Private Client Investor Residential Mortgage Finance Services
Client Profile
Complications
Application Risks
Risk Assessment
Cadastral Due Diligence
Contracts
Payment Procedures
Appraised Value Management
Foreign Exchange Rate Accounting
Debt Servicing Capacity
Investment Finance Budgeting
Supporting Documents
Application Structuring
Application Procedure
Document Requirements
Next Steps
Documents Verifying Income
Tax-Optimised Income & High Net Worth Individuals
Documents Evidencing Acceptable Property Collateral
Sales Contracts
"Decisions in Principle"
"Sorry, you don't qualify"
"Blind Routing"
Hazard Warnings
Mortgage Closing Actions
Mortgage Doctor
BEWARE: The Track Record of UK Overseas Mortgage Pirates in Turkey
What We Do
Building Trusted Relationships is Building our Business

Private Client Investor Residential Mortgage Finance Services is a fully disclosed service for complex mortgage applications available only from Castle Finance, based on our 25 years of expertise in Turkey arranging cross border real estate finance, tax, legal matters, planning permits, etc - covering the complete range of issues required to obtain a mortgage in Turkey.

Client Profile: Is this service for you? The clients that use this service typically have the following in common:
    ● They appreciate the value of professional advice and are accustomed to dealing with professional advisors such as attorneys, accountants and investment managers and prepared to pay for such advice and services in order to reduce costs, risks, and complications that can occur later.
    ● They have demanding requirements and are not easily mislead by smooth fast talking salespersons;
    ● They have typically purchased several properties in one or more countries and are experienced investors often with large property portfolios.
    ● They are high income earners or high net worth individuals that apply tax optimisation strategies in one or more jurisdictions, and hence their personal financial documentation isa little more complex;
    ● They are often seeking to maximise their investment performance by leveraging equity;

Complications: Obtaining a mortgage in Turkey is complicated- anyone telling you differently is either misleading you or doesn’t know themselves. This is the reality – at Castle Finance we manage the complications from start to finish – right through to title transfer and payment of the loan proceeds to your developer.

Application Risks: Castle Finance provides the only full and comprehensive range of in-house services to deal with all aspects of mortgage applications and property purchase transactions in Turkey for non-Turkish residential home purchasers. Please ask for the document “What We Do”. No bank, law firm, broker, or estate agent or management company has this range of in-house expertise- and many of the foregoing rely on Castle Finance. This experience enables Castle Finance to manage all complications on your mortgage application and property purchase transaction from start to finish. For example, there is little point focusing on mortgage interest rates in the beginning, if your application is likely to fail at the very end – because the cadastral due diligence has not been completed at the beginning- (the most common cause of failure).

Risk Assessment: Your mortgage finance requirements receive a complete Risk Assessment covering each of the main reasons why Turkish mortgage applications with UK Overseas mortgage brokers and banks in Turkey usually fail “at the last minute”. The advantage of this service is that any problems that are likely to occur are identified and managed in advance, thus avoiding failure, saving costs, speeding up the process, and preventing you from getting into a position of risk (and stress! - which occurs when you discover you can not get a mortgage to meet your purchase payment obligations on a specific date). This service is paid for at the outset so that all necessary actions can be planned and taken in advance to ensure all the following risks are assessed and managed effectively so that your mortgage application will not fail:

    ● Cadastral Due Diligence: The property title, permits, and legal compliance to ensure the property is eligible for PRIME mortgage finance terms
    ● Contracts: The property purchase contract to comply with standard contract law and procedures at land registries and notaries
    ● Payment Procedures and proof of down payment documentation to comply with anti-money laundering regulations
    ● Appraised Value Management (AVS) services to ensure the valuation is maximised in order to qualify for the maximum loan-to-value and mortgage amount
    ● Foreign Exchange Rate Accounting
    ● Debt Servicing Capacity DSC (Borrowing Affordability Analysis – 14 lenders policies)
    ● Investment Finance Budgeting
    ● Supporting Documents: personal financial, tax, & transaction documents (14 lenders policies)
    ● Application Structuring based on the risks above

Cadastral Due Diligence: Every property that is being used as collateral for a PRIME mortgage loan, must fully comply with all legal requirements – which among other things, includes permits and permissions. It is not unusual to learn that certain properties are not fully compliant- despite assurances provided by estate agents, developers, and solicitors referred to you by developers or agents. A property that is not fully compliant will not be eligible to receive a PRIME mortgage. Castle Finance provides an Assessment of legal compliance. Before signing a contract or paying any deposit monies a buyer is advised to receive this Assessment.

