A considered way to buy from abroad

We came with one thing in mind. Turkish citizenship for my family. iCanBuy took the property valuation, the legal file and every appointment off my hands, and eight months later my wife, my children and I were holding our passports. In all that time I flew in twice.

The founder is a lawyer himself. For me that settled it. Every paper in our citizenship file went through his own hands, and when the ministry came back wanting one more document, his team had it ready inside the week.

First time investing in Istanbul, so I had braced for the hard sell. It never came. I got comparisons instead, honest numbers, and someone telling me plainly that a project I liked was wrong for me. Because of that one sentence, I trusted the project they did recommend.

They went to the developer directly, and the price I signed at came in under the published figure. I ask a lot of questions. Every one of them got an answer, and at the reservation, at the contract and at the Tapu I always knew exactly which step we were on.

I bought three years ago. They still answer within the hour. They furnished the apartment, they found the tenant, and the rent lands every month while I sit here in Riyadh. No one promises you that part before you buy.

After handover they sorted the utility registrations and the tax number, all the things I had no way of doing from abroad. Later I wanted something larger, so they sold the first apartment for me as well. Same team, beginning to end.

We looked at three companies before choosing. The one we picked keeps its citizenship files in the founder's own office, and he is a lawyer, so ours never went out to anybody else. My wife and I signed everything in one short visit. The rest happened while we were back home in Kuwait.

I buy property in three countries. I know a seller from an adviser. They told me which floor to avoid and gave me the reason why, then negotiated a payment plan I have never seen published anywhere. My friends get sent to them.

Buying in another country sat heavy on me until the first meeting. They put the whole thing on one page for me. What I pay, when I pay it, which paper comes back to me each time. Nothing ever happened that was not written there. For my family that meant everything.

From the viewing to the Tapu took under a month, and the residence permit application went in straight after. Then my parents came to visit, and someone from the team went out to meet them at the project. Nobody had asked for that. They just do it.

We wanted somewhere near the sea and none of the horror stories you read about buying in Turkey. Every document arrived translated before we signed a thing. The money went through our own bank. The deed says precisely what we were told it would say. Dull from start to finish, and we mean that as the highest compliment.

I have not been back since the handover. I have not needed to be. The apartment is let, the statements arrive every month, and when the boiler packed up the repair was booked before I had opened my eyes. Managing a place from London ought to be harder than this.