EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT A TURKISH TITLE DEED (TAPU)

All international standards share during the purchase of any new property, and a set of rules and documents stating that the ownership process is not complete without conducting or obtaining it. Among the most important of these documents is the title deed proving absolute ownership of the apartment, villa, shop, office, hotel, etc.

The names of this document differ from one country to another, and in Turkey, it is called "Tapu" and in the Turkish language, TAPU SENEDİ.

The title deed is the official document that proves the customer’s possession of the property after completing the purchase of a property in Turkey. It is not possible to recognize his own except through it, which reassures himself and avoids any legal problems that result from a lack of documentation and impede it if he wants to sell his property at a later time.

What is the title deed, and what does it include?

This document is extracted while buying a property in Turkey like purchasing an apartment for sale in Istanbul, Trabzon, Bursa, Antalya, or any other Turkish city from an office called the Land Registry Office. It is known in Turkey as the "Land Registry Department," where all the details of the property's data are recorded according to Its kind.

The Tabu consists of:

• The property's address
• Personal photo of the property owner
• The registration number of the plot of land on which the building is located.

The title deed also includes the total land area on which the residential project or any other type of property was built and the area of the property itself with the floor number and the building number.

One of the essential points that must be possessed in the title deed is its financial value, which is exclusively in Turkish lira. It is strictly forbidden to deal in foreign currency when buying and selling a property in Turkey.

The prices for buying a property in Turkey are obligatory based on the real estate evaluation conducted by government accredited persons or offices.

The title deed also contains data regarding the method of ownership of the property in Turkey, meaning if the property owner obtained it through inheritance or purchase from a previous owner or directly from construction companies, i.e., the buyer is the "first owner."

These data include a field in which information is provided about the property's previous owner, meaning the used stuff, "his identity, his nationality, and does he have a debt or a mortgage etc.."

The tabu mandatory states detailed information about the property's new owner, whether one or several people. In this document, "the name, the national number, the nationality, the determination of each owner's share in the event of collective ownership of the property. In addition, the title deed includes the registration data before and after the purchase and the stamp and signature of the person responsible for organizing and issuing this critical document.

What are the types of tapu in Turkey?

• Land title deeds

These bonds depend on making sure of the type of land, whether it is suitable for construction or not, and its legal status by reviewing the municipality. 

• Building and reconstruction title deed

This title deed is intended for construction as a complete unit, such as houses, apartments, villas, offices, etc.

• Commercial real estate registry

This document is devoted to real estate destined for trade, such as stores, offices, restaurants, stores, shops, and others, where the investor must register the purpose of using the property. 

• Agricultural title deed

It is also called the blue title deed. Every owner of a land plot allows its owner to exploit it in a project of agriculture or agricultural activity or animal husbandry gets it.

• Real estate easements

This document concerns real estate projects under construction of any kind provided that they have been approved and depends on the building's planning and division as each part obtains a remarkable easement document that clarifies its location and includes data on its details.

It should be noted that the easement deed ends after obtaining the housing approval, after which the title deed of full ownership of the property is granted.

• Share title deed

It is a bond that is offered for a limited period in which the owner has the right to sell, buy, lease his property, or even assign it.

Therefore, anyone wishing to buy or own a property in Turkey must review the Land Registry Department to ensure no violations, seizures, or foreclosure.

• Full title deed

The most important document that legally proves the investor's absolute ownership of the property and possesses several data that we have previously detailed in the above paragraph.

What are the documents required while registering the title deed in Turkey?

While buying apartments for sale in Turkey or buying real estate in Turkey, the investor must present both an identity card, meaning a passport, photographs, and the agency if he is unable to come to Turkey. In this case, he chooses an agent instead of him to complete the registration procedures for the title deed or tapu.

Regarding the fees related to the title deed's registration, while purchasing apartments for sale in Istanbul, they are calculated equally between the seller and the buyer. They are estimated at 4% of the property's total value. It should be noted that this value has been exempt from a decrease to 3% during the past year 2019. Additional fees are also added to provide the tapu registration service to buy real estate in Turkey or Istanbul apartments for sale.

Golden tips to avoid fraud in the title deed document?

• We must remember that the title deed document is the most important document that a foreign investor must obtain while buying apartments for sale in Turkey or any other real estate. Therefore, we had on the “Alhuda Real Estate Investment in Turkey” site to provide essential advice to our valued customers about this bond, which is as follows :
• The lack of the separate property number, the floor number, and the land share area, and being satisfied with stating that the land is suitable for construction only means that the property mentioned above has real estate easement records.
• Mentioning the serial number, area, and floor data only means that it is suitable for construction without obtaining the full title deed.
• Fill out the real estate gender field in the voucher and indicate its type “building, apartment, villa ..” which means that the title deed is complete.
• The title deed is granted exclusively to the property's real owner; other people who own other rights in the property, such as rent and mortgage, are not entitled to it.
• A single title deed is granted if more than one person owns the property, but clarifies each owner's share within the document data.
• Not mentioning the percentage of the person whose name is mentioned in the owner's column in the event of collective ownership of the property, it means that the actual owner is the one whose name is mentioned in the box only.
• The real estate partners system means that the owners equally own all real estate parts, as no single property is subject to division into parts.

We provided our readers with golden information on the title deed and the basic documents for buying real estate in Turkey. The professional team at Alhuda Real Estate Investment Company is committed to accompanying all clients wishing to buy a property in Turkey and to provide a set of advice to help the customer get the full title deed correctly. In this way, the owner can freely and comfortably exploit his property without fear of fraud or tampering with his future investment in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, the meeting point of the magic of the East and the modernity of the West, "Turkey".