Buying a Property in Turkey? Know the Pitfalls

The single most important factor if you are thinking of buying a property in Turkey or anywhere else abroad is .... Know who you are dealing with!

Turkey (in the main) is not subject to European law and customer rights are NOT protected in the same way as the UK. Visitors to Turkey have been known on many occasions to go on holiday, fall in love with the country, meet an Estate Agent who they really have no knowledge about and put down a deposit on an apartment or villa before they fly home!

In some cases the deal goes through (as planned) and the buyer can end up with a dream holiday home in a fantastic location for a great price.

However!! .... unfortunately, just as often, major problems can be encountered e.g.

• The buyer has no way of knowing the true market value of the property and they pay well over the market rate.
• The issue of title deeds to properties in Turkey raises it's head time and time again. Some people never end up with the title deeds to their property & therefore in law, even though they have paid the asking price, the property does not actually belong to them.

Example case featured on lTV 1 "Homes from Hell" 22nd July 2010

• People get so carried away with the idea of owning a dream place in the sun with a swimming pool that they don't even remember to address the issue of maintenance charges payable for the upkeep of the pool and gardens until after they have handed over their money!
• In the UK even though estate agents may open on a high street near you without experience or qualifications it's not vitally important as every step of the way (in the buying process) you are protected by Solicitors and UK Laws. In Turkey this is NOT the case!. Even if you hire and pay an independent Turkish lawyer to oversee your purchase or sale you are NOT protected in the same way.