Where should I buy a property in Istanbul?

It is certain that the researcher searching for this question in the search engines either has previous knowledge of the city of Istanbul through multiple visits or a period of stay in it, or he is an investor who wants to obtain Turkish citizenship for himself and his family by taking advantage of the citizenship program that the Turkish government has introduced since 2018 and is still in force Until the date of writing this article (the program includes buying a property or a group of real estate worth 250 thousand dollars and a pledge not to sell it for a period of 3 years, in return the investor, his wife and children under 18 years get Turkish citizenship within a period not exceeding 100 days).

As we all know that Istanbul is a large city that extends over two continents, namely Asia and Europe, separated by the Bosphorus Strait, which is the most important characteristic of Istanbul, apart from its economic and political importance, so that it is a very big source of attraction for tourists and also for those wishing to permanently reside in this wonderful city.

Who among us does not want to have a house or villa with a direct view of this wonderful view and stand on the balcony to watch the 106 different ships that cross every day in addition to the sea ferries that transport passengers between the two sides of Istanbul, the Asian and the European, and in the evening it is known that the houses that have open sea views The view is dark and sometimes lonely, but this is completely different in the Bosphorus, where each side of the strait in the evening enjoys the artistic painting of the other side drawn with lights and in the middle of the Bosphorus bridges, which gives the painting the final touches to be complete.

Today, through our long experience in this field, we are never surprised by the requests of clients in order to obtain a house with a direct view of the Bosphorus without realizing the true cost of the requested house, not even the quality and costs of life in the areas directly overlooking the strait, and with our desire to avoid the disappointment that The client gets it when he realizes the real prices of real estate with views of the Bosphorus. We have prepared this guide to talk about the most important areas of Istanbul, whether for housing or investment, and the approximate price level for each of the main areas.

At the beginning we will share a complete Istanbul map divided on the basis of regions:

Istanbul has 39 municipalities, 25 of which are in the European section and the remaining 14 are in the Asian section.

The areas adjacent to the Bosphorus in the European part of Istanbul are: Beyoglu, Besiktas, Sariyer, which is a large municipality that starts from the distance of Besiktas and reaches the Black Sea in the north. Views of the Bosphorus.

As for the Asian side of Istanbul, we have the areas of Uskudar, Kadikoy and Beykoz, which also extend parallel to Sarayer in the European section of Istanbul to the Black Sea in the north.

It is worth noting that all these areas are considered old, especially in the European section of Istanbul, and therefore there are no new properties with direct views of the Bosphorus at all.

From it we move to the following question: What about the old real estate near the Bosphorus?

Historic palaces and even old buildings adjacent to the Bosphorus have historical and political importance and are inherited from grandparents to parents without being offered for sale in most cases, and if they are offered, they will be sold to a customer known by the family and will not be sold to foreigners often. If offered for sale) it will start from more than a million dollars and reach hundreds of millions.

As for the properties with views of the Bosphorus, but from the third row here, we will find a very important difference between modern properties, in which the price of two rooms and a hall in Uskudar will start from one and a half million dollars, and this is a real picture of the project’s view:

As for the old properties, it depends on several factors, including the age of the property, the level of finishing, the neighborhood in which the property is located, and the price requested by the owner. In any case, the prices of two rooms and a hall will not start from less than half a million dollars.

In summary, if you want to live near the Bosphorus and have enough budget, we will find the right property for you, and if you want to get a distinguished, full-service property with easy access to the Bosphorus to enjoy more than 200 restaurants and cafes on both sides of the strait, in addition to walking paths and free sessions, our team is also ready To find the right property for you.

Now that we have finished talking about the real estate adjacent to the Bosphorus, what about the internal real estate that is 1000 to 5000 meters away from the Bosphorus, such as Sisli, Beyoglu and Maslak in the European part of Istanbul, Uskudar, Kadikoy and Beykoz in the Asian side of Istanbul?

Here we will find a large variation in real estate prices for several reasons, the most important of which are:

+ Is the property new or old

+ Is the property suitable for Turkish citizenship or not

+ What is the level of finishing in the construction

+ Is the project integrated services or is it an independent building

+ Is the property located in a luxury tower or in an ordinary multi-storey building

+ What look will you get?

+ What is the neighborhood in which the property is located, and this varies greatly from one neighborhood to another for the same area

+ What public transportation lines are available nearby

+ What is the density and quality of the services surrounding the project?

The reason for all of the above discrepancies is that Istanbul was built and expanded rapidly, and therefore, with the passage of years and the aging of houses, reconstruction projects were launched in the center of the country in particular (which sometimes represent investment opportunities with very high returns), and therefore we find the great discrepancy as in the image below :

We will not be able to talk in detail about the points we mentioned and their impact on real estate pricing, and we will leave that for a separate article, but we just want to convey a very important idea to the reader, which is that real estate prices when compared are not a sufficient factor to choose the most appropriate property for the client’s goal, whatever it may be.

We will return immediately after this necessary introduction to the main question: What property should I buy in Istanbul?

In order to answer this question, it must be realized that each district of Istanbul has an appropriate initial budget, and we discussed this in a previous article: Investment in Istanbul

The second important point that we will talk about in detail today is the purpose of buying the property, and from here we start with the sub-questions:

What is the purpose of buying a property?

