Gross near 10% — don't locals think that's great?

A lira saver's comparison set is a 36% policy rate and 30%-plus inflation — locals don't read 10% gross rent as 'high yield' either; locally, the reading is physical value preservation. This site's readers mostly account in hard currency, where the reading is stricter still. The skill this page teaches is to ask first: compared with what, and in which currency. Two gross bases, one net band and one inflation figure on one screen force that question ahead of the conclusion.

I'm doing the US$400,000 citizenship anyway — isn't rent on top a two-for-one?

The status ledger has its own conclusion in the hub (6.5); this page flags one arithmetic fact: citizenship marketing projects are priced systematically above local clearing prices, and the premium you pay for status is a sunk cost — rent computed at clearing-price yields (3–4.7% gross in core districts) cannot cover it. Keep the two ledgers separate: whether status is worth it is the hub page's question; whether the flat is worth it is answered at the local clearing price. People who merge the ledgers usually overpay on both.

The five-year gains exemption — doesn't holding to five years fix it?

What is exempt is the income tax on the nominal gain, not the purchasing power: five years of cumulative lira inflation can consume the nominal rise and more. The exemption is a real sweetener for a lira-accounting local; for a hard-currency reader it exempts a gain you may not have in real terms. This page prints it for completeness and assigns it no pricing weight.

Opportunity rank #88 (cash-flow board) · Türkiye

Istanbul buy-to-let, costed: lira gross of about 7.4–9.9% must first clear 8.6% round-trip costs and inflation

Our take: Below the bar

5.5–7.5% Istanbul residential buy-to-let net yield (site derivation) · Operator estimate · Data as of: 2026-10-31

Composite-board score: 4.2 · Where it is strong: Net cash flow, Tax friendliness · methodology

Data updated: 2026-11-08

Istanbul residential property is legally open to most foreign nationals (reciprocity list; military-zone exclusions), but this entry's verdict leads: it works only as a lira inflation hedge, not as hard-currency income. This site prints both gross bases: GPG (Emlakjet asking medians, Q3 2026) puts Istanbul at 9.92% — with extreme district dispersion (Kadıköy 1-bedrooms at 4.70%, Sarıyer at 3.01–4.28%; peripheral small-ticket outliers do not headline); Endeksa (Aug 2026, average rent of about TRY 45,500 against an average price of about TRY 7.4M) gives about 7.4%. Applying GPG's own net rule (gross minus 1.5–2.0 points) and progressive rental tax gives a full-cost net of about 5.5–7.5% in lira (this site's costing) — against 29.77% official inflation, deeply negative in real terms. The structural items, pinned one by one: round-trip transaction costs of 8.6–8.7%; mortgage rates of about 40.34%, so leverage does not exist arithmetically; annual rent increases capped at the CPI 12-month average (31.23% for October 2026), which lags spot inflation on a disinflation path and erodes real rent; capital gains exempt after a holding period over five years — the only tax sweetener; and a residential rental exemption of TRY 58,000 (2026 income). The cross-reference to the hub must be read with it: citizenship marketing projects (US$400,000, buy track 6.5) are priced above local clearing levels — the premium paid for status cannot be earned back from rent. Rated below-bar explainer.

In short: four lines first

What it costs to get in

Mid-market flats around TRY 7.4M (unlevered basis)

Roughly what it earns

5.5–7.5%（Istanbul residential buy-to-let net yield (site derivation)）

How much work for you

Heavy burden (distance management, local tax filing, tenancy timelines)

The biggest catch

The numbers that matter

Istanbul residential buy-to-let net yield (site derivation)

5.5–7.5%

Operator estimate As of: 2026-10-31 Source: TurkStat: 2025 GDP +3.6% (released 2 Mar 2026); October 2026 CPI of +29.77% y/y with a 12-month average of 31.23%

Why we think it makes money

The two gross bases side by side (9.92% asking medians versus 7.4% average-price basis) are this site's standard demonstration against basis-shopping: in the same city in the same quarter, choosing the basis picks out 2.5 points of difference — this page prints both, and the reader uses the conservative one.

The hedge-versus-income distinction is the reading key for every Turkish asset: a lira net of 5.5–7.5% is 'losing less' in local purchasing-power terms and negative income in hard-currency terms — this page puts both readings side by side and lets the reader's accounting currency decide.

It is the mutual brake on the hub's citizenship page: the CBI premium (the part above clearing price) is the price of status, not of property — this site writes that on both pages, against paying for one with the other's logic.

How to actually get in

This page is a costing explainer and offers no purchase route. The institutional facts, for self-verification: foreign purchases follow the reciprocity list and land character (military/security zones excluded); rental income must be declared in Türkiye (a Turkish tax number is required; filing runs through Hazır Beyan, possibly via a local representative); letting under 100 days is a separate permit regime (Law 7464), outside this page.

