About Maximos Real Estate

About Maximos Real Estate Turkey

Most international buyers who reach Maximos have already spent weeks on property portals and in contact with agencies that responded quickly but said little of substance. By that point, what they are looking for has changed. They are no longer looking for listings. They are looking for someone who can tell them what they do not yet know.

Maximos Real Estate Turkey is an independent property advisory firm with offices in Istanbul and Antalya. We have been operating since 2005 — through currency crises, legislative reforms, construction cycles, and every variation of the overseas buyer market that Turkey has produced in the last two decades. Our work spans residential acquisitions, investment property structuring, off-plan project evaluation, Turkish Citizenship by Investment guidance, and long-term property advisory for clients who treat Turkey as a serious part of their asset picture.

We are not a franchise, a portal, or a volume brokerage. We carry no obligation to promote any particular developer’s inventory. Our practice is built around a straightforward arrangement: the client’s objectives come first, the market is evaluated honestly, and our involvement does not end at the point of transfer.

If you are beginning to research how to buy property in Turkey, what follows is an accurate account of who we are and how we work.

Two Decades in the Turkish Property Market

Maximos was founded in 2005, at a point when Turkey’s real estate market was entering a period of significant structural change. Foreign ownership restrictions were being revised. Developer activity was accelerating. International interest was growing but the infrastructure to serve that interest — independent advisory, honest transaction support, post-sale continuity — was thin.

What followed was a market in genuine transformation. Istanbul’s peripheral districts, once dismissed as outer-city sprawl, became established residential communities anchored by Metro infrastructure and large-scale mixed-use development. Antalya shifted from a seasonal coastal market into a year-round destination with a growing permanent international population. The regulatory framework around foreign ownership evolved considerably, culminating in the introduction of the citizenship by investment programme in 2017 and subsequent adjustments to both threshold requirements and qualifying property criteria.

Over those years, cycles turned as well. Over-leveraged developers failed mid-construction. Popular neighbourhoods became oversupplied. Exchange rate movements reshaped the calculations of USD, EUR, and GBP buyers in ways that altered demand patterns for years. These are not theoretical observations. They are the accumulated experience of operating through them.

That history informs the specificity of our advice. When a client asks whether a particular corridor is positioned for appreciation or whether an off-plan price reflects genuine market value, the answer comes from transactional depth — not from a report downloaded that morning. A clear picture of property purchase costs in Turkey is part of what we establish at the outset of every engagement, because incomplete financial modelling is one of the most consistent sources of buyer regret in this market.

Istanbul, Antalya, and the Logic of Each Market

These are not interchangeable markets, and buyers who treat them as such tend to make poorly calibrated decisions. Istanbul and Antalya attract different investor profiles for different reasons, and the advisory approach for each must reflect that distinction.

Istanbul is a capital city in the fullest sense — commercial, financial, cultural, and infrastructural. The property market here is driven by urban density, development pipeline, rental demand from a large permanent population, and for many overseas clients, the intersection of lifestyle and portfolio rationale. We cover both the European and Asian sides, with particular knowledge of central premium districts including Şişli, Beşiktaş, Levent, and Kadıköy; emerging corridors in Başakşehir, Beylikdüzü, and Esenyurt where new-build activity has reshaped the supply landscape; and Bosphorus-facing developments where location scarcity commands durable pricing. For most serious investors, Istanbul remains the primary market. It carries depth of liquidity, infrastructure maturity, and tenant demand that other Turkish cities do not yet replicate.

Antalya operates on a different logic. The driver for most international buyers here is a combination of lifestyle access and yield. The Mediterranean climate, international airport connectivity, and established expatriate infrastructure make Antalya a genuine residential option — not merely a holiday home location. Our Antalya office covers Lara, Konyaaltı, Kepez, and the wider province including Alanya, Side, and Belek. The market intelligence that matters here is granular: which micro-markets retain rental demand through the winter months, which developments are oversupplied at the current price point, and where infrastructure commitments are credible versus aspirational.

Outside these two primary markets, we maintain working knowledge of Ankara, Bursa, Trabzon, Bodrum, and Fethiye. Clients with development land objectives, regional diversification interests, or specific asset requirements will find that our reach extends accordingly.

International Buyer Advisory

Buying property in an unfamiliar legal environment carries risks that are not always apparent until they materialise. We have worked with buyers from the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, the Gulf states, Kazakhstan, Scandinavia, and beyond — and the transaction complexity they encounter is real, not merely procedural.

The payment process carries nuances that surprise experienced investors. Turkish banking requirements for large international transfers involve documentation that varies by sending country, and delays at this stage can affect contract timelines with financial consequences. The title deed — the TAPU — is the definitive record of ownership in Turkey, but its status, encumbrances, and registration accuracy must be independently verified before transfer.

Remote purchasing is an accepted reality in this market. It is also where the risk of misaligned information is highest. For overseas clients, the practical work is to ensure that every material fact — pricing relative to comparable stock, developer delivery history, contract clauses, legal status of the property — is understood before any commitment is made.

We are available across multiple time zones, we work in English, Arabic, Russian, and Turkish, and we treat translation as a substantive responsibility rather than a convenience.

Clients working on complex acquisitions often communicate directly with founder Ihsani Cosguner — particularly where the mandate involves high capital exposure, off-plan risk, or citizenship eligibility that must be verified independently.

We do not provide legal services. For independent legal representation — and we consider this essential on every transaction above a threshold of complexity — we refer clients to reputable Turkish property lawyers with experience in cross-border transactions. That boundary is deliberate. Property advisory and legal representation require separate professional accountability.

