A new era has begun in real estate sales. Until now, purchase and sale transactions that could only be carried out in land registry offices can now also be carried out in notaries public.

The Ministry of Justice and the Union of Notaries of Turkey have been preparing for some time for an application that will pave the way for transfer transactions to be carried out at notaries in order to reduce the density in land registry offices due to the mobility in the purchase and sale of all immovable properties such as land, fields, residences and workplaces. The application was put into practice with the first transaction carried out by the Minister of Justice, Mr. Yılmaz Tunç, at a notary public in Ankara on July 4.

I would like to summarize the details of the application for you, my valuable followers.

APPOINTMENT PROCESS

The property owner who wants to sell his/her immovable property will make an application by selecting the notary office he/she wants to make a transaction through the 'e-appointment/application' application on the website of the Union of Notaries of Turkey. Information such as the information of the parties, the real estate tax value of the immovable property and the sale price determined between the parties will be processed and documents will be uploaded to the Notaries' Union Information System (TNBBS). Notaries will issue an application document with all the information of the parties and the immovable property and forward it to the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre. Detailed land registry information about the immovable will be queried from the Land Registry and Cadastre Sharing System (TAKPAS). In case of missing information, information will be requested from the land registry office where the immovable is registered. The originals of the uploaded documents will be submitted on the date and time of the appointment.

CONTRACT IN THE PRESENCE OF A NOTARY

Upon acceptance of the application, the notary public will examine the title deed records related to the immovable property and check whether there are any obstacles to the sale. Upon determining that there is no obstacle to the sale of the immovable, a notification will be sent to the mobile phones of the buyer and seller for the payment of the necessary fees and the land registry revolving fund service fee. After the payment of the fees and expenses, the parties will be invited to the notary public to sign the immovable sale contract. The contracts will be signed by the buyer and seller in the presence of the notary public and the signed contracts will be recorded in the system. Afterwards, the contracts will be sent electronically to the Land Registry and Cadastre Information System and the immovable will be registered in the land registry. The title deed and other documents to be issued after the transfer of the immovable will be delivered by the notary public.

WILL NOTARIES CHARGE EXTRA FEES FOR THE TRANSACTION?

As it is known, a title deed fee of 4 percent of the sale price is paid in transactions made at the land registry office. If the purchase-sale transaction is realized at a notary public, a service fee will be charged in addition to the title deed fee. The notary fee cannot be less than 500 Turkish Liras and more than 4,000 Turkish Liras depending on the value of the immovable. In addition, these amounts will be increased by the revaluation rate every year.

SALES OPPORTUNITY ALSO AT THE WEEKEND

With the purchase and sale period from notary public, citizens have the opportunity to make their transactions faster. Moreover, while transactions in land registry offices are only carried out on weekdays, thanks to the on-call notary practice, real estate purchases and sales can also be made on weekends. Thus, while the density in the land registry offices decreases, citizens will be able to complete their transactions in a shorter and faster time.
I wish that the application, which I believe will make a significant contribution to the acceleration of real estate purchase and sale transactions, will be beneficial to our sector and citizens.

I am Semih Sarıalioğlu, your Real Estate Investment Expert. With my 24 years of experience in real estate, I will try to enlighten you on issues related to real estate in my column, answer your questions, and be your guide in the field of real estate. I am waiting for all your questions in the field of real estate.