Application Procedure: UK and overseas brokers may like you to think that applying for a Turkish mortgage is the same as applying for a mortgage in the UK, but in reality the process and the procedures are different. Following UK practices leads to a high rate of failure in Turkey. For this reason the Castle Finance has designed the application process to fit the Turkish circumstances, and to provide the client with the highest prospects of success. This is why the Castle Finance leads the industry with the highest rate of successful mortgage fulfillment in Turkey - currently 92-95% of all applications.

The procedures for processing your application are simple and straight forward but you should not expect matters to proceed as they do in the UK. For example, in the UK there is a fairly standard conveyance process used by banks and solicitors. But this is not the case in Turkey- and we take a leading role coordinating the loan closing activities - essential to successfully obtaining a mortgage. This is why we say that it is not enough simply to talk about mortgage interest rates, valuations, or loan percentages, as most UK brokers do - the finance has to be DELIVERED - and Castle Finance is the only organization with the presence, networks, and know-how to do so.

There are number of procedures used by UK and overseas mortgage brokers that are simply misleading. The first relates to off-plan finance. If you are offered off-plan finance, insist on the name and contact details of the lender, or ask us - we know just about every development on the coast and in Istanbul.

Another example is the practice of providing a "Decision in Principle" or an "Offer in Principle". Both are simply meaningless, and have no relevance in Turkey, compared to the way the terms are used for mortgage applications in the UK. The only meaningful offer of a mortgage in Turkey is a contractual offer. Beware any organization offering you a decision in principle or an offer in principle, or requesting payment upon receipt of such an offer.

The safest course to obtaining a Turkish Mortgage is with Castle Finance. We reduce risks through-out the process to ensure the job gets done - and the finance is delivered. There are different service offerings we provide based on different circumstances. We don't advertise these procedures widely because the information is simply copied by UK and overseas mortgage brokers but the services are not performed - because they can not perform them - they don't speak Turkish, they don't know how Turkish property law and land registries work, they don't know how to execute the required Turkish documentation. We know, because we deal with a large number of investors whose mortgage applications to UK and overseas mortgage brokers have failed. Rest assured, if you pre-qualify, we will succeed together...

Document Requirements What documents are needed to support your Turkish Mortgage Application?

The simple answer is that it depends on which mortgage product you want. Each mortgage applicant's personal financial circumstances are different. Each mortgage lender's credit policy, document requirements, and eligibility criteria are different.

The documents you can provide to support your mortgage application will determine which Turkish mortgage products you are eligible for. Don't be mislead by fast talking sales persons describing great deals on mortgage loan interest rates and loan-to-value. If you do not have the documents to qualify for such products, promises of great deals are irrelevant.

No worries - our business is to make the process simple for you to get it "right first time". Castle Finance is the only organisation that works with every cross border Turkish mortgage lender in the market today (at last count over 10), and this means we succeed in providing a mortgage where other organisations fail. It also means that if you have the full set of supporting documents, we can provide you with the most advantageous choice of mortgage terms available in the market today. This is an important consideration - the difference between a 20 year loan at 6% and at 7.5% will amount to 10,000 over the life of the loan - a considerable savings!

However, if you do not have all documents, we can identify a mortgage product for you based on the documents you do have. For example, if you have three years of year end tax statements, you may qualify for the most advantageous terms and best interest rates. However if you only have one year end tax statement, we can still identify a mortgage product for you - it may not be at the most favourable interest rate, but there may be different currency choices where interest rates are more attractive.

The important issue is to identify exactly what documents are available, and the numbers they show, at the very beginning of the process. Obtaining a "decision in principle" without examination of the documents and numbers is meaningless.

If you are not eligible for a mortgage with a particular lender, or with the one or two lenders a UK overseas mortgage broker is using, it doesn't mean you can not get a Turkish mortgage, it just means that you can not get a mortgage from that lender or broker.

Next Steps: For most people, if they want to choose between the best mortgage products, maximum loan value, and lowest interest rates, they should provide as much of the documentation as possible. - because the documents you have will determine which Turkish mortgage products, interest rates, and loan values you are eligible for. It really is that simple.

