Some cultural differences for foreign vendors of Turkish property:

1)In Turkey, it is the norm for vendors to set the price of their property for sale and NOT the estate agency.
2)There is no such thing as a street value. Value is in the eye of the buyer. Next door may have sold at x amount more or less than you are asking for your property.
3)Ground floor properties are generally considered less desirable than middle floor properties, by Turkish property buyers and therefore are usually slightly cheaper than middle floor properties.
4)Multiple agency is an option in Turkey.
5)Turkish buyers tend to be impatient. Once they want to buy, they want to complete – straight away. Foreign vendors are used to completions taking weeks / months in their home countries but in fact, in most cases in Turkey, a buyer will be ready to complete within days; so foreign vendors need to think about the practicalities of this.

If you are thinking to sell your property in Didim, the first thing you need to decide is who you are aiming to sell at and then you should price accordingly.

There are three distinct groups of buyers, at present:
1)Group 1 - Turkish property investors – the greatest purchasers of property, at present, who offer immediate cash for a next day completion, usually at below market prices. If you are aiming to sell quickly to this target group, please let us know and we will take our investors to your property and ask them to give you an offer.
2)Group 2 - The open market – Turkish and foreign buyers who are looking for a fair / low priced property – often these buyers take up to 6 weeks to complete their purchase.
3)Group 3 - The foreign first time buyers – currently the smallest group of buyers. You are reliant on this group of people being poorly researched and being prepared to pay that little bit extra than for competing cheaper similar properties because of x,y,z factor that your property may have.

Please note that Group 3, foreign buyers is currently the smallest group BUT this group is expected to grow significantly in the next couple of years as a result of the 2012 changes in Turkish property law, enabling more foreign nationals to buy property in Turkey.

When pricing your property you should take into account the following factors:

1)How much you ‘need' to sell. If you are in no hurry, then we would recommend that you aim at groups 2 and 3. If you are extremely motivated to sell, we would suggest that you listen to what some of the Turkish Property Investors have to offer for your property and then decide on your next move from there.
2)Be flexible on price. Whatever you price your property at, any buyer will put in a lower offer so do not price at your bottom offer UNLESS you are selling cheap and the price is stated as ‘non negotiable'.
3)Appreciate that most properties will be bought in Turkish Lira, regardless of which currency you paid for your property with. If your home currency is strong against the Turkish Lira then you will get less money for your property in your home currency. If your home currency is weak against the Turkish Lira then you may do well out of the currency exchange.
4)Returning to being flexible... if you want to deposit the proceeds from the sale of your property in a high interest bank account in Turkey, you can earn  between 8% and 11% interest on the funds. ... so even if you sell slightly below what you want to sell at, you can still make money on your money.
5)It has to be said that the majority of buyer interest is for the cheaper end of the market – apartments at £35,000 and below. Generally speaking, the higher price tag properties take longer to sell.
6)Be realistic. Did you pay too much for your property when you bought it? If you bought from an un-reputable company or you bought during the peak price times then this may well be the case and if so and you are not prepared to sell your property for less than what you paid for it, then maybe  2013  isn't the best year to be selling, unless your property is totally unique and you think price is irrelevant.
7)The market is unpredictable and any vendor putting a property onto the open market in  2013 should be prepared for a long / uncertain wait. In 2012 / 2013, we have sold a few properties in less than a day and some of our other sales have been for properties on the market for almost 2 years.

If you would like Didim Sun Properties to market your property for you, we have the following terms:

DSP will only advertise re-sale properties that meet the following criteria:
-in sought-after location
-attractively priced OR without any competition
-properties with deeds and habitation licence (evidence required)
-where the deeds are debt-free
-we need independent access to the property, in the absence of the vendor.

We would like to put up a ‘for sale' sign on your property BUT we will not place a DSP sign next to any other company sign so this is best used for sole agency properties or when DSP is the preferred agency of multiple agencies.

If you have already placed the property for sale with another company(ies), we would like to know who just so that we can keep an eye on their pricing.

We work on a 'no sale no fee' basis

All advertising by DSP is at zero cost to the vendor.

Sales commission:

Commission structure should be chosen before the property is advertised:
Option 1 - 3% commission upon sale or
Option 2 - vendor states a net price and DSP tries to sell at whatever is possible above that price - sometimes working out at around 3% - 5% or sometimes lower.

Please note that Didim Sun Properties also receives 3% commission from the buyer. It is standard practice in Turkey for buyer and seller to pay 3% sales commission (different companies will charge different commission rates).

Shop around for agencies to sell your property, if you plan to use multiple agencies. Charges vary from 3% - 15%. Levels of service vary equally.

