Agency commission is the most argued-over line in a Turkish property transaction, and the one foreign owners are most often quoted incorrectly. Some buyers ask why they are paying at all; some sellers assume the buyer covers everything. The reality is more defined than most people expect: both the rates and the question of who pays sit inside a written regulatory framework.

This guide sets out the ceilings drawn by the Turkish real-estate trading regulation, what happens in the market, and what you should be receiving in exchange for the fee you pay.

Estate agency service fees in Turkey are governed by the Regulation on Real Estate Trading, and there are two core rules.

On a sale: the service fee cannot exceed 4% of the sale price, plus VAT. That figure is the ceiling on the total taken from buyer and seller combined. Unless the contract states otherwise, it is split equally between the parties: 2% + VAT from the buyer, 2% + VAT from the seller.

On a letting: the service fee cannot exceed one month's rent, plus VAT, and it is charged once only. No further commission can be demanded in later years simply because the contract renewed.

Two further conditions matter as much as the rates. The fee can only be claimed if it rests on a written service agreement, and it is earned only when the transaction completes. Taking a full commission from both sides so that the combined total exceeds the ceiling is contrary to the regulation, whatever the parties are told.

Who pays: the rule and the market reality

The rule says equal split; the market negotiates. Three patterns appear in practice:

  1. Standard: on a sale, the buyer pays 2% and the seller 2%, plus VAT. The most common and most balanced model.
  2. One side pays: one party takes on the whole fee, agreed in writing. An owner wanting a fast sale might, for example, position the listing as "no commission for the buyer" and absorb the fee.
  3. On lettings: the one-month fee is most often charged to the tenant. Where the work is active marketing, screening and contract management on the owner's behalf, the contract can place the fee on the owner or split it.

A worked example. On a flat sold for ₺8,000,000, the total commission ceiling is ₺320,000 + VAT. Split equally, buyer and seller each pay ₺160,000 + 20% VAT = ₺192,000. On a flat let at ₺40,000 a month, the service fee is at most ₺40,000 + VAT = ₺48,000.

The licence number: ask before you negotiate

Businesses trading in real estate in Turkey are required to hold a Real Estate Trading Licence (Taşınmaz Ticareti Yetki Belgesi). Intermediation by unlicensed individuals is subject to administrative sanction — and, more practically, leaves you with nobody accountable when something goes wrong. Asking for the office's licence number and checking the verification badges on the listing portals takes thirty seconds. Ours is published in the footer of every page on this site.

Equally, stay away from transactions run on "declare this at the registry, pay the rest in cash" arrangements. The tax exposure created by under-declaring the price costs far more than any commission argument — we set out the arithmetic in declaring the real sale price at the title deed.

What the commission should buy you

A commission is a fee for a service, not a charge for opening a door. On a sale, the minimum that service should cover:

  • Correct pricing: a value analysis based on comparable completed sales and current market data. A listing opened at an emotional price sits for months and then settles below what it was worth.
  • Preparation and presentation: professional photography, well-written listing copy, and advice on the small fixes worth making first.
  • Marketing: visibility on the listing portals, promotion to the office's own buyer register, and pre-screening of serious buyers.
  • Process management: organising viewings, running the negotiation, the deposit and preliminary agreement stage, and full follow-through to the land registry appointment and transfer day.

On a letting, income and background checks on the candidate, a properly constructed contract, the deposit and the handover inventory should all be part of the service. You can see how we run those steps on our services page.

If an agent is not delivering most of these, questioning the fee is entirely legitimate. The reverse is also true: the price difference and time saved by an agent who does the job properly is usually several times the commission. In the Istanbul market, the gap between a flat marketed at the right price and one left sitting at the wrong one routinely dwarfs the fee being argued about.

What the service agreement should say

Almost every commission dispute traces back to an agreement that was never signed, or was signed incomplete. Before you sign, check that the document contains:

  • The rate or amount of the fee, and whether VAT is included
  • Who pays, and at which stage (on the deposit, or at the land registry)
  • The term and scope of the agreement: which property, which transaction
  • An explicit clause that no fee arises if the transaction does not complete
  • The licence number and the business's details

There is also a choice of model. Under an open listing, the property circulates through several offices. This looks like competition, but in practice no office commits full effort to it, and the result is duplicated listings and inconsistent pricing. Under a sole mandate, the office carries the marketing cost and the responsibility — in exchange for which you are entitled to regular reporting and a sensible time limit. We do not require exclusivity to take a property on, but whichever model you choose, the same property circulating at different prices through different offices is an open invitation to be negotiated down. Set the price discipline at the start.

Invoices and the VAT detail

You are entitled to an invoice for the fee you pay, and the agent is obliged to issue one. The invoice is written evidence if the amount is later disputed. It is also the precondition for owners declaring rental income under the actual-expense method to deduct the letting intermediation fee at all, which matters if you are filing a rental income tax return in Turkey.

"I'll add VAT if you want an invoice" is a proposition to refuse: VAT is part of the price of a service that should have been quoted inclusive of it. Settle whether the rate under discussion is VAT-inclusive or exclusive at the very start of the conversation, not at the signing table.

Three questions we are asked constantly

If the sale falls through, is commission payable? As a rule, no. The fee is earned when the transaction that the agreement covers completes. Viewings alone do not create a commission.

I found the buyer myself — do I still pay? If you transacted with a buyer entirely of your own finding, who was not a registered client of the agent, the fee is arguable. But if the buyer came through the agent's listing or viewing, cutting the agent out breaches the agreement and, when litigated, generally goes the agent's way.

Is the commission negotiable? Any figure below the ceiling can be freely agreed. What matters is that the agreed amount, and who pays it, are fixed in a written agreement at the start of the work rather than at the end.

What Turc Global charges

Since the question is asked on every first call, the answer is on the page rather than in a quote:

  • On a sale: 2% + VAT from the seller, which is the seller's half of the statutory ceiling; depending on the deal, the buyer may pay the other half. Nothing up front; nothing if the sale does not complete. The service page: sell your Istanbul property from abroad.
  • On a letting: one month's rent + VAT, paid by the tenant, only when the letting completes.
  • Ongoing management: 5% or 10% of the rent actually collected, plus VAT, with no fee while the flat is empty. The worked example is on the management fees page.

The first step is knowing the number

A commission percentage only means something applied to a correct sale price. Without knowing what your property is realistically worth today, you cannot sensibly discuss either the fee or your negotiating room. If you are thinking about selling or letting, start with a free valuation — we put the figures on the table first. If you are selling from outside Turkey, the practical sequence, including the power of attorney, is in selling your Istanbul property from abroad.