Documents Verifying Income: Irrespective of which country the applicant earns income in, there are generally two forms of documentation required to verify income: The first are statements from a tax authority in that country, or other official government agency, such as a social security administration. For example, for salaried employees in the UK these are P60s and in the USA these are W2s. The second are statements or receipts from the employer or business that is providing the income. These typically are monthly pay slips or accounts and an employer's or accountant's reference letter.

In this way we can verify the income of applicants from many countries. For applicants that work outside their home country or in countries where there is no tax payable, such as the United Arab Emirates, and applicants whose employers apply tax equalisation, we can advise on the documents required to verify income in a similar manner.

Tax-Optimised Income & High Net Worth Individuals: The principals of Castle Finance have extensive experience in the private banking and wealth management professions. This expertise is essential in advising Turkish mortgage lenders on the documentation acceptable for persons with tax-optimised income, royalty, underwriting, investment and other sources of income received by high earners and high net worth individuals. Often such individuals find that rather than prove income with documentation, they are happy to obtain a mortgage at a lower percentage of the property value. Specifically for such circumstances Castle Finance has originated a mortgage product that requires no proof of income for a maximum loan of 50% of the property valuation. Additional products coupled with investment products are also available upon request.

Documents Evidencing Acceptable Property Collateral: Permits and permissions in Turkey are a complex area requiring specialised insight into Turkish law, taxes, construction standards, and cadastral procedures at land registries. Generally Turkish mortgages are granted upon receipt of all necessary permits and permissions evidencing clear property title fit for purpose. This includes the military permission for purchase of property by foreigners, for applicants from certain countries will also require a Police residency permit, and generally a building habitation license. However in specific circumstances mortgages are assignable prior to granting of certain permissions. Rather than require that an applicant obtain the various documents from different parties, most applicants prefer to rely on our expertise and leave matters to us, so we request full contact details of the seller or developer they are buying the property from, and in some cases an applicants solicitor or estate agent may be requested to assist upon our instructions.

Sales Contracts: Often the sales contract between the seller and the buyer may technically need to be revised in order to comply with Turkish mortgage legislation and specific lenders underwriting policies. Among the contractual issues of relevance that sometimes arise include advance payment amounts, declared value, tax payments, the sellers performance with regards to permits & permissions, and the timing of title transfer. These issues effect your eligibility and the mortgage products available to you. For these reasons it is strongly advised to obtain our advice on, or to obtain from us, a property purchase contract that will be acceptable to lenders requirements for mortgage purposes.

Hazards: Many applicants dealing with certain Turkish lenders and most UK overseas mortgage brokers are disappointed to learn after receiving "decisions in principle" and paying fees and supplying their documents that they are not eligible for the great mortgage deals, high loan values, and low interest rates they were promised.

"Decisions in principle" are a mis-leading tactic that provide absolutely no indication or assurance that you will qualify for or receive a mortgage. Avoid any UK overseas mortgage broker using this misleading tactic of offering you a "decision in principle" - such practice is solely for the purpose of convincing you to pay a fee, but has absolutely no value to you as the mortgage applicant.

In many cases it is not uncommon to find that after months of waiting an applicant has received no contractual mortgage loan offer. This is because many UK overseas mortgage brokers can not deal with the Turkish lenders' requests, translations, and explanations in Turkish, and haven't charged enough to cover their costs of doing so, and as a result what do they do?

One widespread tactic is to simply keep asking the applicant for more and more documents until the client in frustration has no more to give - and then the broker or lender says "sorry, you don't qualify".

And it gets worse- UK overseas mortgage brokers imagine they can manage Turkish mortgage applications as simply and just like an application in the UK or one of the other 50 countries they claim to provide mortgages in - as if this was realistically possible. In reality many simply just send your bundle of documents to one lender without even photocopying - this is known as "Blind Routing" - so obviously when it comes to keeping track of which documents they have provided or are still outstanding, they simply haven't got a clue- and they just wash their hands of the business- so much for your application...!

Regrettably these practices are widespread - we know because we have many applicants that have suffered these experiences and inevitably come to us asking for help - usually at the last moment!

We do our best to simplify the complexities of mortgage applications, but over simplification can be misleading, and ultimately we rely on full disclosure for complex cases, because honesty is the best policy in keeping with our objective of building trusted relationships and thus building our business.

Getting it tight first time is important. Don't be mislead by fast talk and low fees. It will cost you more in the end. Why mess around with the rest when you can start with the best?

Hazard Warnings: The following advice has saved Castle Finance clients hundreds, thousands, and hundreds of thousands.... Three minutes of your time is a small price to pay to protect your investment capital. Please read on...

