Buying Property for Turkish Citizenship: What to Check Before You Pay

Two ways to buy: from a developer or on the resale market

In Türkiye you buy a home either new from a developer – completed or off-plan – or second-hand from an individual owner. Both can be used for citizenship if the official valuation is at least USD 400,000, the payment goes through Turkish banks and the property is held for three years. The points to watch are different in each case.

1. Resale homes: the price declared on the title deed

Until recently it was common for sellers to declare a lower price on the title deed (tapu) than the price actually paid. The reasons are costs. Title deed fees are calculated on the declared value, and an individual who sells a property within five years of buying it pays income tax on the gain, at progressive rates that reach up to 40%.

For a citizenship buyer the declared price matters. Your file relies on the official valuation and on bank transfers that match the transaction. A deed that shows less than you paid, or payments that do not match, can create problems in the application and again when you sell.

What to do: insist that the full price is declared, pay only by bank transfer, and ask your lawyer to check the deed, the valuation report and the seller's ownership history before any payment.

2. Developers: declared prices and foreigner pricing

Developers pay corporate tax on their profits, and some prefer not to declare the full sale price for the same reason. The same checks apply: the declared price, the valuation and the bank transfers should all match.

The second point is price. Many projects sell to foreign buyers through international agencies that are paid substantial commissions, and those commissions are built into the price. As a result, in some projects a foreign buyer pays 15–20% more than a Turkish buyer for a comparable unit. Comparing prices on local Turkish portals and asking for the developer's own price list helps.

3. Off-plan purchases: paying before delivery

An off-plan home in Türkiye is usually paid for – in full or in instalments – before the building is finished, and there is no mandatory escrow or completion guarantee that protects the buyer. Most projects are delivered. Still, there have been cases, some reported in the press, of buyers who paid and could not obtain their title deed, either because of fraud or because the developer could not complete the project.

What to do: check the developer's track record and finished projects, make sure your right to the unit is registered, link payments to construction progress, and have an independent lawyer review the contract.

4. Valuation: the value that counts

For citizenship, what counts is the value in a report prepared by an appraiser licensed by the Capital Markets Board (CMB/SPK), not the price you agree. If you pay more than the property is worth, the difference is lost when you sell. Make the purchase conditional on a valuation of at least USD 400,000. Read our checklist after the 2026 cancellations.

5. After three years: selling the property

Citizenship requires you to keep the property for three years. When you want to sell, the work starts again: you need to find a buyer, usually through an agent, and hire a lawyer again – often from abroad, with a new power of attorney. You also need to make sure that you actually receive the money: as with the purchase, there is no escrow system, so the timing of payment and title transfer has to be organised carefully.

Then there is tax. An individual who sells a property within five years of buying it must declare the gain and pay income tax on it, at progressive rates of up to 40%. A sale in year four is still inside that five-year window. Ask your lawyer and an accountant to calculate the tax before you agree a price.

With the fund route, exit works differently: after the holding period you redeem your units by giving notice under the procedure in the fund's issuance document, published on KAP, and the money is paid to your account. Under current rules, individual investors who have held fund units for more than two years pay no withholding tax on the gain.

How a regulated real estate fund handles the same risks

Real estate investment funds (GYF) and real estate project funds (PGYF) are supervised by the Capital Markets Board. When a fund buys or sells a property, the process works differently:

• Payment after the transfer. The fund pays the seller only after the title deed has been transferred to the fund, and the payment goes through Takasbank, Türkiye's central clearing and custody institution.
• Officials at the land registry. Takasbank officials and the management company's authorised officers attend every title deed transfer.
• Prices based on licensed valuations. Properties are valued carefully by CMB-licensed appraisers. A fund does not pay above the appraised value, and when it sells it does not sell below the value recorded in the fund – the fund is not allowed to take a loss on a sale.
• The fund does not build; it has others build. In project funds, construction is contracted out and the fund protects itself with guarantees such as bank letters of guarantee from the contractor.
• Full declaration and audit. Every transaction is recorded at its real value, audited and reported under capital markets rules.

These rules exist to protect the fund's investors. A buyer who purchases a property from a fund benefits from the same discipline: the price is backed by a licensed valuation, the title transfer is supervised, and there is no agency commission hidden in the price. See how buying a property from a regulated fund works.

Our advice to property buyers

Property is a sound route to Turkish citizenship when the transaction is clean. We recommend that you:

• buy from a seller whose ownership and track record you can verify;
• work with an independent lawyer, not one chosen by the seller or the agent;
• consider buying from an institutional seller, such as properties owned by regulated funds;
• or consider the fund route: USD 500,000 in fund units, held for three years, with no property to manage. How the fund route works.

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to buy property in Türkiye for citizenship?

Yes, when the transaction is clean: the full price is declared on the title deed, all payments go through banks, the licensed valuation is at least USD 400,000 and an independent lawyer checks the seller, the deed and the contract before you pay.

Why do foreign buyers sometimes pay more for the same property in Türkiye?

Many projects sell to foreigners through international agencies that are paid high commissions, which are built into the price. In some projects the difference between a foreign and a local buyer can reach 15–20%.

How is buying a property from a fund different?

A regulated fund buys and sells only on the basis of a CMB-licensed valuation, carries out title transfers with Takasbank and management company officials present at the land registry, and charges no agency commission. When a fund buys, it pays the seller through Takasbank only after the title deed has been transferred.

What happens when I sell my citizenship property after three years?

You need to find a buyer, usually hire a lawyer again, make sure the sale price reaches your account safely and declare the gain. If you sell within five years of buying, income tax on the gain applies at progressive rates of up to 40%.

This article is general information, not legal or investment advice. Eligibility for citizenship is decided by the Turkish authorities.