Kızlarpınarı mah. Hacikadiroglu sok.Asta Residance apt. no 9A, 07400 Alanya/Antalya
Print
version
version
The advice is shared by Alexandra Kabakci,
CEO of the Turkish company Ataberk Estate.
The best option for those who want to taste life in Turkey is to go on exploration. Please note that it is difficult to rent an apartment for a long time (a year or more) in Alanya or Antalya. Demand exceeds supply. Most owners are focused on working with tourists, they rent housing for daily rent, several weeks or months. It's more profitable this way. However, it is unlikely that you will need a whole year to make a decision. From my experience, people quickly determine both the area and the object they want to buy.
Winter and the off-season are a great time for such a trip. Firstly, rental prices are three times lower than in summer. You can rent an excellent 1+1 apartment (i.e. one living room + one bedroom combined with a kitchen) in a new complex by the sea for only 400 euros per month. Secondly, you will see what the Turkish winter is and how real estate is maintained in the off-season. Thirdly, there is no rush demand for housing. You can call us just a couple of days before departure, and we will select options for renting.
.jpg)
Do not think that in winter the prices for apartments will be lower. Seasonality exists only in the rental sector, developers and sellers in the secondary market do not rewrite the prices! Therefore, it is not so important at what time of the year you will come. You can combine this with a children's vacation or with a summer vacation.
Tenants of private apartments in Turkey should know one important nuance: according to the law, the owner is obliged to register tenants with the police. Make sure they do it! In our company, the rental department is responsible for this. The manager meets tourists, collects photocopies of passports and registers everyone, even babies, so that people do not have problems. Like what? For example, you will need to go to the hospital, the first thing they will look at is the registration, where and on what grounds you live. And there can be any situations. Don't put yourself at risk! If you rent an apartment, do it legally.
Infotour is another way to make a choice. Here is how they are arranged in our company: we discuss the dates when it is convenient for you to arrive, meet you at the airport and place you in apartments. Then the views begin: every day we visit a new area, inspect the infrastructure and show what is for sale there. The standard cost of an infotour is €200 for a family of up to four people. It is important that such a trip does not oblige you to anything. If the apartment is not picked up, you pay the expenses and return home, having understood a lot about how the Turkish real estate market works. But more often, information tours are ordered by people who fly here to buy an apartment. We pre-negotiate the search criteria and view only those objects that are suitable for you. If the transaction is concluded, our company assumes the costs of the infotour.
.jpg)
In recent years (already 20 years), Turkish developers have been building complexes with a developed infrastructure: a protected area, a swimming pool (or several), a playground, a fitness room, a hammam, a barbecue area… These are not attributes of luxury, but the norm for Turkish housing. Such complexes are in demand not only among tourists and foreigners, the locals also liked to live like this. But we must understand that all this infrastructure increases the cost of housing maintenance, the owners pay the so-called aidat. On average, it comes out about €30 per month. If there is an indoor pool and a spa center, it reaches €50 and above. It is important that the amount of the aidat is known before the transaction, you will be able to decide in advance whether you are ready for such expenses.
If you do not need swimming pools and extra services, choose an apartment in an urban-type house, they are available both on the secondary market and among new buildings, both in the center and in remote areas. The minimum fee just for lighting, elevator operation and cleaning of the entrance will be €5 per month. But the price of the apartment itself depends not so much on the infrastructure in the complex, but on the year of construction... Many urban-type houses are 20-30 years old. Of course, they will be cheaper than new complexes with a territory and a swimming pool.
For permanent residence, you will most likely need a spacious apartment. A married couple may have enough of a 1+1 layout, but if children live with you, you will need more bedrooms. There will be no problems with the selection of options. In many complexes, developers think over different layouts. You can find both small apartments and apartments with two-three-four (even five!) bedrooms, spacious living rooms and terraces.
Many houses in Alanya still do not have heating, but even if there is one, it is better to choose a sunny apartment. Objects oriented to the north usually cost a little cheaper, but I do not recommend saving on this. After all, you will live there all year round, and it is important that the winter months are also comfortable.
But the proximity to the sea, judging by the experience of our clients, is not so important, when people move to Turkey for permanent residence. This is just the moment where you can save money. Choose an apartment in a couple of kilometers from the beach, in an area with developed infrastructure, close to schools, retail outlets, public transport stops. After moving, you will most likely buy a car, find your favorite beach and go there without any problems. Usually, people choose the center of Alanya, as well as the Oba, Tosmur and Mahmutlar for permanent residence. But Avsallar is better suited for pensioners, who do not care about the proximity of kindergartens and schools.
.jpg)
Apartment prices in Turkey have increased significantly over the past year. The key reasons are the rise in the cost of building materials and the shortage of land plots. Now I recommend focusing on the amount of €100,000 and above, if we are talking about a good residential complex in an area with developed infrastructure (for example, Oba) and an apartment with two or more bedrooms. You can choose it cheaper, but there will be its own nuances such as the location is worse, the complex is simpler… In Mahmutlar, from €80,000, you can still find a good option.
