Turkey is a beautiful country with a mild climate, a high standard of living, and developed infrastructure. The "Citizenship for Investment" program has been in operation since 2017, but in the last few months, there has been a particular demand for obtaining Turkish passports. The real estate market in Turkey is quite stable, not only for the passport program but also for resort cities, where investors are offered reliable ways to obtain citizenship. Today, Andrey Boyko, the founder and head of the company GARANT.IN - a licensed agency for investment immigration, talks about the real estate market in Turkey and its prospects.
- Andrey, please tell us why Turkey is interesting to investors?
Good question. In reality, the Turkish passport does not imply visa-free travel either with the European Union, the United Kingdom, or China, compared, for example, to Grenada.
Turkey has its advantages:
- It's a 100% clear program and understandable investment. Turkey is "native", everyone knows it well, and they fly there at least once a year.
- The total amount of investment is the purchase of real estate (sufficiently liquid), which must be held for 3 years. Essentially, you are simply buying a house by the sea and additionally obtaining a passport. The downside, and for some it is significant, is that previously you had to buy real estate for $250,000 to obtain citizenship. Now the amount has been raised to $400,000.
- The investor effectively gains access to conducting business in Europe and other regions closed to Russians. The applicant receives a passport, address, residence confirmation, tax ID, bank account - everything that any European bank requires when opening an account, and in some cases, when registering a company.
Turkish passport issuance
- How long does it take to get a passport?
The processing time will take from 4 to 6 months.
- Do clients sometimes not stop at Turkey?
Previously, there was no such trend, only isolated cases. In the last 2 months, we have observed such a situation. Approximately half of the "old" clients who previously received Turkish passports are additionally interested in a second European program - France or Portugal. In fact, with a Turkish passport, you can obtain any European residency. Often clients immediately state that after the Turkish one, they will apply for a European residency. About 4-5% later apply for an American business visa E2.
- How many clients apply for documents in Turkey?
About 10-15 clients per month, this is an average indicator.
- Let's delve deeper into the topic of real estate. How does the selection process go?
We have realtors working in every region. They will meet, drive, and show everything. The client can familiarize themselves with various options via WhatsApp. Many deals are concluded remotely. Especially before the price increase, everyone rushed to make it in time and not be late. Often everything goes like this - the client marks the property they like, we go to the location and show it online. If we can make a video, we do - some find it even more convenient.
Turkey is a country to invest in
- Is remote real estate safe?
We are located in Moscow, we build trusting and friendly relationships with clients, and they often bring their friends and colleagues to us. Such a level of trust is very valuable, so any real estate is selected with care. We only cooperate with verified developers, try to avoid cash deals. Honesty is always appreciated and pays off. In my opinion, it is always more rational to work with a Russian company than a local one. I don't mean myself. Any company with Russian roots is much better than a local one in any country. Clients often think that by working with a Turkish company, the price will be lower, but that's not the case. The price is the same, plus it's difficult to solve a problem if it arises. As an example, I'll give my personal case - a longtime client for whom we obtained a residence permit in Portugal 4 years ago. Recently, he started working with a Turkish company regarding citizenship. Naturally, when it came to collecting documents in Russia, he was simply handed a list of documents, and at some point, they even stopped answering questions. That's it! As a result, we had to completely collect his case, and the customer had to incur additional expenses.
- What is the rental yield? By regions?
For Turkey, it's on average 5%.
- Who rents out the property?
Property management is handled by a property management company. Any brokerage office can take property management at a rate of 15-20%, depending on the type of lease.
- What are the taxes in Turkey?
Currently, we always state - 4% of the cadastral value, which is real and with a margin. Additionally - registration fees of $50-35-15. Previously, it was like this: 2% was paid by the buyer and 2% by the seller, and to this day, this practice is still common in some parts of Turkey. In Istanbul, there is sometimes a ratio of 3:1, where 1% is paid by the developer and 3% by the buyer. It's better to rely on 4%.
- To obtain a passport, it is necessary to purchase real estate worth $400,000 at the cadastral value. Please tell us how this works?
Yes, this is another Turkish feature. Let's put it in numbers. For example, a client wants to obtain Turkish citizenship and decides to buy a villa in Alanya for this purpose. Its market price, for example, is $571,000, but according to the cadastral value, it will be $400,000. There is such a moment in resort cities. For most of our developers in Istanbul, the real value corresponds to the cadastral value by 100%. In Alanya, Antalya, Fethiye, Mersin, it's 70% - this is already a good indicator, but more often it's 50%. We try to select properties with minimal difference, but the market is the market. Sometimes we have to reject some options. The main thing is to meet the client's request. If we look at the regions, the cadastral value varies:
- Alanya - 30-60%
- Antalya - 40-70%
- Mersin - 30-50%
- Fethiye - 30-50%
- Istanbul - 90-100%
- What interesting projects are currently underway?
For example, in Antalya, there is a massive project underway to demolish not just one building, but an entire huge old district. The scale is so large that the project will be considered at the highest levels, up to coordination with President Erdogan. Russians are involved in this project - very large investors, also at a political level. We expect the order to be restored in about 5 years.
- Which cities are preferable for Russians?
Property purchases can be roughly divided into two directions. Istanbul itself is an attractive city, with a great potential for capitalization, especially in new buildings - we have successful experience in this matter and it's worth discussing separately. The capital. The cadastral value is in a 1:1 ratio. Real estate is predictably increasing in price, but Istanbul is purely an investment story. As a rule, the client does not plan to use the purchased real estate themselves but simply to rent it out. Often they strive to buy at the construction stage to then earn additional margin after construction. In Turkey, this is still quite real. If we rely on statistics, real estate in resort cities such as Alanya, Antalya, is more popular. Here, the client has a different calculation - a passport plus their own little house by the sea. Frankly, we sell much more of this type of real estate. It also rents out well, also increases in price, but often the client plans to visit it several times a year themselves. The main segment is villas from $600,000.
- Where is the most favorable ecology in Turkey?
You know, everyone has their own tastes and preferences: someone likes pine trees, someone likes sand. Fethiye, Bodrum, Alanya - mountain air, forests of various types, rich flora, clean beaches.
- What about opening a bank account?
There are absolutely no problems at all. You get your passport and immediately open an account within 1 working day.
- What is the current situation with land plots in Turkey?
Is it true that not only demand but also prices are rising? To some extent, this is true. After the earthquakes that rocked the southeastern part of the country, there is significant excitement in remote areas from the epicenter. Not only those who want to obtain Turkish citizenship but also local residents are looking for a worthy alternative in case the elements strike again in densely populated regions.
For example, demand for plots in Thrace has increased by 200%! However, this is not about buying acres and hectares. People are interested in small plots where they can place modular containers, trailers, or prefabricated houses in case of a repeat earthquake. And if previously such plots were considered as an investment, today they are seen as a "backup airfield". Some entrepreneurs are already prepared to move production facilities to these areas to minimize the damage from a possible disaster.
Since the excitement is high, scammers have become more active in the market. Be attentive and work only with verified agencies.