If your goal is residential, you must consider the following things:

1- It has an area and a suitable number of rooms for your needs. If your family consists of 5 people and you need a property with 3 bedrooms and a hall and the budget you have, for example, suitable for the Kait Hane area, it is incorrect to choose a property with two rooms and a hall in the Sisli area because it is the center of Istanbul (this is of course In the case of comparison for the same features, the rest only difference in the area and number of rooms)

2- It has a location through which it is easy to access your work and your children to their schools or universities, and here you must pay attention to an important point. If your work is in Sisli, the center of Istanbul, this does not mean that you must live completely in this area and bear the high real estate prices in it. You can live in the Kite area Hana, Ayoub or Sultan Ghazi, and access to your work easily through the highway network or through public transportation, which often outperform private cars, but if your preference for Sisli is for other additional things and you can own a new property in it, it is undoubtedly one One of the best areas of Istanbul to live.

3- In a neighborhood and environment suitable for you and your family, for example, as a foreigner in Turkey, you must choose a residential complex with 24-hour protection, and also the neighborhood in which you will live must be suitable for your life standards. For example, if you want to live in the same area of ​​Şişli, you have two possibilities: Either: In a modern integrated residential complex that really provides you with a luxurious and safe life, but it needs a high budget to buy a property in it, or you live in the same area as Sisli in an old building in a popular neighborhood and here you will get a property for half the value of the first property or a quarter of it, but what kind of life will you get on her ? And what about the neighbors? And what about the neighborhood? Compare the two pictures below to know that the area alone is not a valid criterion for comparing prices and choosing residential property.

We apologize for the scene, but credibility is the basis of our work, and the following picture is from the Sisli region as well:

After this, do you still think that the importance of the area outweighs the importance of the property located in it and the neighborhood to which the property belongs?? of course not

4- It is better if it has specifications that can be easily sold in the future without loss, because the two-bedroom property that you bought today may not be enough after five years for your family whose number has increased, or for example the property you bought in the Asian part of Istanbul for easy access to your work And your children’s schools Over time, your work moved to the European side of Istanbul and your children entered universities in the European section of Istanbul. The time is changing the house itself, and therefore when you choose a property that is easy to sell, this process will be easy.

5- In the event that you are completely new to Istanbul and do not have any preferred area to live in and your work is not tied to a specific place at that time, it is better for you to buy a property in a place that promises growth in the future and remember that real estate whose prices do not grow in fact are real estate that loses its value over time Therefore, it is better to choose a special location near a metro station under construction, a new road, or a modern residential complex in an old area

In any case, you do not need to conduct all this research. Our expert and trained advisory team is able to find your request easily and easily by submitting a request for a free consultation and contacting us.

If your goal of buying is an investment, whether for later resale or a summer home, you should pay attention to the following points:

1- The preference is definitely for projects under construction. You actually buy the property at half its price, and within two or three years, your capital will double, even if you calculate the investment return for foreign currencies such as the dollar,

But not every project under construction is suitable for investment. There are several very important things to be aware of:

Who is the developer and is he able to complete the project on time?

Where is the project located and are there really investment advantages for it? (To learn about the investment advantages of any project, contact us and get a free consultation)

What is the number of construction projects with the same specifications in the vicinity of it?

What about the chances of reselling it later?

What about the demand for this property in the future by the local market? (which constitutes more than 98% of the total Turkish real estate market)

Every day we hear about dozens of clients who choose their investment properties based on their own diligence or a new real estate broker in the market tempting them at low prices for non-investment projects, and at that time, regret is useless.

2- It is possible to invest in ready-made projects if several conditions are met, the most important of which are:

To have a high rental return and there are real reasons to achieve this return

To be in an area that has a certain and guaranteed future for high prices in the future

That the investment plan be for less than 10 years, then a good rental return can achieve an acceptable profit

There is a need to obtain income from the property immediately, and it is not possible to wait a year or two to complete the project under construction

3- As for the summer houses, although we do not recommend merging the investment goal with a summer house, it is preferable that they be under construction in the hope that when completed, their price will rise so as to achieve an appropriate income for the owner.

4- In investment properties, the number of rooms or the area of ​​the property does not matter. On the contrary, we can find an investment property in the heart of Istanbul, a room and a hall with an area of ​​70 square meters, with a much better return than a villa in western Istanbul with 6 rooms and an area of ​​450 square meters at the same price.

5- The investment property must be chosen based on the demand in the market, whether to sell it later or to rent it. For example, if the market is heading these days to the Kait Hana area because of its proximity to the center and its acceptable prices, this means choosing an investment property in it that has an additional advantage, which is the high demand regardless of The opinion of the buyer himself, whether he likes this neighborhood or not, is today an investor who cares about numbers, not a resident who cares about the features of the property and the area.

In fact, there are hundreds of sub-specifications, whether for residential or investment property, even if we mentioned them here, the customer will not be able to rely on them to find the most suitable property for him, because the long experience in this field, following up on the past of the real estate market, studying its present and anticipating its future is a very broad topic and no one can be We are an expert in it with less than 3 years of hard work and therefore the client does not have all this time to study the market, while we offer our real estate consultancy with 9 years of experience for free and we guarantee the best prices in the market. All you have to do is contact us to start our journey together in finding the most suitable property for you in Istanbul.