Satış Vaadi in Turkey: The Promise-to-Sell Agreement

If you buy a home in an Istanbul project that is still under construction, the document you sign at the notary is often not the title deed itself but a Satış Vaadi Sözleşmesi, a notarised promise-to-sell agreement. For many foreign buyers it is the first Turkish legal document they meet, and it raises fair questions: is it as strong as a tapu, does it count for citizenship, and what happens on delivery day? This guide answers them in plain language.

What a Satış Vaadi Sözleşmesi is

In a Satış Vaadi Sözleşmesi the seller, usually the developer of the project, promises to transfer a specific home to you, and you promise to pay the agreed price under the agreed terms. The home is identified as precisely as the project allows: the block, the floor, the apartment number and the area. The agreement also sets out the price, the payment schedule and the expected delivery. It is the usual way to sell a home in a building that is not yet finished, and in our Buyer's Guide it comes right after the reservation agreement, which secures the home and records the price, the payment method and the next steps.

The agreement is signed in front of a Turkish notary (noter). This is not a formality: a promise to sell real estate must be made in official form to be valid, and the notary checks the identity of the parties, reads the text to them and keeps an official record. If you do not speak Turkish, a sworn translator normally attends so that you understand what you sign. You can also ask whether the agreement will be annotated (şerh) on the land register record of the property, which makes your right visible to anyone who checks that record.

Promise to sell or title deed at handover

A promise-to-sell agreement is a step towards the title deed, not a replacement for it. The tapu, issued by the Land Registry (Tapu Müdürlüğü), is the document that records ownership. Depending on the project, the deed may be transferred to you during construction, often as Kat İrtifakı, or at handover once the building is complete. When the occupancy permit (İskan) is issued, the deeds in the building can be converted to Kat Mülkiyeti, the full title for an individual apartment. Our articles on Kat İrtifakı and on the İskan explain these stages in detail.

In practice, two moments matter. The first is the signature of the promise-to-sell agreement, when your right to the home is recorded. The second is the transfer of the title deed, when the home is registered in your name. Ask the seller to state in the agreement when and how the deed will be transferred, and keep a copy of every document you sign.

Citizenship with a home under construction

A home under construction can also be used for Turkish citizenship by investment. In that case the notarised promise-to-sell agreement takes the place of the title deed and carries the same three-year commitment not to sell the property. On our citizenship page it is listed among the main documents of the file, together with the valuation report and the DAB certificate, which shows that the payment was made in foreign currency. The minimum investment and the other requirements are the same as for a completed home and are set out on that page. The conditions are per current law and may change.

What to check before you sign

Before signing, read the draft agreement with someone you trust, ideally a lawyer, and check that it names the exact home you chose, the total price and the currency, the payment schedule, and the delivery date with what happens if it changes. Ask who the developer is, what they have already delivered, and whether you can see the project on site. If you are buying for citizenship, say so at the start, so that the agreement and the payments are prepared with the citizenship file in mind. Among the projects we offer, CasaBlu Vadi in Beylikdüzü, Hayat Flora in Küçükçekmece and Referans Pendik on the Asian side of Istanbul are under construction with homes on sale, and all three are eligible for Turkish citizenship. Ask our team how each one handles the sale agreement and the transfer of the title deed before you choose.

HADARA, your real estate partner in Istanbul, can walk you through each document and the order in which it is signed. Contact us or book a private video tour to choose the home that interests you, then visit Istanbul to see it in person and sign.