Citizenship by Investment in the Amount of $100,000…?

Citizenship by Investment in the Amount of $100,000…?   

Yes it’s possible to obtain Citizenship by Investment in Turkey for less than 

$250,000. This is only possible by applying a technique that utilizes investment 

contracts. 

There are additional risks for the investor with this technique. First, there is the 

risk that the investor will forfeit the amounts invested if the investor misses making

the periodic installment payments. Second, there is the counterparty risk that the

investment becomes insolvent, leading to legal costs, deferred liquidation, and 

potential loss . 

To successfully apply this technique, a higher level of expertise is required for two 

aspects. Firstly, the Risk Assessment of the investment requires detailed Due Diligence 

on the counter-party, cash flows, asset, transaction, and investment contract. This is not 

an investment for an investor that is unfamiliar with any of these concepts.  Second, a 

greater degree of expertise is required for the management of the Citizenship 

application, both at the initial stage, and during the life of the contract.  

All of the above require expert advice that 'drills down’ into  the 

investment in much finer detail than the usual standard investment parameters 

and application management.

Expert advice is essential, and is not widely available. Investors will require a 

professional Risk Assessment, beginning with the transaction methodology, as 

the essential first step. Under no circumstances should the advice be relied upon 

from service providers that handle only the usual investment fund or real estate 

investments, such as stock brokers, real estate agents, generalist lawyers, 

or global citizenship consultants. 

#citizenship-investment-turkey, #CitizenshipInvestmentTurkey

‘The Guide’ of How to Buy Property in Turkey - Explains ‘What and Why’… Knowing ‘How’ is the Key

Finally buyers can now rely on simple guidance on buying procedures used by
locals. Thus avoiding the numerous pitfalls and disastrous outcomes that occur 
when foreign buyers of property in Turkey are mislead by English speaking estate 
agents, and their glossy websites. 

Regrettably, these same misleading procedures are also often followed by lawyers 
and mortgage brokers to which the agents introduce their foreign buyers.  In this 
way many, many foreign buyers have completed a purchase without realising the 
procedures they have followed would never be accepted by local Turkish buyers. 
For good reason, too, most often because the misleading procedures of agents are 
designed to minimise the buyers negotiating leverage on price discounts, and 
conceal key deficiencies in title, the most common being the lack of habitation 
certificates. Eventually the foreign buyers learn about the true market prices, and 
the lack of permits, and in both cases, the cost of following English speaking agents’
buying procedures adds up to several thousand Pounds, Dollars or Euros.

Now thankfully,  ‘The Guide to Buying Property in Turkey - Like a Local ‘  describes
 ‘what’ the differences in procedure are, the local way,  and ‘why’ it is so important 
to avoid following English speaking agents’ insistence and manipulations to obtain 
a ‘reservation deposit’. Ten pages of detail are a must read for anyone and everyone
buying a property in Turkey. 

A property purchase is a substantial investment, and a buyer that informs themselves
fully at the beginning of the procedure, has made the right first step protecting that
investment, ensuring a favourable outcome at the end. Too often buyers are mesmer-
ised by the many wonderful lifestyle attractions of great food, beautiful natural sur-
roundings, joyous social atmosphere, warm sunny climate, and cheap property with
ample proportions. And these are the circumstances, in which a buyer is tempted 
into ignoring the essential procedural details of ‘how’ to buy, which is exactly what 
agents are relying upon. 

The ‘what’ and ‘why’ of buying are fully explained in the ten pages of the guide, 
conveying more than 30 years of insights into managing more than 3,000 property 
purchase transactions for foreign buyers in Turkey. Unfortunately, what the Guide 
can not do in the ten pages provided is to explain ‘HOW’ to do what is needed. For 
the very simple reason that ten pages is simply insufficient to address the very wide
range of tactics and deceptions, applied by agents and their collaborators in law 
offices and mortgage banks, for manipulating the trusting, unsuspecting foreign 
buyer.  If a buyer isn’t hooked by the first trick an agent uses, the buyer will be 
hooked by another, of the many in the agent’s proverbial bag of tricks. No amount 
of advance reading and research can adequately guard against this outcome, for the
simple reason that buyers can not know what questions to ask, or what to instruct, 
because they do not know what to expect of the situation, and most often only have
only the advice of agents and their collaborating lawyers and mortgage brokers to 
consider. So many permutations and variations in the non-standardised nature of 
Turkish property permits, title liens and claims, and payment procedures, means 
that having done one, two, or three transactions, is not enough to obtain a satisfact-
ory awareness of everything that needs understanding, in the myriad of circumstan-
ces that can unfold for each different property transaction. Despite agents’ earnest 
assurances to the contrary... (!!!).  