What it costs, what it earns

Entry amount: Mid-market flats around TRY 7.4M (unlevered basis)
How much work for you: Heavy burden (distance management, local tax filing, tenancy timelines)

Costs & taxes, item by item:

Round-trip friction of 8.6–8.7% (purchase taxes and fees plus selling costs): against a lira net of about 6%, the first year and a half of net rent is spent before you start.
Holding: property tax of about 0.1–0.6% of cadastral value (metropolitan basis), insurance (with earthquake cover a practical necessity), building charges and distance management; the exchange rate is the largest unpriced cost item.

Basis: this site uses full-cost net returns only — income minus vacancy, management, maintenance, taxes and insurance, then financing interest, with entry costs in the denominator. See the methodology。

Identity & tax

Status (residency / citizenship)

购房入籍（身份枢纽买赛道，综合 6.5 分）

This asset does not count toward the channel Citizenship channel

Threshold: 房产 ≥US$400,000

身份在身份枢纽：土耳其购房入籍（US$400,000、买赛道 6.5 分）自成一页，本页只交叉引用、不重复计分。注意区分：买 GYO 股票不是购房入籍的合格资产——枢纽页的门槛是登记在你名下的不动产，两条通道不要混买。

Source: 本站身份枢纽（turkiye-cbi）

Tax (investor level)

GYO 股息预扣 0%——居民与非居民同例（双重实证：税务指南表 + KAP 分派公告逐字注明 GYO 身份预扣率为 0%）；普通公司股息对非居民为 15%。

GYO 免税条件（Law 7524，2025 年收入起）：自有地产收益的 ≥50% 须于相关期结束后第二个月底前分派，否则就该部分收入丧失公司税豁免（实施：公司税总公报 No. 25，2026-05-24）——该条件约束的是地产收益口径，不承诺投资者拿到利润的 50%。
直投房东：仅就土耳其来源收入纳税；住宅租金免税额 TRY 58,000（2026 年收入），超出部分申报（累进 15–40%，费用可 documented 扣除或选包干扣除）；持有 >5 年的资本利得免税。

Double-tax treaties: GYO 的 0% 是国内法口径，无须动用协定；直投所得按来源地规则，星土协定细节逐案确认。

Source: BMD《2026 年证券收入税务指南》；KAP 分派公告；所得税法 No. 193

This section is general information only — not immigration or tax advice. Program rules change frequently; before acting, rely on the official texts and a licensed adviser.

Risks: what could go wrong

This entry is itself the conclusion: the net yield is negative on both hard-currency and real bases — it fails as a cash-flow recommendation and stands only as an inflation-hedge and citizenship cross-reference explainer. If these happen, our take changes: If Turkish inflation falls to single digits with a stable lira (central bank and TurkStat basis), this site recosts this entry on a hard-currency basis.

Earthquake and building-age risk: Istanbul's seismic exposure and older stock quality are property-specific risks; insurance and building-age diligence are mandatory pre-purchase work, not options. If these happen, our take changes: None (physical property; case by case).

Tenancy execution: the increase cap and the judicial timelines for recovery make achieved rent systematically likelier to undershoot contract rent — the costing already runs conservative, but case variance is wide. If these happen, our take changes: Reviewed yearly against the CBRT property price index and Endeksa/GPG rent bases.

What we have not verified yet

The following key figures have not yet been verified; the reason is noted for each item.

The 5.5–7.5% net band is this site's costing: the gross bases are asking-price medians/averages, not achieved rents, and the core-versus-periphery gap runs to multiples — verify district by district for any real case.
The 40.34% mortgage rate and 8.6–8.7% round-trip costs are GPG-compiled figures: the signing-day bank and notary figures govern.

FAQ

Gross near 10% — don't locals think that's great?: A lira saver's comparison set is a 36% policy rate and 30%-plus inflation — locals don't read 10% gross rent as 'high yield' either; locally, the reading is physical value preservation. This site's readers mostly account in hard currency, where the reading is stricter still. The skill this page teaches is to ask first: compared with what, and in which currency. Two gross bases, one net band and one inflation figure on one screen force that question ahead of the conclusion.
I'm doing the US$400,000 citizenship anyway — isn't rent on top a two-for-one?: The status ledger has its own conclusion in the hub (6.5); this page flags one arithmetic fact: citizenship marketing projects are priced systematically above local clearing prices, and the premium you pay for status is a sunk cost — rent computed at clearing-price yields (3–4.7% gross in core districts) cannot cover it. Keep the two ledgers separate: whether status is worth it is the hub page's question; whether the flat is worth it is answered at the local clearing price. People who merge the ledgers usually overpay on both.
The five-year gains exemption — doesn't holding to five years fix it?: What is exempt is the income tax on the nominal gain, not the purchasing power: five years of cumulative lira inflation can consume the nominal rise and more. The exemption is a real sweetener for a lira-accounting local; for a hard-currency reader it exempts a gain you may not have in real terms. This page prints it for completeness and assigns it no pricing weight.

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Data dates are marked per metric; page updated 2026-11-08. This site publishes information and is not investment advice; the corrections channel is in the Disclaimer。