The Real estate investment in Turkey is considered among the safest investments in the world, Turkey is a suitable environment for investments, as it has an advanced infrastructure and a great geographic location, as a result of these features, investors has become a target for scammers and fraudsters trying to find many ways to scam investors especially when purchasing real estate in Turkey, which can create legal and financial problems to the investors.
What is Real Estate Fraud?
It is a set of illegal methods used by scammers to make the investor or the real estate owner fall in their fraud trap, these frauds occur due to the investor’s lack of information in the Turkish real estate market, and the real estate prices which makes the investor susceptible to fraud, while real estate fraud has become obvious after the spread of internet marketing and property sales, therefore, the buyer should be fully aware of the identity of the person they’re dealing with during purchasing a property in Turkey.
Methods of Real Estate Fraud in Turkey:
1. Impersonating the property owner:
And it is by falsifying documents and papers that a person is the owner of the property, taking advantage of the property owner’s preoccupation or travel, and perhaps in agreement with him, so it is important to confirm the identity of the property owner and his personal data, and we recommend the use of a real estate company licensed to operate in Turkey in order to protect the rights of the investor.
2. Asking for unreasonable prices:
Which considered among the red flags for the buyer which will require them to research deeply when purchasing a property in Turkey, which would allow them to find the true value of a property depending on the location, size, and view.
3. Selling properties on the plan:
Some people prefer to purchase properties in Turkey on the plan, the reason for that that its cheaper than ready properties, and it has some special discounts but it is also used as a fraud method, as it is possible that the construction will take place in a way that does not conform to the specifications presented on the plan and what was agreed upon, so we advise the investor or buyer to choose reliable construction companies affiliated with the Turkish government when buying a property in Turkey.
4. Selling a property as it is suitable for Turkish citizenship:
After the Turkish government gave the chance to foreigners to obtain Turkish citizenship through Real estate ownership in Turkey, the demand for buying real estate in Turkey has increased dramatically, in accordance with the conditions set by the Turkish government, which is that the price of the property should be $400,000 as a minimum, but the real estate fraudster is manipulating the real price of the property and trying to convince the investor that it is suitable for Turkish citizenship, so the title deed must be ready and the price paid What is registered on the title deed paper is identical to the price mentioned in the Real Estate Evaluationas it is not possible to grant Turkish citizenship by purchasing a property for less than the required limit.
5. Earning a large investment return:
The purpose of real estate investment in Turkey is earn the highest rate of return and profit, and through that, the investor can be deceived with good real estate purchase opportunities showing that this property offers high profit return, this number is high and unreasonable, as according to the indicators, the annual profit rate varies between 10% and 20% at most.
6. Selling a seized or mortgaged property:
This is a method of real estate fraud in which the investor is implicated in a property that has legal problems and reservation signs, and in this case the sale does not take place, as it is better to ensure the legal status of the property and that its record is free of all mortgages and legal problems, and make sure that the title deed is clear so that the buyer is safe and away from real estate fraud.
How do I Avoid Real Estate Fraud in Turkey?
1. Full knowledge and research of Turkish real estate market and real estate investment laws.
2. Verifying the identity of the real estate agent and their official papers.
3. Vising the property in person to make sure that its features is the same as shown earlier.
4. Verifying that the property number matches its Title Deed paper.
5. Staying way from unreasonable offers, like offering a property with a price less than its real price or higher.
6. Do not share personal information with untrusted entities like bank details or identification documents.
7. Getting help from a real estate company like Horizon Turk Real Estate, as it has plenty of information related to real estate market in Turkey, it also has an advisory and legal team with extensive experience that helps the investor to choose the right property and guides him to the best option.
How do I deal with the situation if I am exposed to real estate fraud?
In case you have encountered real estate fraud, you should first get a trusted and specialized lawyer with long experience in order to work on your fraud case, and provide him with all the information and false documents that the investor has signed on to prove the fraud, where resorting to the judiciary and the law is the best solution.