Fortunately, the ‘how’ is best obtained from advice available from independent 
professionals. These transaction managers perform an essential function & service, 
scrutinising and directing all aspects of a purchase transaction, and are paid by 
astute buyers to look after their best interests, in the detail required. This is often 
not the case with lawyers and their conflicted interests, with the agents and develop-
ers that introduced the buyer, being their first allegiance. The temptation of huge 
hidden price mark-ups and commissions is simply irresistable, like 'Gold Rush Fever'. 
The legal reality is that consumer protection laws in Turkey are weak, and real 
estate transactions for foreigners are un-regulated. That means that legal recourse 
is limited, and costly. So with some optimism, looking forward to the future will 
always be brighter when the needlessly predatory practices of English speaking 
estate agents are eradicated from the market. Hopefully, 'The Guide…’ will help that
to happen soon.... 

Check Out My Profile on Quora...

#BuyPropertyTurkey, #The-Guide-To-Buying-Property-in-Turkey

Ottomans Rising: a Hit for Istanbul Productions

 

The new Netflix release, ‘Empires Rising: Ottoman’ is achieving notable new ‘firsts’ for Istanbul and the Turkish film industry.  During the first full week of streaming, the six episode drama-documentary ranked 4^th among top trending TV shows in the United States overall, briefly 2^nd among Netflix shows, and 6^th in binge viewing.

The impact of positive media projection upon property values in a specific location needs no explanation: the examples are evidenced far and wide. The more important question about ‘Rise of Empires: Ottoman’ is whether that success is repeatable. If so, then Istanbul as a property investment location could well be on its way to assuming the status of a top global investment location, on par with the likes of Miami, London, Hong Kong, etc. So the question remains, what potential is there for a repeat success?

In terms of funding and finance (issues that have plagued all sectors of economic activity in Turkey) the impetus derives from Netflix desire to grow its global subscriber base into local audiences in the international market.  That condition appears a likely probability to continue.

Bridging the gap between funding and output, was ProSieben and their Red Arrows International production studios’ local production company Karga Seven Pictures, with operations in Los Angeles and Istanbul. This is a combination of ‘best of breed’ production management, and local ‘on-location’ execution capability, combined with the creative talents spearheaded by a Turkish director having grown and perfected his skills in the US, Emre Sahin. As co-producer, co-writer, and director, this bundle of skills, knowledge, and experience is the essential ingredient of success, not to be under-estimated.

How many Emre Sahins are there, to replicate the formula? Perhaps a few, that remains to be seen. This is the key question. Business practices in the film industry in Turkey have yet to out-grow the decrepit business practices of a by-gone age when media production was a marginal low value-added economic sector. Fortunately the nature of Netflix economics means the production was insulated from the box office distribution wrangling that plagues the local sector. Perhaps the success of ‘Ottomans Rising’ will hasten the adaptation of practices and standards applied in more advanced international markets, thereby improving production efficiencies and output quality.

This is the key to releasing Istanbul’s wealth of creative resources and natural, historic, & cultural treasures, both as a location, and as a source of creative inspiration.  Abundance in these categories is self evident: if you do not know, take a look.

The location is un-equalled for a period drama set in the era. The massive walls of Constantinople are sufficiently challenging to defy the best director of photography, but do provide ample choices.

Technical production skills, crews, and equipment are in ample supply with adequate competency: the challenge is in the management. Artistic competency has never been in short supply in this largest metropolis, and centre of civilisation for two millennia.

Successful viewing rankings were ensured by strategic casting choices, with two idols leading the cast, Tuba Büyüküstün and Damla Sönmez, once again glowing for their grateful and growing international audiences, there was always a high probability of stellar success.  Seeing is believing: take a look.

A bold and inspired casting choice in the selection of a young actor to play the very big role of near-unfathomable stature, rising star Cem Yigit Uzümoglu captured audiences with a laudable and endearing performance, as Sultan.

For his counterpart, the Emperor, was a performance delivered by Tommaso Basili, with stature and grace, the only member of cast not sourced directly from the local Istanbul creative pool.

The supporting cast comprise a rich pageantry of talents well known locally, most debuting for international audiences, accomplished local faces thus emerge gracefully into the inernational spotlight.  Reflecting the international context of Istanbul's creative vivacity by the ability to deliver international faces from the vibrant local talent pool, statistically: Eva Dedova's ratings achieved the cast's greatest increase opening week; while Ryan Ol’s emergence as a new face has clearly attracted notice of audiences. Rankings for the idols and male lead broke Turkish records, achieving international ratings commensurate with Hollywood's greatest stars.

The production is notable for its apparent success in unifying different international audiences for Turkish productions, having grown over the last five years through the Middle East, and then Spain, Latin & South America. Achieving Netflix international objectives, Ottoman Rising is capturing viewing audiences in Northern Europe and North America, extending around the world to include India and Asia.

