Freehold property of land may be purchased by most foreign nationals, from a Turkish national or another foreigner, provided the property is in the local district "Belediye".

It is advised that funds for the purchase should be transferred into the country through a Turkish bank and specifically identified for that purpose, i.e. (transfer purpose for the purchase of Villa Kaya, Title Deed No. 9980).

The foreign currency should be sufficient to cover both the purchase cost plus other costs incidental to the purchase. You should keep all receipts to prove the original purchase to enable easy repatriation. A recent decree aimed at aligning Turkey's currency laws with the EU states that importation of foreign currency is free, it cannot be subject to any legislation and it's origins cannot be questioned. Decree 32 August 1989 Article 4.0.

Independent Financial Advisors

Med Dreams Property has teamed up with independent financial advisors for our clients. In addition to providing financial advice, they have experience with financing overseas investment, unlike many Irish financial institutions.

Med Dreams has contracts with a wide range of developers and real estate agents. Some of their property prices are all inclusive and others have not included the purchase associated costs. Please contact Med Dreams Property to find out if your property has purchase associated costs. Where possible, the property description will state if the price is all inclusive.

With some purchases from developers all costs (excluding lawyers fees) are included. For those properties with associated costs, the following costs apply.

Where applicable, the extra charges inurred for a freehold purchase payable by the purchaser amounts to approximately 3% or 4% of the purchase price paid. These are broken down as follows:

• 3% of the sale price payable by the buyer to the property broker i.e. Med Dreams Property. (Note: the seller also pays 3% of the sale price to the agent acting on its behalf)
• Approximately 700 or 1% of the sale price, which ever is the greater, is due for legal fees variable dependant on the mount of work, i.e. full investigations, proxy, translations, etc.
• Purchase Tax - New properties can be exempt from purchase tax. If applicable, this amounts to 4% purchase tax (stamp duty) on registration of freehold.

Property tax, paid annually at a fixed percent of the declared value, (on a new home a 25% reduction is given until the revaluation conducted after the first five years).

Building insurance is compulsory for leases arranged through Yapi Kredi, the premium is approximately 2 per mil. It is also mandatory to purchase State earthquake insurance.

Gas is normally used for cooking and can also be used for water heating. Cylinder refills cost approximately 14.00 and lasts approximately a month for water heating and two months for cooking (a deposit is taken for each gas cylinder).

Electricity is cheap approximately 0.07 per kilowatt hour. Bills are payable monthly at a local bank or directly at the Turkish Electricity Board.

Water costs approximately 0.58 per ton (1,000 litres on mains supply) or 4.35 per ton when bought from a bulk tanker.

Property maintenance can be arranged through Med Dreams Property and includes the care of common facilities, common gardens, repainting, etc. The cost of this will vary from development to development, and location to location. Contact us to find out exact figures for your area of interest. Their conduct is governed by Turkish law.

• Currently there is no double taxation agreement between Ireland and Turkey.
• "New agreements with Argentina, Turkey and Ukraine are in the course of negotiation" (taken from www.revenue.ie, 27th February 2004)
• Therefore with respect to profits made on the sale of Turkish property, Irish investors are currently liable for capital gains tax on the gross profit earned and income tax in Turkey. (the exact tax bands will be posted soon)
• By law Irish investors are liable for income tax on income earned from rent both in Ireland and in Turkey.
• Further information is available from Thomas O'Sullivan & Co. at 01-4963052 or toscotax@eircom.net

United Kingdom

• Current tax conditions were originally agreed in a double taxation treaty signed in 1986.
• These were amended in October 1988 and cover the reciprocal agreement relation to income tax and corporation tax in Turkey and income, corporation and capital gains taxes in the UK.
• This also includes a non discrimination clause "Nationals of a contracting state shall not be subjected in the other contracting state to any taxation or requirement connected therewith which is other or more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which nationals of that other state in the same circumstances are or maybe subjected". (Article 24).

Recommendation

The information presented here is intended for guideline purposes only and as such Med Dreams Property are not liable for any information that is out of date or rendered inaccurate due to changes in national or international legislation or other changes outside our remit.

For up to date and accurate information Med Dreams Property advise all our clients to seek legal and financial advice from our preferred associates. Contact us for more details.

Furniture is generally cheap in Turkey, and can be custom made by local craftsmen if required. It is possible to buy in most towns at very competitive rates, with a wide range of goods.

Electrical items, towels and linen are cheaper than in Europe. Household goods are extremely cheap and can be purchased at the local markets.

For non national residents it is possible to import household goods providing they hold a suitable residency permit.

Telephones are either bought on the black market at up to 575 or your name is put on a waiting list where you can wait for anything from a week to three years, depending on availability in your area. There is a small standing charge payable annually approximately 18.00. Lines are generally good and Internet access easy and well serviced.

There is a national daily newspaper printed in English, the Turkish Daily News.

A short-wave radio is useful to pick up the BBC Worldservice.

Television reception is good and if you buy Digiturk Satelllite system you recieve 52 channels including MGM, Movie Max 1&2, BBC Prime, Discovery Channel, Eurosport, CNN world news, etc.

There are large European communities living in Turkey full time, plus many transitory people living on boats in the harbours for months at a time. During the winter months there are many social occasions arranged such as book swaps, walks, BBQ's, card evenings and inland trips.