Turkish Real estate agents

On one of my very first trips to Turkey in which we were visiting developers and local builders, we were acutely aware of how many people are ‘acting Turkish real estate agents’.

Wherever you go, the minute property is mentioned, someone is picking up the phone to call their ‘friend’ who has some ‘cheap property for sale’, or closing their own business to escort you to some prime investment they know of. With all the recent interest from overseas buyers, suddenly almost everyone has become a Turkish estate agent.

One evening about 10.30pm we popped into a shoe shop in Alanya’s old town centre. The friendly sales guy asked if we were on holiday and we mentioned that we were over looking at property. Within 2 seconds he was on the phone to his sister in law who was at the shop within 5 minutes. She was a real estate agent who had some local bargains for sale. The Turkish people are very helpful, but many may find them a little pushy – we managed to avoid viewing property by telling her we were heading down the coast in the morning, but would contact her on our return, which we never did.

Property in Kas was from the carpet seller, who was willing to shut shop to introduce us to his uncle who sold property. In Kemer it was the travel agent, in Calis it was the jeweller… and so on. Anyone, no matter which resort you visit, will market property to foreigners. Be warned, you will not avoid agents fees by buying through a friend of a friend or relative, so it is advisable to steer clear of these people despite their insistence that they can help. Using a legitimate Turkish real estate agent or visiting Turkey on a pre-arranged viewing trip is essential to avoid being given any false information or any problems concerning legalities.

In Turkey, you can do business virtually any time of day or night and there were times during that trip where we were viewing property up until midnight. Both developers and Turkish real estate agents work long hours, in fact one night we were with a lawyer until 3am discussing the finalising of contracts on a purchase. Having lived for 6 years in Spain where it is difficult to get anything done with the limited opening hours this was a welcome relief, but the downside is that you are not safe from the carpets sellers or jewellers at any time of day or night. We found the best way to avoid having to fend them off was to just tell anyone who asked that we were purely on vacation, and would advise anyone out there looking for property to do the same!

See Also: Advice on choosing the best Estate Agents in Turkey >>

Article - Turkish Real Estate Agents