Advertising:

Your property will be advertised on our company website and with our global advertising partners.
We choose the right to select some properties for enhanced advertising (at zero cost to the vendor).
We reserve the right to withdraw adverts from any specific advertiser if DSP no longer wishes to use them.
DSP cannot be held responsible for any errors made by advertisers.
Please be assured that the correct information will be shared with the clients making enquiries.

Selling privately:

If you find your own buyer privately, within 8 weeks of the property going onto the market, we would expect a contribution of £200 towards our time and advertising costs as this is the period when most money is spent on advertising. If you sell the property privately, after 8 weeks of placing the property into DSP's portfolio, we do not expect any charge.

Sometimes, vendors find their own buyer or a friend matches a buyer and seller. Usually in these cases, both buyer and seller require an agency to carry out the conveyance procedures. DSP will carry out this service for the buyer and seller, if requested. The charge will be 3% of the sales price and this should be paid by the buyer or the buyer and seller share the cost, at the discretion of the seller. It is customary for the buyer to pay this 3% real estate commission.

In the case of a sale going through:

The most stress-free way to sell your Turkish property is either:
1)to be here in person or
2)to have a local power of attorney and your own Turkish bank account.

If required, DSP will take a power of attorney to sell your property, if you prefer NOT to travel to Turkey to transfer the deeds. This service costs £250 for DSP's involvement plus the expenses of creating the power of attorney (can be done in Turkey or abroad) plus the cost of any bank transfer charges, if applicable.

You may also give the power of attorney authority to a solicitor or relative. Please note that DSP will not work with any other third parties selling on the vendor's behalf (except a relative or solicitor) .

PLEASE NOTE: Didim Sun Properties cannot be held responsible if your chosen POA does not fulfil their role appropriately - so please choose wisely.

Please be aware that should the vendor give a power of attorney to any person to sell their property, then that individual will receive the funds for the house so the vendor must only choose an individual that they trust implicitly.

If you are able to travel to Turkey to transfer the deeds, we will advise you when the deeds are ready to transfer (usually within a day for a Turkish buyer and 6-8 weeks later for a foreign buyer) and when you will be required to be present in Turkey. Please bear in mind that most Turkish buyers are impatient and they will prefer to buy a property where the deeds can be transferred straight away; so if you are thinking to sell via a power of attorney, please start to prepare your paperwork straight away.

DSP can advise on what is required to create a power of attorney.

What happens in the case of an offer on the property:

DSP will liaise between vendor and buyer to conduct the deeds transfer and to ensure that the vendor receives first a deposit on the property sale and then the balance of the funds.

If there are small ‘debts' on the property (eg Council Tax and utility bills), these will be identified and stated to the vendor BEFORE the deeds can be transferred. IF the vendor is present or not, DSP will facilitate payment, at no charge for these services, in order that the sale can proceed.

After the deeds are transferred to the new owner, DSP will remove the vendors from the liability of Council Tax and utilities with the appropriate authorities and if DSP are also acting for the buyers, their names will be attributed to these financial responsibilities.

Professional advice on taxes is available if applicable (capital gains tax, inheritance taxes).

Bank accounts can be opened if not already done (assuming that the vendor is present).

Any commissions and sums due to DSP should be paid by the day of deeds transfer (job completion). Receipts can be provided, if the vendor would like a receipt for the sales commission paid to DSP.

If I come in person to sell, how long do I need to be in Turkey?

If you come to complete your sale and that alone, please allow 2 / 3 full working days. In reality, completion is usually done within one working day but we cannot control the workload of the Land Registry Office so please allow slightly extra time.

If your buyer is buying using a mortgage, (DSP will advise you of this at the time that the sale is agreed) you may need up to 6 working days (just in case) as banks do not always work as fast as we would like them to.

Some vendors combine their business with a holiday but if you choose this, please commit 2 or 3 days to working with DSP, running around to all of the authorities to finalise your sale. Max from DSP will co-ordinate all of this for you. On a straight-forward sale, one full business day is all that is required but not all sale / purchases are straight-forward. DSP will do all preparatory work in the run-up to completion before the vendor arrives in Tuırkey in order to minmise the vendors time commitment.

DSP will commit to completing the work on pre-agreed days with yourself, so that the remainder of your time here can be holiday.

If you would like to appoint Didim Sun Properties as your real estate agent:

Please first check that your propery meets our terms (above) and then either come into the office to discuss with us or telephone to discuss. Thank you.

If you have any questions not covered above, please let us know via email and we will endeavour to answer you within 48 hours.

If you would like the details about creating a power of attorney documentation in the UK, please let us know and we will send you the information.