems with integrated email that enable buyers and sellers to communicate directly with each other, without agents being involved. Agents' websites obviously do not have this feature, for the very good reasons explained below.
Protect that dream, and prevent the nightmare !
Owning a property in Turkiye provides for an improvement in the quality of living and lifestyle, and Professional Transaction Services ensure that outcome….
Don’t Assume You ‘Know', or Anything Else…!
The procedures are different in Turkiye than in other countries, and an un-suspecting buyer that believes otherwise, places his capital at risk and his conscious at risk. Owning a property in Turkiye provides for an improvement in the quality of living and lifestyle, and Professional Transaction Services protect that dream, and prevent the nightmare.
Avoid the Sharks:
The very attractive lifestyle benefits of owning a property in Turkiye, are offset by the regrettable practices of estate agents and the solicitors that they refer to. Following the procedures recommended by agents, guides unsuspecting and unknowledgeable buyers into situations where non-Turkish speaking international buyers pay far above local market prices, often for properties that are in some way defective.
Reality Check:
Avoiding this situation requires a recognition of a simple reality. The internet search engine listings for property in Turkiye in non-Turkish foreign languages like English and Arabic, lead straight to the websites of agents that apply these regrettable business practices. These same agents do not even appear in a search engine listing in Turkish. The reason is simple- these type of agents serving foreign investors pay money for various techniques to obtain results for top search engine listings and rankings in foreign languages to catch unsuspecting foreign buyers.
Dis-Honest Practices:
These agents can afford to pay this money because the procedures and practices the agents apply when dealing with foreign buyers and sellers, ensure they profit far more than merely from collecting a 2-3 % commission. This is their ‘standard business practice’, involving a series of steps that are intentionally designed to limit a foreign buyer’s negotiating power, and visibility. Usually these steps are combined with different pressure tactics involving fictitiously created urgency, and other emotional and psychological tactics, accompanied by persuasive skills, and often various degrees of dramatic amateur ‘acting’.
Profits from Hidden Price Mark-Ups:
These practices typically involve the ‘hidden price mark-up’ scam – where-by an agent agrees not to charge a seller (or developer/constructor) a commission, if the agent can keep all money obtained by selling the property for more than a specific price level. And the profit from selling above that price- the hidden price mark up - agents put in their pocket as their profit- often shared with the attorneys they recommend to clients, the Citizenship CBI/CIP consultants they work with, valuation experts, and mortgage brokers that provide false assurances of mortgage finance, just to encourage the client’s to make deposit payments in advance.
Don’t Believe It… !
Just because an agent’s website is now providing information on ‘Due Diligence’, does NOT mean they actually perform professional Due Diligence. Usually, the agent has simply obtained the information on this and other topics from MyTapu’s website and placed onto their own website to appear legitimate… a common practice for years !
Just One Business- Manipulation:
Avoiding these practices can NOT be done by using an agent that relies on these practices for their business, because no matter what persuasive assurances they provide, these practices ARE their business- not providing standard real estate agency services. So for example, if a buyer wants to offer a price without deposit or below listing price to a seller, the agent’s usual ploy will be to not to inform the seller at all, and eventually inform the buyer falsely.’ there is another buyer at a higher price’ , or ‘the property has been sold’, or ‘the property has been taken off the market’… and neither the seller nor the buyer will know any different – because they both rely on the agent’s communication. This is a major reason why local Turk’s do not use agents. In summary, the only business these agents are interested in doing, is the business of capturing the hidden price mark-up profit- they won’t bother doing anything else. Which becomes understandable when realizing that the ‘hidden price mark-up profits’ can amount to as much as 80% higher than the true sales price.
Yes, FOR a factual real world EXAMPLE, a USD $ 100,000 price mark-up on a $ 186,000 property being offered for sale at $ 286,000 in Kagithane, istanbul.
Solutions- MyTapu Transaction Services:
How do Professional Transaction Services solve this problem for property buyers and sellers? The solution can be summarized briefly as follows:
- Procedures: Follow the steps required for ensuring the buyer or seller is not dis-advantaged; do NOT rely on information on the internet nor from AI, because this information is just repeating what the pirates would like to persuade an unsuspecting buyer or seller to believe.
- Practices: Apply standard best practices for transaction management used by institutional investment managers of investment funds and corporates when buying real estate;
- Policies: Make sure your Transaction Services provider (including agents and attorneys) has a written commitment and Disclosure Statement in pdf form, with clearly stated ethics policies and business practices in place protecting the interests of their clients.
- Documentary Evidence: Obtain and verify the documentary evidence in advance that is in good form, for Due Diligence- the same documentation that serves as evidence for court litigation; an appraisal report known as an Eksper Rapor is helpful in providing information but must be interpreted in the context of cadastral and planning permit regulations to understand if the property is compliant or defective- the report itself will not state this.
- Price Checks: Use a Professional Valuation Service instead of a local appraisal report known as an Eksper Rapor, because the Eksper Report does not provide accurate market price valuations because they charge so little it is not possible to obtain accurate information on real transaction prices of comparable properties, and instead relies on price averaging and other short-cuts resulting in distortions. An Eksper Rapor provides much helpful information but the attention to market price discovery typically comprises less than 10-15% of such reports.
- Preparations: Complete the advance preparations necessary to ensure the buyer is able to buy property like a local Turkish person;
- Timing: allow ample time for a price negotiation to be accepted –less than ninety days is often not sufficient, so expectations must be managed realistically in regard to seasonal factors and other aspects;
- Choices: Maintain a wide range of property purchase choices, without becoming emotionally attached to any pictures or concepts – this is a small price to pay for protecting wealth.
- Persistence: patiently continue with the techniques applied by an experienced Professional Transaction Specialist, and do not be deterred by agents’ refusals to cooperate, because non-cooperation is obviously a red-flag that is best avoided. Also avoid entering a situation where an agent provides a constant stream of false and misleading information, and uses psychological and emotional persuasion tactics.
- Sourcing: avoid any service providers that are being paid commissions – instead, use a non-commission based services for identifying property to buy, like MyTapu’s Property Search and Selection Service. Often it is possible to buy property directly from owners, and thus ideally avoiding these English and Arabic speaking sharks and pirates that pretend to be honest agents.
- Citizenship Investors (CIP/CBI): Special, specific tactics apply to property selection, appraisals & valuation, and purchase & payment procedures. Enquire via email to info@MyTapu.com about ‘ CBI/CIP Transaction Services'. for further details.
- Special, Specific Tactics required, for:
§ Property Approval Risk elimination.
§ Valuation Approval Risk elimination.
§ Investment Risk & Return optimization, for capital protection & wealth preservation, is essential to avoid losing $20,000 - $80,000 of hidden profit mark-ups by citizenship consultants and real estate agents.This requires investment management know-how using accurate market price information obtained from proprietary in-house data sourcing, analysis, techniques and tools, by My Tapu Associates' experts applying 35+ years of investment management expertise in local Turkish and global real estate markets, which isn't available from CBI/CIP consultants and real estate agents as these do not have the data, do not know how nor want to do the work to get it, nor have professional training, qualifications, nor experience in investment management..
The additional details, tactics, and solutions all derive from, MyTapu Associates 18+ years of experience dealing with these challenges and guiding, advising, and managing residential real estate transactions in Turkiye….
Learn more about the Transaction Services available for buyers and sellers- contact info@MyTapu.com about ‘Transaction Services'... click here.
Additional Reading- Articles and Web Pages...
- Property Valuations & Appraisal Reports (5 articles)
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- Reviews about MyTapu Associates (2 articles)
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