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Real Estate Agents
Real estate is a vital necessity wherever you reside in. Ever since the first men, the three most vital needs of mankind have been; feeding, clothing, and housing. Whether it’s a cave, an apartment, or a villa; real estate is one of the primary needs of each and every individual, depending on the era the individual is living in. This is where real estate agents come in.
Real Estate Agents, How Do They Work?
A real estate agent’s primary role is to save time and money for both landlords and lessee, or buyers. A real estate agent should keep up with the up-to-date market information; asking prices and final prices that have been agreed upon. Also checking and being knowledgeable about each price in the market, there are a lot of competitors.[1]
In order to keep up with this, a real estate agent should scan the new properties coming to market every single day, talk to a variety of landlords – again, every single day – and talk and cooperate with other real estate agents; not only with those in his or her own office but other offices as well. This way, proper real estate forms the real estate agent’s portfolio and therefore, informs his or her fellow colleagues about the improvements in the market, as well as getting informed by them.[1]
Real Estate Agents, An Obligation or Necessity?
Considering the fact that everybody has a life of their own, keeping up with the daily facts of the real estate market can be a challenge. That is why even the Forbes 500 companies sign global contracts with major global real estate agencies in order to protect their interests all over the world. Real estate agents are here to take care of your real estate or provide you the best options there is in the market that suits your needs.
If you need professional aid with this matter, feel free to contact us or hire an experienced law firm in Turkey.
Whether if you are looking for an apartment for your residency needs, an office, or serviced office for your corporation, an industrial building for your production or storage needs, a retail unit for your business; a proper real estate agent who has specialized in his or her field or district will serve you with the best way possible and time and effort that he or she will save for you will more than enough to compensate the fee that you will pay for real estate agent’s services.
Therefore, real estate agency services are not legal obligations, you can sign any deal with the other party on your own, but it’s a necessity to protect your best interest and sign the best deal according to the market values.
Real Estate Agency Fees
Real estate agency fees in Turkey have been identified by the Chamber of Real Estate Agents which is pretty parallel to whatever there is out there globally. These fees have been identified by experiences of centuries, not only in Turkey but also globally. At the end of the day, both the landlord and lessee or buyer must leave the agreement desk happily as well as the real estate agents.
As a result of this understanding, the full real estate agency fee for sales has been defined as 3% + VAT, both for seller and buyer. And for leasing full real estate agency fee is 12% + VAT for the lessee. In some cases, mostly for commercial units, and especially major agreements, landlords also pay up to 12% + VAT. This totally depends on the conditions of the market and the agreement between the landlord and the real estate agents.
These fees mentioned above are the full and maximum fees that have been identified by the Chamber of Real Estate Agents. Considering the fact that Turkey is running by a free-market economy policy, anything is up to negation and these aren’t binding for any higher or lower fee amounts.
And when does a real estate agent can put a claim for his or her fee? What happens if you sign the lease agreement or buy the property but never use it as you have intended to in the first place? According to Turkish Law of Debts, a real estate agent can put a claim for his or her fee with the signing of the lease agreement or transfer of the ownership of the title deed in the Land Registry Office, forthright.[2][3]
Real Estate Agency Representation
Many landlords prefer the sole agency representation for their property portfolio in order to protect their best benefits for their property investment income while taking care of their own business. The same applies to companies or private individuals who are looking for a property for their commercial or residential needs. At the end of the day, research for a property takes a significant amount of time and effort which means a cost of time and money.
Therefore, it’s the most beneficial method to appoint real estate agents to represent you and ask him or her to offer you first a; “long list” of options of whatever there is in the market, after reserving a day or two by visiting those options and evaluating them, narrowing those to a; “shortlist” and then choose one of which is among them.
During this research, a lessee or buyer candidate can come up with a unit that is also included in his or her appointed real estate agent. Although this isn’t a practice allowed in some countries, it’s a very common case in Turkey and Istanbul, even though this might seem like a conflict of interest, actually, it’s common practice. Eventually, a real estate agent should always cooperate with his or her colleagues, but this means splitting the fee. A real estate agent would try to arrange the best conditions for both sides that he or she is representing in order to get the maximum fee possible.
The real estate agency is a profession that is more than 500 years old, maybe not in Turkey but around the world, especially the United Kingdom. Real estate agents, or property consultants as some might call them, are here to protect the rights of both sides of the table according to market conditions and prevent any legal disputes.
Helpful Links:
- The Facts about Property Ownership in Turkey
- Investment Opportunities in Turkey’s Real Estate Sector
- Turkish Citizenship By Real Estate: New Rules and Steps
References
- Wikipedia contributors. (2021c, May 27). Real estate agent. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estate_agent
This article was published on 28.01.2021 and last edited on 23.06.2021.
