Turkish Property Help

Thursday, April 20, 2006

۩ Guide: Web Searches for Real Estate Agents?

Choosing an agent for your Turkish property purchase is one of the key decisions you will make. A glance at the directory listing sites shows that after the more established overseas markets like Spain and France, Turkey has a burgeoning number of real estate agents competing for your business. Whilst competition might be a good thing, it can seem an overwhelming task to separate the good from the mediocre and the plain incompetent. Here we deal with the initial web searches and phone contact but upcoming articles will expand the theme.

An agent in Bodrum said to me in 2005 that she estimated there were some 3000 people calling themselves estate agents in the busy summer period! Whether this is accurate or not, it gives you an idea of the scale of your problem. Most people will begin their search on the Internet, which is a great tool for initial sorting before you travel to Turkey. At this point I would like to state the obvious - think how you would rate an agent in your country and apply those criteria to the Turkish agents.

The first questions might be: who runs the agency and where is this agent based? Remember that (officially, at least) all Turkish agents must have passed the government approved scheme for real estate brokers (more in a later article) so if your agent is, for example, a 'wholly British owned and run', you should check that somebody at the agency is qualified to work as an agent. In reality, this usually means that the agent employs Turkish nationals to satisfy the regulations. This is not necessarily a bad thing - just something to be aware of, but it can mean that the overseas agent is merely 'piggybacking' on the local knowledge of the Turkish employee rather than having put the time and effort in to acquire the knowledge themselves.

You should also be aware of the location of your agent with regard to your choice of property as you really want an agent who has specialist local know-how. Bodrum and Altinkum are worlds apart in property terms so why would an agent have a detailed understanding of both markets? On a related subject, look out for freephone numbers, and in the UK, numbers with prefixes like '0702'. These are non-geographic and anyone can forward them to a Turkish number ( usually at the agent's expense) to give the appearance that they are based in your country. For instance, we have a non-geographic fax number of +44 (0) 870 912 7207 which sends faxes to our e-mail if when we are in Turkey so this may not be sinister, but if the website makes a big play on being local but you suspect otherwise, ask questions!

Websites themselves can appear slick but can also hide the truth so try to cross-reference the site to see if anyone has commented on the agent. Look for clearly presented information with verification from 'official' sources. You want an agent to let you decide based on good website content - not inflated sales talk.

On the site, look for:

A track record . If there isn't one, ask why but remember that not all new agents are bad

Contact details, including a physical location and land line (an office) in the area of your choice - not just trying to cover all areas without knowing them and not simply a foreign subsidiary with no experience in Turkey

Check the basic facts on the site: some agents who operate sites dedicated to Turkey make elementary mistakes but others, who claim to offer portal services covering many countries, can pay liitle attention to the specifics of the Turkish market. Here is an example of this where both the factual dates and future political developments are simply wrong.

The level of service on offer (Ask what you get for your commission as it's high by UK standards and Sole Agent status is practically unheard of). Importantly, confirm whether the agent will organise the necessary certificates and permissions (more soon).

Lots of freely available information not just quick summaries making everything seem a breeze. Has the agent taken care & time over their site or is the information limited, incomplete or contradictory.

High quality language usage - not sloppy translations. This is not difficult to achieve and is an indicator of attention to detail.

Check that the site is not one of many, which all track back to one individual offering the same properties at different prices (e--mail us if you are unsure how to do this). Similarly, look out for identical wording on sites. This may be a sign of a duplicate site, but may simply be the sign of laziness or a distinct lack of knowledge.

Also, look for customer recommendations. If these are displayed on the site, ask the agent if any former customers is happy to be contacted by you - if not, alarm bells should ring. Additionally, run some checks on ex pat forums to see what people are saying about agents BUT, be warned, agents sometimes masquerade as happy clients in forums. Usually, they are easy to spot but ask a moderator of the site if you suspect underhand behaviour. Similarly, some agents (or their representatives) are hell bent on discrediting others so all remarks you find regarding agents should be thoroughly investigated. Agents' may have banners on their sites stating that they are members of trade organisations so do some homework on these to see if they are anything other than meaningless, self-serving bodies . We will post an article on some of these organisations soon so please check back for details.

Finally, ask the agent what company status their agency has. Is it incorporated in Turkey/your country and can they prove this? Remember that limited companies are not a guarantee of trustworthiness but do offer you a paper trail to check. In Turkey they must display a certificate on the premises which proves that they are a registered company and that they are tax payers. In the UK, you can check limited companies online to see if they are actually trading and for a small fee, check their accounts. This is probably true of other countries and we will update this information when we have it. Visit the Companies House website (for UK limited companies) and type in the name of the firm. The key mistake not to make, is to negotiate a property purchase from a barman or waiter, no matter how charming they are.

This is not an exhaustive guide but it should set you on your way. Please be cautious in selecting an agent and remember that you are contemplating a major investment. We will cover agent's relationships with developers shortly as this is also a key concern but for now we hope you feel more confident searching on the web.

Tags: estate agent Turkey