Buying property in Muğla as a foreigner

The five stages of a purchase

1. Your brief, our shortlist

   Tell us the district, the budget, apartment or villa, and how you will use the home. We visit what fits and show it to you in person or on a live video call.

2. Tax number and bank

   A tax office issues your vergi numarası against your passport in one visit. You then open the Turkish bank account the purchase money will move through.

3. Licensed valuation

   An appraisal firm with a licence inspects the property and writes a valuation report, which the Land Registry needs from foreign buyers before booking the sale.

4. Signing at the tapu

   With DASK cover in place, both parties sign at the land registry office, with a sworn interpreter if needed, and the title deed is reissued in your name.

5. After the handover

   Utilities, the tourist-rental permit question if you plan to let, and a residence permit file if you plan to stay. Citizenship needs $400,000 of property held for three years.

Checks that matter more on the Muğla coast

Holiday homes raise questions that a city flat rarely does. We look into these before you make an offer:

• The tourist-rental permit. Under Law No. 7464, letting for 100 days or less at a time needs a Ministry of Culture and Tourism permit, and flats in shared buildings need the other owners’ unanimous consent.
• Military and security zones. Foreigners cannot acquire property inside them, and the Land Registry has the location assessed during a sale to a foreign buyer.
• What the deed describes. A villa’s pool, extra rooms or annexe should match the approved plans and the occupancy permit, and the land should be registered for building rather than as a field or orchard.
• Protected areas. Places such as the Köyceğiz–Dalyan Special Environmental Protection Area carry their own planning limits, so plans to extend need checking first.
• Shared costs on a complex. Pools, gardens, security and roads on a site are paid for through a management fee; ask for the current figure and the last year’s accounts.

Documents you will need

• A valid passport, plus a sworn and notarised Turkish translation of it.
• Your Turkish tax number (vergi numarası).
• Two passport-style photographs taken recently.
• The licensed appraiser’s valuation report on the property.
• A current DASK compulsory earthquake insurance policy.
• Bank records showing the foreign currency you exchanged for the purchase.

Costs beyond the asking price

Running costs afterwards: yearly property tax, the DASK renewal, electricity and water, and on a complex the site management fee. If you let to tourists, the permit and the income tax on rent are yours to handle.

Reading the deed before you sign

• The seller is the registered owner, and no mortgage, seizure or caveat sits on the record.
• An iskan (occupancy permit) has been issued, so the home is recorded as complete.
• The year of construction and the earthquake code it was designed to.
• No arrears on management fees, utilities or municipal tax that would pass to you.
• Gross and net floor areas, and a price per square metre in line with similar homes in the same district.

Residence, citizenship and a Muğla deed

Owning a home here gives you grounds to apply for a short-term residence permit. The immigration authority decides each case, and the qualifying conditions change from time to time.

Citizenship by investment is a separate and stricter route: property officially valued at $400,000 or more, with a note on the deed that it will not be sold for three years. Two or more properties can be added together to reach the figure, but a single home below it never qualifies on its own.

Laws and thresholds move. A lawyer should confirm the rules that apply to you before you commit, and we cannot guarantee the outcome of any permit or citizenship application.

Questions from buyers abroad