The idea of buying a property in Istanbul, whether for housing or investment, is a good idea that has met with increasing demand over all the past years, and it is not possible to limit the data of customers who own real estate in Istanbul, as they are from different nationalities that include the six continents of the world, with different and varied goals, they also have different budgets, some of them are looking for a simple property at a price of less than $100.000, and some of them are investing in luxury properties overlooking the Bosphorus with a budget of several million dollars.
Istanbul is a big city that spans both the continents of Asia and Europe and includes 39 different municipalities, so how can you choose the best location to buy real estate in Istanbul?
If we look in detail at the 39 municipalities shown in the map below, we will feel that the right choice requires a long study to understand the pros and cons of each of them.
Here comes the role of Right Home, which has specialized in real estate consulting since 2012, to simplify the process and help you choose the right property for you, given that we cover more than 550 new projects in Istanbul alone.
But before we talk about the regions, the client who wants to own property must first specify the following points:
1- Is your goal of buying a residential property, an investment property, or a summer vacation home?
Although this question is the cornerstone on which the sensitive real estate selection process depends, we encounter daily many clients who want to own property without developing a clear plan about the property they want to obtain, and it is not surprising because most of the advertising content that real estate brokerage companies publish revolves around a specific project or one real estate, and thus the interaction of customers is by asking about this project or offer without first checking if it is suitable for the primary purpose of purchase.
The residential property has specifications that are completely different from the investment property, and in some cases, there are properties suitable for housing and investment at the same time. We will give basic points to distinguish each type.
Residential property specifications:
- It has a size and number of rooms suitable for your family.
- It has a location that suits your activities in Istanbul (it could be the center of Istanbul, and the areas far from the center could be suitable for you).
- The more apartments there are in the project and the surrounding area, the more services, and shops there will be to fully meet your needs.
- It doesn't matter how easy it is to resell it later.
Investment property specifications:
- The area and the number of rooms do not have priority in choosing the property.
- It must be located in a strategic location with demand for ease of leasing with the highest return.
- The fewer the number of apartments, the higher the demand, whether for rent or resale later.
- Ease of resale is very essential in investment real estate.
Specifications of the property in order to spend the summer holidays.
- As for the location of the property, it depends on your preferences. Some like to be in the center of Istanbul, which is full of markets and entertainment places and crowded at the same time, while others prefer to have a quiet country house near the sea.
- It must be spacious to provide a measure of luxury that hotels do not provide.
Returning to the points that the customer must specify before talking about the areas of Istanbul...
2- Are you interested in obtaining Turkish citizenship?
Today, the Turkish government offers the opportunity to obtain Turkish citizenship for free when buying a property (or a group of properties) with a value of at least $400.000 and a pledge not to sell it for a period of 3 years.
The important thing here is to know that the price of the property has nothing to do with whether it is suitable for Turkish citizenship or not, because obtaining citizenship is free when the condition is met.
3- Do you have a specific date to visit Istanbul?
Real estate prices in new projects, especially under construction, change every 15 days, and every month. Therefore, if your plan to visit Istanbul will not be two months before the date of your search, this search will be a matter of information only, and today's offers cannot be approved to find them on real after two months.
We advise you to tell the real estate consultant about the approximate date of your arrival, whether it is near or far. This will help us set a schedule for sharing information and offers with you in an accurate and useful way.
4- Do you have a specific budget that you do not want to exceed?
If you do not have a prior idea about real estate prices and you do not have a specific budget limit, you can ask our real estate consultant to give a general idea so that you can choose the appropriate budget for you.
But if your budget is limited, it is better to indicate this from the beginning so that only the offers that are suitable for you are shared, if any.
If you have an open budget and have announced to the real estate consultant only half of it, for example... this will completely change the course of the process and lead you to a place that is not the best for you.
Real estate prices change greatly according to the location of each property, and therefore, for example, if you have a budget of 400 thousand dollars and you want a residential apartment with 3 rooms, but you told the real estate consultant that your budget is 200 thousand dollars, then he will choose a middle area of Istanbul that is 20 km away from the center, while if you announce the full budget would have offered you offers in the center of Istanbul that would undoubtedly be more suitable for you.
5- Do you have prior knowledge about the areas of Istanbul?
If you really have enough prior knowledge, you can immediately discuss with the real estate consultant which areas you would be interested in.
But if you do not have prior knowledge, here we will talk about the regions of Istanbul in a simple way:
Istanbul extends between the continents of Europe and Asia and is separated by the famous Bosphorus Strait. To facilitate a simplified explanation of the regions of Istanbul, we will talk about the European side, and the same words will almost match the Asian side.
The first central sector shown above.
The closer they are to the center of Istanbul (the Bosphorus Strait), the more prestigious the areas are, and they have a higher demand because new projects in the central sector are few (especially in the areas with red circles, Sisli, Beyoglu, Maslak and the coastline in the south).
Therefore, it is the best sector for investment because reselling it is easier than other sectors and leasing it can be of the highest feasibility.
It is worth noting that the areas in the red circles are the best in it, but at the same time, the distinctive new properties in it start from more than 300 thousand dollars to reach several million dollars for large apartments with direct views of the Bosphorus.
For this reason, there are central, but internal areas for those with budgets less than 300 thousand dollars and still want to obtain an investment or residential property in the center of Istanbul, such as Kagithane (Alibeykoy), Eyup, Topkapi, Gaziosmanpasa, and the inner areas of Zeytinburnu.
We now turn to the second sector:
It includes the middle areas of Istanbul, the most important of which is Basaksehir and Basin Express Street, which passes through several municipalities such as Kucukcekmece (it has lake views), the municipalities of Bagcilar, Bahcelievler, and parts of Bakirkoy.
The general feature in the Basaksehir area is residential, as it includes many large projects ready for housing, and it has distinguished services and strong infrastructure. At the same time, it is close to the new Istanbul Airport, and it has a few new investment projects.
The general feature of real estate on Basin Express Street is long-term investment through the rental income, as it includes a lot of ready-made properties, but at the same time it has an attractive strategic location.
Kucukcekmece is predominantly residential, as it includes quiet neighborhoods and integrated services.
We now move to the third sector in western Istanbul:
It mainly includes the municipalities of Avcilar, Esenyurt, Beylikduzu, and Buyukcekmece.
It is considered the cheapest sector among the three sectors that we talked about.
In Beylikduzu and Buyukcekmece there are some properties with sea views.
Bahcesehir district includes a lot of green spaces.
Esenyurt is the cheapest municipality in European Istanbul.
In order for the article not to be too long, we can say that Asian Istanbul can also be divided into sectors such as European Istanbul.
You can always get free real estate advice by contacting us.
