The number of unregistered real estate agents in Didim is now double that of registered ones, according to the head of the seaside resort town's main real estate body.
Hoping to purchase residences in Turkey, many British citizens began to move to Didim, located in the province of Aydın, starting in 2003, following the approval of a bill that allowed for property sales to foreigners. This process, in turn, boosted the real estate and construction sectors in the region.
The improvements in the real estate and construction sectors also brought about some severe problems, however, including urban sprawl, lack of inspection and rent-seeking tendencies, said Osman Coşkun, head of the Chamber of Didim Real Estate Agents, adding that the number of real estate agents in the district skyrocketed as a direct result of the developments in the sector.
Coşkun underlined that there are 2,000 real estate agents in the region, 680 of whom are registered members of the chamber. “Those who took notice of the potential of the sector and profitable rents in the sector started to work in the real estate sector. For instance, those who used to work as waiters in the bars or retired people began to work as real estate agents,” Coşkun said. “These people do not pay taxes as they do not have any institutional basis and this situation in turn paved the way for the rise in lawlessness in the sector and greater tendency to circumvent the necessary rules of registration,” he added.
“The acts of these people result in serious disputes between those who sell and purchase real estate. These unregistered real estate agents arrange fake land titles and obtain unlawful profits from these unacceptable acts,” Coşkun said. “These unregistered real estate agents dupe the Brits as they trick them into purchasing the residences prior to going to land registry offices. People residing in Didim lose their confidence in the real estate agents who pay their taxes on a regular basis in the aftermath of all these cases,” he added.
“We receive 3 percent legal commission from each sale, while unregistered real estate agents take a lot higher than this value,” said Coşkun, adding that unregistered real estate agents who sell one house sometimes earn more than the registered ones who sell 10 houses.
Coşkun noted that unregistered real estate agents grab 60 percent of the real estate revenues in the region due to high commission. “The Brits are also attracted by the highly profitable real estate sector in the region and some of them begin to work as real estate agents in the aftermath of their partnerships with the Turks,” Coşkun said. “Approximately 50 British citizens operate as real estate agents in Didim at the moment. The fact that a British citizen who works as a real estate agent paid the highest income tax in the region in 2005 reveals the scope of the rents in the sector.”
Coşkun also underlined that his organization has been working hard to be able to overcome the lack of organization in the sector and set certain legal standards. “Anybody who undertakes the necessary legal responsibilities and pays their taxes regularly can become real estate agents,” said Coşkun of the current situation
