Buying
Buying a home in Turkey without an estate agent
Turkish law splits the agent's fee between the two sides, so a buyer owes 2 percent plus VAT unless the contract says otherwise.
English
Where private sellers actually list in Turkey
Each of these is a separate pool. A saved search on one tells you nothing about the others, so set up alerts on every one you intend to use.
- Anyone.com Listed by the owner
Homes listed by their owners, so there is no emlakçı fee on either side to negotiate away. You write to the owner and make your offer in the platform. The tapu transfer then runs exactly as it would on any other sale.
More than 31 million active listings across 31 markets, agent-represented and owner-listed together. sahibinden.com carries owner and agency listings, filterable but thin on owner stock.
Search owner-listed homes ↗ - sahibinden.com Owners can list
Buyer filter İlan Sahibi, then Sahibinden rather than Emlak Ofisinden
The name means "from the owner" and the filter is real, with its own address you can bookmark: add /sahibinden to a search and agency listings drop out. There is an English route at /en/for-sale-flat/owner. Treat the filter as a strong hint rather than proof, because agents are widely reported to copy genuine owner listings and repost them under their own accounts.
- Hepsiemlak Owners can list
Buyer filter Sahibinden, as its own URL segment
Same idea, smaller pool, and worth checking separately because sellers rarely post to both.
- Emlakjet Owners can list
Buyer filter Sahibinden
Useful as a measure of how thin owner stock really is. When we counted it showed 3,024 owner listings against 153,178 homes for sale, a shade over 2 percent.
- Tapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü Agents only
Buyer filter Not a listings site
Not somewhere to shop, but where the sale actually happens. Worth knowing early, because every buyer ends up here and no agent can do this part for you.
How many homes this really covers
Owner listings are a small slice of what is advertised: Emlakjet showed just over 2 percent of homes for sale posted by owners. Search the owner filters alongside the ordinary listings rather than instead of them, and expect to widen the search well beyond one neighbourhood.
Taşınmaz Ticareti Hakkında Yönetmelik, article 20
The service fee on a sale cannot exceed 4 percent of the price excluding VAT, and it is paid in equal shares by the parties unless they have agreed otherwise. Two things follow. Your half is the default, not a negotiation you lost. And the fee is only claimable where there is a written brokerage contract, so an agent who never put anything in front of you to sign is on weak ground asking for it afterwards.
In force since 5 June 2018. Read the legislation
Buying one, step by step
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Sign nothing with an agent you have not chosen
The fee follows a written brokerage contract. Read what you are given at a viewing, because that piece of paper is what makes 2 percent owed later.
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Filter for owner listings on all three sites
sahibinden, Hepsiemlak and Emlakjet each carry different stock. Save one search per site and check them weekly.
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Check the listing is really the owner's
Ask to see the tapu and the owner's identity document at the viewing, and check the name on both matches the person showing you round. Reposted listings are common enough to make this routine, not rude.
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Get the title checked before you pay a deposit
Have a lawyer pull the registry record for mortgages, liens and annotations, and confirm the building has its occupancy permit. An unpermitted building is a problem you inherit.
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Agree the price and the declared value honestly
Understating the price on the tapu to cut the 2 percent transfer fee is common and is your risk, not the seller's: it lowers your recorded cost base and can bring a penalty. Declare what you paid.
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Complete at the land registry
Both sides attend, the transfer fee is paid, earthquake cover is shown, and the title is issued the same day.
Check before any money moves
- The tapu itself, and that the seller's name on it matches their identity document
- Registry annotations for mortgages, liens or a court restriction on the property
- The building's occupancy permit, the iskân, and whether any part of it is unpermitted
- Compulsory earthquake insurance in place, which the registry will require at transfer
- Unpaid municipal property tax, utilities and building service charges
- The declared value on the transfer, and that you are comfortable with what is being written down
Selling one instead? See where to list a home yourself in Turkey , or the full guide to selling without an agent in Turkey .
Common questions
Does the buyer really pay half the agent's commission in Turkey?
Yes, by default. The regulation splits the fee equally between the parties unless the brokerage contract says otherwise, so 2 percent plus VAT from each side is the standard position rather than an agent overcharging you.
Can I refuse to pay it?
Only if you never agreed to it. The fee is claimable where there is a written brokerage contract with you. If you signed one at a viewing, you owe your share once the sale completes.
How do I find flats sold directly by the owner?
Add the owner filter on sahibinden, Hepsiemlak and Emlakjet. On sahibinden it is under İlan Sahibi and it has its own web address, so you can bookmark the filtered search rather than resetting it each time.
Is it safe to buy without an agent?
The transfer itself is handled by the land registry, which checks the title before registering it, so the core protection does not come from an agent. What you take on yourself is the checking beforehand: the registry record, the occupancy permit and who actually owns the place. A lawyer does that better than an agent does.
What else does a buyer pay on top of the price?
Tapu harcı of 2 percent, a revolving fund fee of a couple of thousand lira, earthquake insurance, and the agent's share if one is involved. On a ₺4,000,000 flat that comes to roughly ₺178,500 with an agent and about ₺82,500 without one.
Sources
Every legal, tax, and process claim on this page traces to one of these. We re-check them on a schedule and date the page when anything changes.
- Taşınmaz Ticareti Hakkında YönetmelikT.C. Resmî Gazete, Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi · mevzuat.gov.tr
- Owner listings filter, flats for salesahibinden.com · sahibinden.com
- Owner listings, homes for saleEmlakjet · emlakjet.com
- Title deed transactions and feesTapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü · tkgm.gov.tr