Turkish Citizenship by Investment

Turkey’s citizenship by investment programme has matured considerably since its introduction in 2017. The minimum qualifying real estate investment currently stands at $400,000 USD, and the regulatory requirements around eligible properties — valuation methodology, title deed conditions, prior foreign ownership history — are both specific and subject to administrative interpretation.

The programme attracts serious applicants. It also attracts a segment of the market that is poorly served by agencies whose primary interest is in completing a transaction rather than ensuring the application is sound.

Our approach to Turkish Citizenship by Investment is conservative by design. We help clients identify properties that genuinely qualify under current criteria, verify that independent valuations are accurate and defensible, understand the three-year holding obligation and its practical implications, and coordinate with licensed immigration professionals for the application itself. Where a property does not meet the criteria — regardless of what a developer has stated — we say so directly.

Citizenship by investment is a consequential decision. The due diligence standard it requires is correspondingly higher than a standard residential purchase.

Developer and Construction Project Evaluation

Turkey’s new-build sector is one of the largest and most active in Europe. It is also one where the gap between marketing presentation and underlying project quality is wide enough to cause investors material harm.

We evaluate developer projects across several dimensions that go beyond the brochure. Financial standing and prior delivery history are the foundation — a developer with a pattern of delayed completions or renegotiated contracts represents a different risk profile than one with a clean track record across multiple cycles. Beyond that, we assess construction quality standards relative to the stated specification, pricing against genuinely comparable completed stock rather than other off-plan projects in the same marketing campaign, and the legal specifics of the purchase agreement — including what happens when delivery timelines are not met.

Liquidity and exit strategy are considerations that most buyers underweight at acquisition. An off-plan unit purchased in an oversupplied corridor at a developer-inflated price may appreciate on paper during construction but face a slow resale market on completion. Infrastructure dependency — the gap between promised transport links and confirmed delivery timelines — has affected investor returns in multiple Istanbul corridors and warrants independent verification before any commitment is made.

We do not recommend projects we would not be comfortable defending to a client who asked us directly whether we would buy it ourselves.

Inspection Trips and Continued Support

Structured property visits serve a purpose that remote research cannot replicate. Neighbourhood character, construction quality, the realities of a commute, the density of competing rental stock on the same street — these become clear on the ground and remain opaque on screen.

We organise inspection trips as advisory engagements: a planned schedule, comparative viewings, developer meetings where appropriate, and candid briefings on what we are seeing and why it matters. A buyer who leaves without purchasing because the market did not match their objectives has been served correctly.

Post-acquisition, our involvement continues. Utility setup, property management referrals, rental agency introductions, renovation oversight, and the administrative realities of the first year of Turkish ownership are areas where buyers without local support routinely encounter friction.

Maximos: A Brief Timeline

2005 — Maximos founded in Istanbul. Initial focus on residential and commercial property advisory for the domestic and early international buyer market.

2010 — Dedicated international buyer advisory practice established. Growing inbound interest from European and Gulf markets prompted a more structured approach to cross-border transaction support.

2012 — Antalya office opened beside TerraCity Mall, Muratpaşa, giving Mediterranean buyers a permanent local advisory base.

2013 — Nationwide market coverage formalised across Istanbul, Antalya, and key secondary cities.

2017 — Turkish Citizenship by Investment programme introduced. Maximos develops specific advisory capability around qualifying property identification and compliance requirements.

Operating Standards

Founded: 2005 | Istanbul Presence: European and Asian sides | Antalya Office: Since 2012 | Advisory Languages: English, Arabic, Russian, Turkish | Service Model: Independent, non-inventory-tied advisory | Market Coverage: Nationwide, Istanbul and Antalya primary focus

Meet the Founder: Ihsani Cosguner

Ihsani Cosguner established Maximos in 2005 after an earlier career in Turkish property markets that spanned residential transactions, commercial property, and developer project evaluation. He has been working with international buyers since the early years of Turkey’s liberalised foreign ownership period, long before the market had the profile it carries today.

Ihsani’s approach to advisory is characterised by directness. He does not promote optimism about markets that do not warrant it, and he does not minimise risks that clients need to understand. For buyers evaluating complex or high-value mandates, he remains the primary point of contact within Maximos.

The firm he built reflects the same orientation: experienced, measured, and willing to say clearly when an investment rationale does not hold up under examination. That is not a common posture in a market that rewards transaction volume. It is, we believe, the correct one.

Why Clients Work With Maximos

The choice of advisory firm is consequential when you are committing significant capital to an unfamiliar market. The question worth asking is not who will show you the most properties, but who will tell you what you actually need to know.

Two decades of operation means knowledge not available to newer entrants: which developers have the track record to justify off-plan commitment, which neighbourhoods have delivered on decade-old projections and which have not, which contract structures expose buyers to avoidable risk, and where the current market is priced ahead of fundamentals.

We carry no developer exclusivity arrangements and no inventory obligations. Recommendations are shaped by client objectives. The clients who return for second and third transactions do so because the advice they received the first time was accurate — including when it was cautious.

The Turkish property market rewards informed decision-making and punishes rushed assumptions. Capital deployed with proper regard for legal structure, developer credibility, and realistic resale conditions tends to endure market cycles far better than acquisitions driven by urgency or marketing narrative. That standard — calm assessment over reactive commitment — is what we bring to every engagement.

Contact Maximos Real Estate Turkey

If you are evaluating property in Istanbul, Antalya, or elsewhere in Turkey, we are available for a direct conversation — without sales pressure or obligation.

Whether the objective is residential acquisition, investment structuring, citizenship by investment, or an independent assessment of a specific project or district, we can provide a measured and experienced view.

Contact Maximos Real Estate Turkey to arrange a confidential consultation, discuss a specific investment objective, request an independent view on a project or district, or schedule an inspection visit.