Successful international audience attraction on such scale, combined with the production cost differentials of the Istanbul location, both above and below the line, is surely catching the attention of production executives focused on their bottom line.

The above ingredients, combined, produced a successful production. Can the formula be repeated? The sequel and new productions are eagerly anticipated.

 

Buying Property in Turkey: Key Facts

Buying a Property in Turkey? The facts are explained here... almost everything you need to know. Provided by the Land Registry Governate of the Republic of Turkey. It has the Facts and is an essential reference guide... 

But what it doesn't tell you may be more important... for that information, click here to get 'The Guide to Buying Property in Turkey a Safer, Smarter, Better Way... ' 

And click here for information about the Key Facts and other Government Publications about Citizenship Investment Program in Turkey, by Property Investment.

Turkish TV Series Stimulates Demand for Citizenship Property Investment...

The 'Rise of Empires: Ottoman' tops audience viewing ratings in the US and World Wide...

Until now, no locally produced Turkish film or TV series targeted at export to the international market has achieved notable success.

That has just changed, with the stellar success of the Netflix drama-documentary series ‘The Rise of Empires: Ottoman’… topping audience viewing rated in the USA and World Wide…

This success can be expected to result in additional demand for the Istanbul real estate market, corresponding to similar past correlations.  And result in a corresponding increase in Turkish Citizenship by Property Investment applications, with popularity increasing World Wide.

This very interesting development deserves a closer look, in more detail, in another post.

Property prices in Istanbul over the last six months have been stable, but still offer investors bargains if they can find liquidity-induced distress sales. During the last 18 months the real estate sector in Turkey has been depressed. So the market welcomed the recent policy of reducing the investment threshold for citizenship to USD 250,000. This has helped stimulate demand from international buyers, many hailing from the Middle East.

Many of these buyers are motivated by Turkish TV showing wonderful Istanbul life style and property, have come to buy their dream home for that reason alone ! Over the last five years Turkish TV series have grown increasingly popular in international markets such as the Middle East, South America, and India. These programs are local Turkish productions produced in Turkish, and dubbed in foreign languages for export. 

Now that a Turkish production targeting foreign audiences has proved a stellar success, the impact on the perception of Turkish assets, and real estate, from an investment persepctive, deserves re-evaluation...

#RiseofEmpiresOttoman

#TurkeyCitizenshipbyInvestment

The Property Market in Turkey: How Local Turks Buy

House hunting on the internet is an ideal way to find property. And Turks in Turkey have special on-line property portals where they go to find properties- there are 2-3 large ones and three or more others that have more than a million properties listed for sale- the whole market. And the portals provide on-site message channels for the buyers to communicate directly with the sellers.

This is the property market in Turkey. It is so well-developed, that there are now several new on-line markets offering variations on the basic theme. To say these markets are ‘popular’ is an understatement: this is now the ‘norm’ for the last five years or more. These markets are where more than 87% of all property in Turkey is bought and sold. Why so much? To put it simply, there is no other way or better way to buy or sell property in Turkey. These are the ‘For Sale by Owner’ on-line property markets in Turkey. These aren’t small experimental fly-by-night start up operations. These are huge business owned by Turkiye’s largest holding companies quoted by NASDAQ on the Istanbul Stock Exchange. This is WHERE and HOW the local Turks buy and sell property in Turkey.

Have a question ? Please ask in the comments below, email me, or ask me on Quora...

The New Ways of Turkey's Property Market in the Digital Age

A foreign property owner selling and wanting to find a buyer needs first to come to terms with the reality of the market today, in the internet age, a digital world.  And doing so will open their eyes to many advantages in the new way property is bought and sold, compared to the old ways. Not only can the foreign seller find a Turkish buyer faster, there is also no need to deal with an agent and their lies, and no need to pay huge commissions for the privilege…! 

Wake up, people….

So how does a foreigner that doesn’t speak Turkish get into the ‘real’ property sector in Turkey and deal with everything that needs doing? The best way to start is an easy solution- it’s the starters’ kit at mytapu.com… the Sellers Tool-kit for Residential Property in Turkey. This tool kit provides help, guidance, support to D.I.Y Do-It-Yourself selling of your property on the new digital platforms; because all the platforms are designed and working this way:  Peer – to – Peer. They work so that buyers and sellers can deal direct with each other…there’s no place for agents…! Desperate agents have wedged their way in, but they are not welcome by buyers or sellers. For example, the name of the biggest on-line exchange, when translated into English means… ‘For Sale Direct from the Owner’. These on-line exchanges are NOT small experimental fly-by-night start up operations. These are huge business owned by the Turkiye’s largest holding companies quoted on the Istanbul Stock Exchange. 

Sellers, what are you waiting for ? (Besides months and months for your agent and then maybe if they somehow trick one more foreigner into believing their sales pitch illusions, as a buyer, you are rewarded by paying the huge commission…!)