The most important real estate fraud methods and appropriate solutions

The real estate market in Turkey is wide and divergent, and although there are laws that control any purchase of real estate in Turkey, fraud by some real estate sellers exists as is the case everywhere in the world, as some small sellers and even small companies seek to carry out sales where fraud and deception are involved. In this article, you will learn about the most prominent of these methods of real estate fraud and how to avoid them.

1- The Exaggeration in the price of the sold property

Although there is a real estate appraisal for any property being sold, and although this step must precede the purchase of the property, some property sellers may convince the buyer that the property they are selling is really worth the value they are asking for, and they use means to compare with similar properties, and They will try to convince you that the property sold is cheaper than others with the same specifications.

The solution is always by working with reliable real estate companies, asking for an evaluation of the property's price and checking it well.

2- Transferring ownership of a property different from the one you saw

One of the sellers may offer a certain property to you, and then when you transfer ownership in the Tapu Department, the seller will sell you another property, and since you are a foreigner, you may not check the details of the sale and the address of the property you are paying for, which means you buy another property, and after completing Transfer of ownership ,there is technically nothing you can do to reverse the process.

The solution is by checking the property that you saw, the address in detail must be written by you, the building number, the floor, and the number of the property itself. .It is essential when you are making real estate tours, that you have a pen and paper in which you can write at least notes and details of the properties you like and that you will focus on later.

Working with one of your attorneys may make sense, as the attorney checks the details of property  to ensure the integrity of the process.

3- Obtaining Turkish citizenship for an amount less than the official amount

The amount specified for obtaining Turkish citizenship according to Turkish laws is clear and specific, as the value of the sold property must not be less than 400,000 dollars according to the law issued in 2022, and you will always find someone who convinces you to buy a property with a much lower value, to obtain Turkish citizenship.

Even if you obtain a certain assessment with a value equal to the value of the property, the fraud against the Turkish government in this field may be detected later if not immediately, and this means the impossibility of obtaining Turkish citizenship due to the presence of such a crime in your record, and it may also mean withdrawing Turkish citizenship from you after you get it.

4- The fake rental guarantee trap

Usually some real estate owners, and unfortunately some of them are large construction or marketing companies, offer their properties for sale with a guarantee of renting it for a certain period of years, with an investment return that may reach 10% annually, and this rental guarantee is often for two or three years.

The return on investment through leasing usually ranges between 3-5% annually, and the other large numbers that are presented within the rental guarantees are in fact numbers that you may obtain, but after you have paid them within the price of the property during its purchase.

If you try to rent the same property whose rental guarantee has expired, you will find that it will not give you the same return at all, so you should pay attention to this information.

5- A contract of sale on unfair terms to you

The sales contract concluded between you and the seller will usually be in the Turkish language, because the confirmation of this sales contract will be with the Turkish notary, and usually when concluding the contract there must be a translator who will explain all the points in the contract to you, and this translator must be a sworn translator And if the translator exceeds any written clause in the contract, it may mean that you will not know what will apply to you, and you will be surprised later that whoever sold you the property will treat you differently from what was agreed upon, and you may not be able to object to that because you agreed to contract terms that you do not know Well.

The solution is to work with trustworthy companies that you know, or that people you trust know, and it is best in any case that a lawyer from your side accompanies you to check the terms of any contract with you, so that there are no unfair conditions against you, or out of the ordinary, or At the very least it will be ensured that you know, understand and agree to all the terms of the contract.

6- Selling under-construction properties belonging to weak companies

Not all construction companies are equal in Istanbul in terms of their ability to implement projects on time, and there are actually some projects that find their construction work paused completely for many reasons.

There are often problems in financing these projects or there are disputes among the partners of the project.

Some of these construction companies offer tempting sums of money to real estate brokers in order to bring those who buy their properties while they are on the chart, hoping to continue construction after collecting some money.

Your purchase of a property within a semi-suspended project, means that you are entering into a spiral of unknown, as you will not know when the property will be delivered in reality, and after payment, you are involved and have to wait most of the time.

Do not work with those who tempt you with discounts only without focusing on quality, and if your budget is low, try to focus on reliable companies so that you see the construction being done, check the delivery dates and ask about the project and the history of the construction company.

7- Not to return the agreed deposit amount

Returning the deposit amount paid is entirely up to the agreement between you and the seller, so what is done between you is what must be done.

Usually and logically, real estate prices increase with time, and the amount of the deposit is an amount that is paid to reserve the property pending the transfer of its price, or pending another condition. Usually, the down payment is part of the property price, but what if the landlord waits for you to pay the price of the property and then decides not to buy it? Does he have to return the deposit?

This is due to the agreement between you and the seller of the property. If you give the property’s owner the deposit in order to commit not to offer the property to anyone, and if you changed your decision about the purchase, this means that you prevented the seller from selling the property for the period that you made him wait for.

Try to have more than a verbal agreement between you and the seller of the property, and everything must be clear from the beginning, and in this agreement the time frame and responsibilities in case of delay from any party must be clarified.

The Turkish real estate market is like a sea, and in this sea you will find hundreds of ways to defraud, Glovision Real Estate team is familiar with these methods, and counter methods have been developed by our team, so that none of our clients is placed in any of these situations, and so that the preservation of On gratitude of customers at the best level.

Do you want a clean purchase of a property in Istanbul? You are just a call away from making it happen, reach out to our team and you will feel the difference.