Important advice about foreigners buying land in Turkey

Follow up with Imtilak Real Estate the most important questions that concern businessmen and investors wishing to buy and invest in land in Turkey. These questions are answered by Mr. Abdullah Adak, the real estate consultant at Imtilak Real Estate, and formerly the Deputy Mayor of the Princesses Islands Municipality.

What are architectural lands, and what is the difference between them agricultural lands in the title deed?

Architectural land  is every land on which construction is permitted at a certain percentage, whether it be villas, commercial, residential, tourist, health or educational buildings.

While agricultural land is every land on which construction is not permitted, or on which construction is allowed in very small proportions of its area, on special terms.

As for naming these two types of lands in the title deed in Turkey:

• The architectural land is called Arsa.
• While agricultural land, is called Bahçe tarla in the title deed.

What are the conditions for a foreigner to own land in Turkey?

In general, foreigners are entitled according to the 2012 property law to own land and real estate, but with conditions, such as:

• The property to be purchased is not located near sensitive military facilities.
• Not owning agricultural land for more than two years without an agricultural project during these two years.
• A foreign person is also not entitled to own more than 300,000 square meters of agricultural land.
• The area of ​​land owned by foreigners in any place should not exceed more than 10% of the area of ​​the region.

How can a foreigner buy land on his own name, or a company name, which is better?

A foreigner may purchase property on his or her own name or on the name of a company, and the preference between the two is due to the type of land and the purpose of its ownership.

If the goal is to establish a project on the ground regardless of its agricultural, commercial or construction type; The best is to start a company, then register the property on its restrictions.

And so if the goal of buying agricultural land is to wait a while for it to go up in price, here's also the registration by founding a better company, because a project must be established within two years on this land.

What projects can be set up on agricultural land and what do you think of them?

• Animal, cattle and poultry raising projects, to obtain meat, milk and eggs.
• Agricultural projects using advanced technology, such as: growing tomatoes, strawberries, and other products.

Here, we should point out that a person wishing to invest in agricultural land must be at the head of his or her work and have his or her own team and expert on such investment, so that the matter is not left without direct follow-up from the investor.

Can you build a villa or a cottage on agricultural land?

It is not possible to build huts on lands classified as agricultural, because the percentage of construction on them is usually very low.

The possibility of building on agricultural land is also required to have a very large area, in certain areas and defined by the State.

In practice, therefore: Land classified as agricultural cannot be legally built on title.

Would you recommend buying land, an apartment or an office in Turkey, and which is better in terms of investment?

Advice depends on the type of profits expected, and the speed at which they are obtained. Buying an apartment or office in Turkey, often aimed at investing in the medium term by, for example, renting them.

As for the purchase of land, it is for investment in building and constructing it, and then selling the properties that have been built.

With regard to agricultural land, or cheap, it is recommended for those seeking to buy a property, and leave it for a long period of time for the children to benefit most from it, not the direct buyer!

In which cities do you advise investors to buy?

For long-term investment, we recommend buying agricultural land in the cities around Istanbul, as it is expanding, such as: Edirne and Tekirdag.

Also, we can recommend buying in areas where there are plans for industrial cities, such as: Izmit, Sakarya, and areas near Asian Istanbul.

It is also possible to buy in Istanbul itself for some of the lands that are offered for sale sometimes after conducting a feasibility study for the land, and calculating the expected profit returns if built or resold.

If we were to ask about prices, what's the lowest price group for land in Turkey? And here we mean Istanbul

The issue of land prices in Istanbul varies greatly, as it is a country whose area is very large, in which the prices must differ by first looking at its type, whether agricultural or construction, then is it close to urban areas, or not?

However, there are some examples of land prices in certain areas of Istanbul:

For example: In the Arnavutkoy region, the prices of land for the construction of villas range between 500 or 600 TL and 2,000 TL per square meter, and this varies according to the land area and its location. As for an area like Catalca, the price of agricultural land per square meter in it could be 200 TL.

In case the foreigner buys an architectural land, what can he legally build on?

The treatment of a foreign investor is like the treatment of a Turkish citizen when buying a property, so he has the right to what a foreigner is entitled to from the construction of a building, a residential complex, a villa or even a group of villas.

However, as we have already pointed out, in the case of investment, ownership of land would preferably not be restricted by the name of a person but by the name of a company, since corporate profits enjoy certain exemptions on their taxes, which are not available to individuals.

In any case, it is necessary to take the opinion of a financial advisor or a chartered accountant when deciding to purchase a land.

When buying a land worth $250,000, does a foreigner get Turkish citizenship?

Yes, of course, because buying a property for $250,000 meets the requirement to apply for Turkish citizenship through a property, regardless of whether that property is home, office, commercial or land.

However, it should be noted that the price of the property, which we will pay, should be recorded at the same value on the title.

And to beware of what some land owners sometimes do, from registering low numbers, to reduce the title deed registration taxes, or to reduce the profit tax.

Does knowledge of these legal concepts and investment advice protect against real estate fraud?

The subject of land is a different topic from the purchase of ordinary property, such as apartments, offices and so on, since it contains many details, and experts on agricultural and architectural land in Turkey, with knowledge of the area of destination, are required to purchase.

Therefore, one or two episodes may not be sufficient to fully inform all aspects of the land and the details of its purchase, because each land has a different legal description than other land in terms of allowing building on it, the appearance of the organizational chart, and at what stage.

We therefore always recommend consulting land specialists and not relying solely on vain promises of real estate intermediaries, as they are insufficient to know all the real aspects of investment.

Edited by Imtilak Real Estate©

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