Title deed transfer: appointment and documents

The transfer of ownership takes place at the land registry, at an appointment where all parties attend and the deed is signed. It is short, and it is the point at which any unresolved problem stops everything.

Who has to be there

Buyer and seller, or their representatives holding a power of attorney that names the transaction. A general authority is regularly refused here, and the registry says so at the counter rather than beforehand.

⚠ Where you do not speak Turkish, a sworn interpreter attends and signs the record. Without one the appointment does not proceed.

⭐ Which interpreter the registry accepts

This is the practical detail that catches people. Land registry directorates work with sworn translators on their own terms, and not every translator is accepted at every directorate.

Ask which directorate your appointment is at, and confirm in advance that the translator you are bringing can act there. A translator turned away at the counter costs you the appointment slot, not just an hour.

What to bring

• Passport, with its sworn translation where it is not in the Latin alphabet
• Turkish tax number
• Photographs, in the number the registry specifies
• The valuation report, compulsory earthquake insurance and the municipal value document
• Any power of attorney, with its translation and certification if issued abroad

The Turkish documents in that list are not translated. Only the passport and a foreign power of attorney are.

What happens at the appointment

The deed is read, the parties confirm they understand it, the interpreter interprets it where required, and everyone signs. The registry then issues the new title deed.

Payment and the record

How payment is made and how it is reflected in the record is a matter to settle with your lawyer beforehand. It is not a translation question, but it is the one people most often leave until the day.

Where this fits

The wider purchase is on buying property as a foreigner, and the interpreter rule on interpreter at the land registry.

If something is wrong on the day

Appointments are refused for small reasons: a missing photograph, a tax number not yet issued, a power of attorney worded too broadly, an insurance policy that has lapsed. None of them is serious in itself and all of them cost the slot.

Go through the list with your lawyer or agent two or three days beforehand rather than the night before, so that anything missing can still be obtained in working hours.