The procedure for conducting real estate transactions in Turkey is very simple. You need only a foreign passport. We will take photos and make a tax number on the spot, we will also open a bank account, if necessary. We submit documents to the cadastral department and wait for them to call us for a deal. Previously, it took a week to do everything, now the terms for obtaining a tapu (certificate of ownership) have stretched to two-three weeks. The rules for obtaining an appraiser's certificate have changed. If we used to choose a specialist, now they are appointed by the cadastral department, and many experts are overloaded with orders. I hope that in the near future they will adjust the processes and the deadlines will be reduced again. You can not wait for the end of the transaction in Turkey. By proxy, our specialist will complete all the formalities.
You even need to fly to the deal. We have always conducted remote sales, and during the pandemic it became mainstream. In this case, you need to issue a power of attorney for a realtor at the Turkish consulate in your country. We will send the text of the power of attorney, as long as there is a photo on it, otherwise the Turkish cadastral office will not accept the paper.
Many sellers in Turkey do not want to indicate the full price of the property in the certificate of ownership, so as not to pay increased taxes, it is still common. If you are arriving, you can transfer part of the funds in cash. If the transaction is remote, this issue must be resolved somehow. Usually we find a way out, for example, we can accept payment in the country where the buyer lives.
On the Internet, you can find information that in order to conduct a transaction with a foreigner in Turkey, you must obtain a permit from the military department. This question is relevant only for those who choose real estate in a specific area or remote village in Turkey, where there have never been sales to foreigners before. The realtor submits an application and waits about two months for the permission to come. This does not apply to real estate in Alanya or Antalya for a long time, because there have already been precedents of transactions with foreign buyers in all regions. Over the past two years of work, we haven't faced that issue.
.jpg)
Owners of any real estate in Turkey have the right to obtain a residence permit, which will allow them to legally stay in the country all year round. Documents for a residence permit can be submitted immediately after receiving a tapu (certificate of ownership). On the website of the migration service, you need to fill out a questionnaire, you will be assigned a date, when you will need to bring a package of documents. In two or three weeks, the residence permit card (ikamet) will be sent to you by mail.
There are a couple of nuances that you should take care of in advance. First, the documents for children and the marriage certificate for the spouse must be apostilled. Otherwise, they will not accept it. Secondly, if the mother alone submits documents for children, she needs permission from the father to issue a residence permit. If the woman is not married, but the father is listed the birth certificate, she will have to get permission from him.
There is nothing complicated in obtaining a residence permit: the process is systematized, we will help you with the collection of documents. There were no cases of refusals to grant the status in my practice.
In Turkey, there is also a simple and popular program "Citizenship for the purchase of real estate", especially for those who move here for permanent residence. Foreigners who have invested an amount of $250,000 or more can apply and get a second passport in about six months. Here the main thing is to choose an object that meets the criteria: the price in tapu should not be underestimated, the money should be received officially through the bank, and the seller must be a Turkish citizen. And an encumbrance will be imposed on the object, the property cannot be sold for three years.
After the completion of the real estate transaction, it is necessary to solve several household issues. The first step is to connect electricity and water and issue a technical passport, if we are talking about a new building. In secondary housing, subscriber accounts are already issued, they must be transferred to the new owner. All these works are included in our standard mandatory package of services.
In Turkey, you can buy an apartment that is completely ready to move in with furniture and appliances. If you want to furnish your own accommodation, we will help you. We will take you shopping, tell you what manufacturers are here, advise you where it is cheaper, follow the delivery and installation. Our designer, if necessary, will prepare a project. In general, there is a huge selection of furniture and appliances in Turkey.
We also help to arrange children for schools: we advise what colleges there are, we arrange for the child to be taken. The education system here is very convenient for foreigners. With a residence permit, you can send your child to any state school for free. There are also private international colleges, which cost about 30,000 liras (€3,000) per year. There they study English in depth, numerous clubs are already included in the price, classes go until the evening (which is convenient for working parents).
.jpg)
To get a residence permit, you will need to apply for medical insurance, it is among a mandatory document. The problem is that such insurance covers only the most serious cases, like emergency hospitalization. If you just want to visit a doctor, you will have to pay for the visit in full. Therefore, we need to think about how to solve this issue. The first year you can use private insurance, and from the second year of residence with a residence permit, you will have the right to issue a state insurance policy. It costs about 900 liras per month, applies to the whole family, covers a lot of services in both private and public clinics.
A residence permit for real estate does not automatically give the right to work. In order for you to get an official job, you need to get a work visa, and it can only be done by an employer who is ready to accept you. According to the experience of our clients, people go one of three ways. First: they work remotely with foreign companies or receive passive income, in which case no permits are needed. Second: they open a business. In order to issue a work visa to a foreign director, the company must hire five Turkish citizens. And the third way is to look for an employer who will issue a visa, this is also a solvable task. Of course, there is an option to work informally, but we do not recommend it.
In Antalya and Alanya, in my experience, foreigners do not have difficulties with adaptation. These are secular regions of Turkey, an international community has been formed here for a long time, the locals are used to people from different countries living next to them. And most importantly, hospitality is in their blood. If you approach a Turk with a smile, ask how they are doing, they will do everything possible to help you.
Kızlarpınarı mah. Hacikadiroglu sok.Asta Residance apt. no 9A, 07400 Alanya/Antalya
