Buy an apartment in Kadıköy as a foreigner
If you want to buy an apartment in Kadıköy from abroad, start here. This guide sets out the order of the steps, the costs on top of the price, the papers you need and the checks we make. It ends with the facts on residence and citizenship.
Buy an apartment in Kadıköy: what is local
The legal steps are national, and the next section lists them. Three things, though, are particular to this district, and they change which questions you ask.
- Old and new stand side by side. Streets of early- and mid-century apartment buildings sit near towers that have replaced earlier blocks, so the age of the building matters more than the address.
- Area names and mahalle are different things. Twenty-one mahalle share about 25 km², and the nicknames used in adverts do not always follow their borders.
- Rail is still growing. Marmaray and the M4 are running; the M12 is under construction and planned for December 2026, so an advert that leans on it is describing the future.
Fikirtepe urban transformation: what to check before you sign →
From first brief to keys
Five stages lead from a first message to the keys. They run in the same order for a flat near the pier and for one on the coast road.
Tell us what you need
Your budget, the rooms, the part of Kadıköy you lean towards and the view you want: sea, park or street. We send flats that fit and show them on a video call or in person.
Get a tax number
A tax office issues the vergi numarası against your passport, often within a day. You also need it to open the Turkish bank account that the payment passes through.
Order the valuation
A licensed valuation firm inspects the flat and writes the report. The Land Registry asks foreign buyers to file it before the transfer can go ahead.
Take out DASK and sign
Once the DASK earthquake policy is issued, you and the seller meet at the tapu office. A sworn interpreter can sit beside you if you need one.
Collect the keys
We hand over keys and help with utilities. A deed in your name can support a residence permit application. Citizenship follows a separate rule: $400,000 of property held for three years.
Costs on top of the price
The advertised price is only part of what you pay. Plan for these items as well:
| Item | Amount | Normally paid by |
|---|---|---|
| Title deed fee (tapu harcı) | 4% of the value declared when the deed is registered | Split between buyer and seller by custom; the split is open to negotiation |
| Valuation report | A flat charge from the licensed valuation firm | The buyer |
| DASK earthquake policy | A yearly premium that follows floor area and building type | The buyer |
| Sworn translator and notary | Billed per appointment or per document | The buyer |
| VAT (KDV) on some new flats | Depends on the unit and the seller, so ask for the figure with VAT included | The buyer, inside the quoted price |
| Agency fee | Agreed in writing before the first viewing | As that agreement states |
After completion come the yearly property tax (emlak vergisi), the DASK renewal, utility bills and, in a building with shared costs, the monthly aidat.
On the DASK (Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool) site you can ask for a quote for the compulsory earthquake policy, or check one that is already in force.
Papers to bring
- A valid passport, with the identity page translated by a sworn translator.
- Your Turkish tax number, issued at a tax office against your passport.
- Two recent passport-style photographs.
- The valuation report for the flat you are buying.
- A DASK policy that is in force for that property.
- Bank records showing that the purchase money was brought in from abroad.
Checks before you offer on a Kadıköy flat
- The seller is the owner on record, and the deed carries no mortgage, seizure or other annotation.
- The building has its iskan (occupancy permit), so the flat counts as a finished home.
- The year of construction, and whether the building is part of a renewal plan or stands beside one.
- The mahalle written on the deed, set against the area name used in the advert.
- Unpaid aidat, utility bills or property tax that might follow the flat to its new owner.
- The real walk to the pier or to an open station, measured on foot and not on the map.
Residence and citizenship
Property you own in Istanbul can be one of the grounds for a short-term residence permit application. The migration authority makes the decision, and it reviews its conditions from time to time, so we check the current position with you before you rely on it.
The Presidency of Migration Management publishes the official rules and the steps of an application.
Citizenship through property is a separate route with a firm threshold: real estate worth at least $400,000, which you must keep for three years. The commitment is recorded as an annotation on the title deed. A cheaper flat does not qualify on its own.
These rules can change. Have a lawyer confirm them for your own case before you commit, and remember that nobody can promise the outcome of an application.
Buy an apartment in Kadıköy: questions
Can foreigners buy property in Kadıköy?
Buyers from most countries can register property in Istanbul under their own name, and Kadıköy follows the same rules as the rest of the city. A few nationalities and a few kinds of land carry limits, so we confirm your position before you make an offer.
Does the mahalle on a listing matter?
Yes. Moda, Kalamış and Dalyan are familiar area names, but the deed records a mahalle: Moda sits inside Caferağa, and Kalamış and Dalyan inside Fenerbahçe. Ask for the mahalle and read it against the deed, because the municipality and the Land Registry work by those boundaries.
Can I buy without travelling to Istanbul?
Yes. You can grant a power of attorney through a Turkish consulate in your own country, or with a notary in Türkiye, and the person you name then attends the tapu office on your behalf. Many buyers choose to come for the signing, but nothing requires it.
What decides how long a purchase takes?
Mostly the booking of the valuation and of the tapu appointment, and how clean the deed is. A flat in a project that is still being built changes hands when the developer completes it, whatever date the sales brochure suggested.
Will a Kadıköy flat entitle me to residence?
Not by itself. Owning property is one ground an application can rest on, but the migration authority judges each file under rules that it revises from time to time. We gather the papers with you and introduce a specialist lawyer.
Planning to buy from overseas?
Tell us where you live and which side of the district appeals. We reply with flats that fit and a dated plan from first viewing to deed.
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