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A Turkish bank mortgage
Some banks in Turkey lend to foreign buyers on their own criteria. Expect to evidence your income, to have the property valued, and to see the loan registered against the tapu as a charge.
Property in Turkey · Mortgages and payment plans
Mortgages and payment plans in Turkey
There are three ways foreign buyers actually pay for property here, and each one puts the risk in a different place.
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About this
Paying for property in Turkey: mortgages, instalments and finance from home
Borrowing from a Turkish bank
A number of Turkish banks lend to foreign buyers, each on its own criteria and each free to change them. A buyer should expect to be asked for evidence of income, identification, a Turkish tax number and a local account, and for the bank to commission its own valuation of the property, which is separate from the valuation report already required for a sale to a foreign national. If the application succeeds, the loan is registered as a charge against the tapu at the Land Registry. Interest rates, the maximum proportion of the price a lender will advance, the length of term available and which nationalities and property types are eligible differ from bank to bank and shift over time, so every one of those figures has to come from the lender directly.
A mortgage is visible on the title, in both directions
Because a Turkish mortgage is registered as an encumbrance on the tapu, it shows up on a land registry search. That has an obvious consequence for anyone borrowing, and a less obvious one for everyone else: the property you are buying may already carry a charge from the seller's own borrowing, and a registry check on the specific plot is what reveals it. Any existing mortgage has to be dealt with before or at the transfer, and how that is handled belongs in the contract rather than in a reassurance. The check costs almost nothing, happens before any reservation payment, and is the same search that confirms the plot is free of other restrictions.
Developer instalments on new build
Payment plans are very common on Turkish new build, and the usual shape is a deposit followed by instalments through the construction period, sometimes with a balance due on completion. The structure matters more than the headline. Instalments tied to construction milestones are stronger than instalments tied only to the calendar, because they connect your money to visible progress. The contract should also say what happens if delivery runs late and attach a consequence to it, what happens if you cannot continue paying, and whether title passes at the outset as kat irtifaki, the construction servitude, or only at handover. Payments go to the party named in the contract, never to an individual's personal account. All of it belongs in writing, in a language you read.
Raising the money at home instead
Plenty of foreign buyers never borrow in Turkey at all. They release equity from a property at home or take a loan in their own country, then buy here outright, which makes the purchase itself simple and the terms easy to compare in a market they already understand. The point to be clear about is currency. Borrowing in one currency to hold an asset priced in another creates an exposure that exists whatever the property does, and it works both ways: a move can make the loan look cheap against the asset or expensive against it. That is a question for a regulated adviser in your own country, not for a property site, but it should be asked before the money is committed rather than after.
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Start here
Most people are choosing between three routes, not one.
A mortgage from a Turkish bank, an instalment plan from a developer, or money borrowed at home. They are not variations on the same thing: they differ in who holds the risk, what appears on the title deed, and what happens if something goes wrong halfway through.
Where to look
The three routes to paying for it
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A developer instalment plan
Standard on new build: a deposit, payments spread through construction and often a balance at handover. What the payments are tied to, and what the title says at each stage, is the whole question.
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Finance raised at home
Releasing equity or borrowing in your own country, then buying outright here. Terms are easier to compare, and the currency question moves to the front of the decision.
Before a reservation
A render sells a mood. A tapu tells you what you own.
We gather the facts behind a property first, then say plainly what holds up, what needs answering and what is simply unknown at this stage.
Title and rights
What the tapu says, which form of ownership it is, and whether the registry shows anything undisclosed.
The building
Construction date against the building code, whether the iskan is in place, and the state of the block.
The real cost
Service charge, utilities, property tax and insurance, written out as a yearly figure.
Getting out
Who the next buyer would be, and how long a sale in this district usually takes.
Mortgages and payment plansMortgages and payment plansGet the routes explained
Your shortlist
What we write down before you commit to a structure
The route you use decides which questions matter, and all of them are answerable on a specific property before any money moves. We set the answers out in writing rather than describing them on a call.
- Whether the property already carries a mortgage or other charge registered against its title
- What each instalment in a developer plan is tied to, and what the contract says if delivery is late
- What you own at every stage of a staged payment, and when the title actually changes hands
How we work
We would rather send four properties that fit than forty that do not.
The first conversation is about how the property will be used, not about what is available this week. Everything after that follows from the answer.
The brief
How many months a year you will be there, who else uses it, and what you will not compromise on.
The shortlist
A small number of properties in districts that match, with the trade-off in each spelled out.
The checks
Registry, permits, service charge history and the questions to put to the seller in writing.
The purchase
Tax number, bank account, valuation report and the Land Registry appointment, in order.
Checks before you buy
Eight things a property should survive
Title, permits, contract, building age, service charge, season, management and resale. We are not your lawyer; we make sure you arrive at one with the right questions.
The process
Four steps, and no rush at the start
- 01
Tell us the plan
Pick a messenger and leave a number. You may have a town in mind, or none at all.
- 02
A short conversation
Months of use, budget range, timing, and the things that would rule a property out.
- 03
The shortlist
A handful of options that fit, with what to compare and what to check on each.
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The next step
Viewings, questions to the seller, and the paperwork in the right order.
Questions worth asking out loud
A property worth buying can take an awkward question.
Why this district?
Demand, season length, what is open in winter and what is being built nearby.
What does a year cost?
Service charge, utilities, tax and insurance, before anyone talks about yield.
What if plans change?
Use, letting and resale are worth discussing before a deposit, not after.
Who is the next buyer?
A property local buyers also want is a property you can sell.
Read next
FAQ
Before the first conversation
Can a foreigner get a mortgage in Turkey?
Some Turkish banks do lend to foreign buyers, and each applies its own criteria. Expect to be asked for evidence of income, identification and a Turkish tax number, and for the bank to require its own valuation of the property. The loan is then registered as a charge against the tapu. Rates, the maximum share of the price a bank will lend, the length of the term and which nationalities and property types qualify all vary between lenders and change over time, so take them from the bank directly rather than from any article, including this one.
What should I check in a developer's payment plan?
Four things, all of which belong in the written contract rather than in conversation. What each payment is tied to, since instalments linked to construction milestones give you more protection than dates on a calendar alone. What happens if the building is delivered late, and what consequence attaches to that. What happens if you cannot continue paying, including whether anything already paid is recoverable. And what the title position is at each stage: whether a construction servitude, kat irtifaki, is registered in your name from the start, or whether nothing is transferred until completion.
Is it better to borrow in Turkey or at home?
That is a decision for you and, if the sums are meaningful, for a regulated adviser rather than a property website. What is worth understanding is the mechanism. Borrowing in the currency you earn in keeps the loan and your income in step, and leaves the property's value in another currency. Borrowing in one currency to hold an asset priced in another adds an exposure that has nothing to do with the property, and it moves in both directions: it can flatter the numbers as easily as it can hurt them.
Can a foreigner buy an apartment in Turkey?
Yes. Citizens of most countries can own residential property in Turkey in their own name. The limits are geographic rather than personal: purchases are restricted inside designated military and security zones, and there is a cap on the share of land in any one district that foreign nationals may hold. Both are checked before a reservation, not after.
Mortgages and payment plans
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