Our mission at Castle Finance is not to sell property, not to sell mortgages, nor to tell you whatever it is you want to hear, in order to part you with your money. Regrettably, that is exactly what you will encounter most of the time, especially if you have been using an internet search engine for your research...the pirates are there, waiting for you...

Obtaining a mortgage in Turkey is complicated- anyone telling you differently is either misleading you or doesn't know themselves. This is the reality - at Turkish Mortgage Centre we manage the complications from start to finish - right through to title transfer and payment of the loan proceeds to your developer.

Please read on...

Warning signs to avoid:

Beware ANY "guaranteed loan offer" - simply go elsewhere..
Beware advice that misleads you with assurances that a "decision in principle", "offer in principle" or "conditional loan offer" will result in a mortgage - or guarantees you a mortgage (it does NOT) - this is only the first step - and most Turkish mortgages failures occur near the end of the process.
Beware brokers quoting you interest rates in one currency and repayment amounts in another.
Beware any UK overseas mortgage broker that assures you with claims that they are regulated by the FSA, AIPP, etc- Turkish mortgages are overseas mortgages and are unregulated, even if the broker itself is regulated by the FSA for UK mortgages.
Beware promises of off-plan finance - ask for the name and contact details of the lender.
Beware brokers requesting large sums in payment of valuation fees.
Beware promises of excellent interest rates and LTVs and low or no fees - such promises are rarely fulfilled.
Beware an insistence to make a down payment or pay a reservation deposit before having the property title deeds checked (Ask TMC to check).
Beware solicitors referred by the seller or his agents, and likewise beware the contracts offered.
Beware Power of Attorney contracts that authorise your lawyer or some other third party to generally place a mortgage on your property, open a bank account in your name, take money out of your bank account, and generally do as they please with your bank account ad infinitum.

Mortgage Closing Actions: Obtaining a mortgage in Turkey is complicated- anyone telling you differently is either misleading you or doesn't know themselves. This is the reality - at Castle Finance we manage the complications from start to finish - right through to title transfer and payment of the loan proceeds to your developer.

Castle Finance manage all Mortgage Closing Actions and are the only organisation with the complete range of in-house services to get the job done - in the UK such procedures are standardised for banks, solicitors, and developers to proceed reasonably smoothly - but not so in Turkey- the details of each step of the process need to be managed to avoid risks.

Mortgage Doctor: Every week Castle Finance receive dozens of enquires from foreign property buyers that encounter various problems with UK based overseas mortgage brokers, Turkish banks, agents, developers, and solicitors. Be warned, once you have been mired in a problem with a UK based overseas mortgage pirate, your application is unlikely to receive a second look by a credible PRIME mortgage lender. We have listened to several horror stories of how clients that had received mortgage offers, at the last minute failed to obtain their mortgages or received something different than they had been informed at the outset:

Mr B: "...we found a property and thought we had a good mortgage broker and after paying them we found out that they have gone into liquidation."

Mr. S: " ...the mortgage broker arranged a loan with a bank, but then for some reason that has never been explained, neither of them could get the loan put on the property."

Mr. U: "...I received my mortgage offer but then the bank wouldn't release the mortgage unless I paid them £2,000 to open a bank account, and between the bank and the developer they could not agree how to transfer the property, put on the mortgage, and pay the mortgage money..."

Mr. V: "...I got to the bank just now to finalise everything and get the money and the bank are now saying they have to deduct £5,000 tax and £1,000 fees from the mortgage money...!"

Several People: "...I gave a power of attorney to a solicitor and instead of getting a mortgage at 7% they signed me onto a mortgage at 12% without telling me..."

BEWARE: The Track Record of UK Overseas Mortgage Pirates in Turkey
● Four UK based overseas mortgage brokers have gone into liquidation or been sold because of financial problems resulting from their inability to cope with the challenges of doing business in Turkey
● A different three UK based overseas mortgage brokers have closed down and don't answer their phones from time to time after being hounded by clients for misleading practices and failures in Turkey
● Every six months there are two or three new UK based overseas mortgage brokers entering the Turkish market, and six months later the results are the same - there are now more than a dozen UK overseas mortgage brokers that started doing business in Turkey but no longer do so actively - because the mortgage business in Turkey is not as simple or standardized as they were expecting...and they do not have the local knowledge, skills, or experience to cope.

Many of these brokers provide a credible service in other markets and their web pages still appear on internet Search Engines...

