Many Arab and foreign investors are interested in purchasing a property in Turkey for many reasons related to investment in addition to its strategic location and moderate climate and the popularity among tourists in Turkey, and benefiting from the advantages of the Turkish citizenship when purchasing a property, but before making the decision of real estate ownership, the investor should be aware of all legal matters especially the title deed (tapu) and the process of obtaining it.
- The Concept of the Title Deed in Turkey:
Title deed in Turkey is the most important official document that proves that the owner is the only person that have the right to dispose of the property, from investment to rental or sale, title deed is also defined that it is the document that defines the ownership right to the owner and register it to the mentioned person, the title deed also includes information about the property from location, and real estate survey numbers, and this document is listed in the Real Estate Registry Directorate of the Ministry of Environment, and it is important to mention that the Turkish law does not allow giving the title deed to other than the property owner, as the tenant or the mortgagee is not entitled to own the real estate title deed or the tapu.
- Information Included Within the Title Deed or the Tapu Document in Turkey:
- A picture of the title deed owner.
- Detailed address (including the state, area, street, building number, and the floor number).
- Land registry number in which the building is built upon in Turkey.
- Type of the land that the building is built upon, is it compatible or not, where the municipality in Turkey adopts certain conditions for construction.
What are the Types of Title Deed in Turkey?
- Blue Title Deed in Turkey (Agricultural Title Deed):
This document is special to agricultural title deeds like farms, grove, lands special to agricultural or construction, as the type of the document that the title deed owner have, or the land owner, is the mechanism that determines the type of investment in it, as the blue title deed has two types:
- Buildable land title deed (ARSA):
Here, the land owner investor is entitled to farm or build after obtaining a special permission from the municipality of the region in which the land is located. - Agricultural land title deed (TARLA):
Here, the investor is entitled to build upon the land but in a percentage that does not exceed 15% from the total land size, and they are entitled to practice any type of investment like breeding poultry and livestock to all other agricultural projects.
- Red Title Deed in Turkey (Real estate tapu):
It is a document or a title deed special to residential real estate with all its types from apartments to villas, shops, or commercial properties, the red title deed consists of three types:
1. Real estate easement document:
It is a title deed document that register each part of the property individually, so that the project is consistent with the construction mechanism on a plot of land allocated after obtaining approval for construction, after that the project is divided into individual parts like apartments within a building, in this type of documents, the property type is mentioned as a buildable or agricultural land in order to issue a residential approval after finishing the construction of the real estate.
2. Floor easement document:
It is one of the tapu documents in Turkey, floor easement document is necessary to obtain the ownership document to protect the owner’s rights, where registering the floor ownership is obtained in order to clarify that the owner has the ownership right in a certain floor within a building, and that the building is totally constructed according to the building law in Turkey and the title deed legislations.
3. Full title deed:
It is a document that registers properties’ ownership after fully finishing construction, permission s obtained using each part of the individual parts separately, title deed documents and easement documents differs from agricultural lands and buildable lands in terms of:
- The information contained therein.
- Apartment number or individual section number.
- Location within the building and the equity of the land in which it is built upon.
- What is the Shared Commercial Title Deed?
It is a new procedure where the property is registered for more than one person at the same time, it is considered one of the new investment applications in the real estate investment market, as more than one person can own the same property, and the property is registered with equal or different equities between the partners in the real estate registry records.
- What is a Commercial Real Estate Title Deed?
It is a tool and an application suitable in case the property is meant for business and commercial activities like: offices, shops, warehouses, retail stores, and other properties with commercial uses, but some units are transferred to become a startup commercial company, therefore, it is important to registered the purpose of the property usage on the real estate title deed.
- Required Documents to Extract the Title Deed or Tapu in Turkey:
- Personal ID of the property buyer.
- Two biometric pictures of the property buyer.
- Personal picture of the seller.
- Real estate registry record of the property.
- Earthquake insurance document in Turkey.
- Real estate evaluation document.
- A common allowance document extracted from the municipality in which the property is located.
What are the Fees of the Title Deed or Tapu in Turkey?
Fees amount is 4% of the value of the property in Turkey, , and according to the commercial agreement between the seller and the buyer it is divided in half between them when purchasing the property.
Keywords:
Turkish Citizenship
Real estate investment in Turkey
Real estate ownership
