Is a Real Estate Consultant Trustworthy? How to Check an Authorisation Certificate

When buying a home in a foreign country, the most important trust decision is who you work with. In Türkiye, every business offering real estate consultancy must hold a Real Estate Trade Authorisation Certificate. This certificate is issued by the Ministry of Trade and can be checked.

What is the authorisation certificate?

Businesses engaged in real estate trade are required to obtain an authorisation certificate under the relevant regulation. The certificate is tied to the business's chamber of commerce and tax record; it includes the certificate number, the business title and the authorised person's details. A person or office working without a certificate is operating unlawfully.

How is it checked?

1. Ask for the certificate number. Every real estate office and consultant should share its number. We also show our certificate number at the bottom of our site.
2. Use the Ministry of Trade's query page. The Ministry's official site has an authorisation certificate query screen; by entering the number you can see the business title and whether the certificate is valid.
3. Compare the title. The business title shown in the query should be the same as the title written in the contract and on the invoice or document.
4. Verify that the consultant is tied to the business. If a consultant works under an office's certificate, this should be on record.

Our certificates

For transparency we also write down our own details:

• Coldwell Banker Terra: authorisation certificate no. 0704750.
• Sinan İnce Gayrimenkul (within Terra): authorisation certificate no. 0704750-001.
• Office address: Pınarbaşı Mah. 737. Sok. No: 8/A, Konyaaltı / Antalya.

You can reach this information from our About page. You can check the numbers yourself on the Ministry's query screen.

Questions to ask during a meeting

1. What is your authorisation certificate number? Which business are you tied to?
2. Do you have a written authorisation agreement with the seller for this project or home?
3. Is there a service fee (commission)? How much, who pays it, and is it written in the contract?
4. Which account will the payments go to?
5. Do you provide after-sales support (subscriptions, post-title-deed procedures)?

Red flags

• A consultant who does not give a certificate number or gives an evasive answer.
• Payment being requested into a personal account.
• Proceeding without a written contract.
• "Bargain" listings far below the market price.
• Being rushed by phone or message.

Contract and lawyer

Whichever office you work with, we recommend a lawyer reviewing the purchase contract. We work together with your lawyer. For the process, our foreign buyer guide and our buying process page will guide you.

If we are selling a project

Project pages show the developer company name and information on our authorisation. Since we hold written authority on behalf of the selling company when selling a project, we answer your questions; payments, however, are made directly to the selling company's corporate account. We described this approach in our article on checking the developer as well.

Sources: ticaret.gov.tr · resmigazete.gov.tr