AND they will still take your money for a Turkish mortgage application!!!!

What We Do: For international buyers of Turkish property, our mission at Castle Finance is to obtain the best mortgage terms available for each specific case at the lowest cost and with the least risk. There is no comparable service available - if you definitely want a mortgage for a Turkish property now, please follow the next step by clicking here.

Our mission at Castle Finance is not to sell property, not to sell mortgages, nor to tell you whatever it is you want to hear, in order to part you with your money. Regrettably, that is exactly what you will encounter most of the time, especially if you have been using an internet search engine for your research. Every week we assist dozens of property purchasers that have fallen victim to misleading sales tactics of UK based overseas mortgage brokers, developers, agents, and solicitors. We alerted you to some of these hazards above. Why do we do this? We do this because the investment merits of Turkey speak for themselves - there is no need for unscrupulous business practices- instead, such practices undermine the integrity of the market, merely for the short term gain of opportunistic pirates looking to part you from your funds.

We believe that everyone concerned would benefit from obtaining all the information needed to be fully informed, in order to make fully informed decisions. This is important because mortgage finance in Turkey is not as simple as in other countries- and UK overseas mortgage pirates do not have the knowledge of Turkish construction permitting, zoning regulations, property law, contract law, mortgage law, banking procedures, cross border tax documentation, anti-money laundering regulations, land registry procedures, local language skills, and local knowledge generally, to get the job done. What they do have in abundance are FLASHY WEBSITES, slick gimmicks, and sales tricks, all designed to part you with a small sum which leads to a larger sum, for doing less than half the job. This is the experience of 90% of the problem cases that arrive knocking at the door of the Castle Finance for help after they have been "ripped off" by UK Overseas mortgage pirates with colourful websites and over confident sales persons.

Castle Finance provide the trusted advice necessary for you to achieve your goals- both lifestyle and financial. Castle Finance are the only organisation in Turkey with the complete range of services to deal with all aspects of your property purchase and financing requirements from start to finish.

Why do you need to be fully informed? Because purchasing property in a foreign country has its complications- and Turkey is no different- any one telling you otherwise either doesn't know themselves, or is intentionally misleading you. We will do neither- but we will ensure you receive the expert advice you will need, and we will also manage the complications from start to finish- which entails much more than obtaining a mortgage offer- that is the easy part...many of the complications set in afterwards, and there are many things remaining to be done before the mortgage monies are paid to the developer and your purchase of the property is complete.

UK based overseas mortgage brokers will claim that they deal with All Turkish banks or other such nonsense- the reality is that usually they deal with only one bank. What happens if that bank raises their interest rates or withdraws from the market before your mortgage is paid? Well that is exactly what happened in October 2008- and some 150 foreign property purchasers were left without a mortgage, double fees, 9 months delays, or stuck with 12% subprime mortgages- all because UK overseas mortgage pirates do not know their way around the Turkish banking system.

Castle Finance is the only organisation to have worked with multiple banks- 14 at last count since 2007 for residential mortgage finance- the Principals of Castle Finance have been arranging finance with and for Turkish banks since 1984. If one bank fails to deliver, we have alternative lenders, and in specific cases will lend directly.

Building Trusted Relationships is Building our Business. The breadth and depth of advice you will receive from the experts at Castle Finance is simply not available anywhere else in the market- not even at top tier corporate law firms, accounting firms, or institutional real estate services firms. We know, because most if not all of these leading firms have acted under our instructions at some time during the past 25 years, and there is not one such firm that has an investment and financing track record comparable to that of the Principals of Castle Finance .

The team at Castle Finance has been serving the professional international investment community - the largest and most reputable institutional fund managers from Europe, the USA, and the Gulf - for over 25 years in Turkey. (You may read similar things on the websites of the UK Overseas mortgage pirates, but like so much else concerning Turkish mortgages, it has simply been copied from Castle Finance). Castle Finance is the largest, oldest, and leading source of cross border real estate finance in Turkey. Our Principals completed their first cross border financing with a Turkish Bank in 1984. Since then we have advised the largest private equity firms and fund managers on investment in Turkish real estate totaling more than USD 8 billion. We have advised emerging markets fund managers on the purchase of Turkish banks, advised Turkish banks on their acquisition by foreign banks, and advised Turkish banks on their risk and credit policies, product development, and training programs.

There is no comparable service available - if you definitely want a mortgage for a Turkish property now, please follow the next step by clicking here.