How to check a property before buying using TKGM Parcel Query, the e-Devlet Title Deed Information Query and municipal zoning records, explained step by step.
Listing photos tell you how a property looks; title deed and parcel records tell you what it is legally. In this guide we explain, in order, which official channels you can use to make the first checks on a home, plot or olive grove you are thinking of buying.
1. TKGM Parcel Query: the first check open to everyone
The General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre's Parcel Query application (parselsorgu.tkgm.gov.tr) is, according to TKGM's explanation, an official data service that lets you view the geographic location and basic information of properties in a digital environment. The query is public and free; it can be used through the web and the mobile application.
How is it used?
- Select the province, district and neighborhood/village.
- Enter the block (ada) and parcel number (from the listing or the information you got from the seller).
- Examine the parcel's location and the neighboring parcels on the map.
What do you see?
- Block, parcel and map sheet (pafta) information
- Surface area (m²)
- Nature (plot, field, building, etc.)
- Coordinate information and map display
- Condominium ownership and easement information
In the application, a query cannot be made by owner name or identity information. TKGM states that e-Devlet should be used for ownership information.
What is Parcel Query good for, and what is it not?
From here you can see where a plot advertised as “300 meters from the sea” really is, whether the advertised square meters match the surface area in the title deed, and whether the nature record is “field” or “plot”. However, this screen gives no information on ownership, mortgage, attachment or zoning status; the steps below are needed for those.
2. e-Devlet: seeing your own title deed
The Title Deed Information Query service on the e-Devlet Gateway lets a person see the title deed information of properties registered in their own name. As a buyer you cannot see the seller's title deed from your own e-Devlet account; you can ask the seller to show the current title deed information from their own e-Devlet screen or share the document. The current record is also checked at the land registry office before the transaction.
3. Fields to read in the title deed record
- Owner and share information: A single owner or shared?
- Nature: Residence, plot, field, olive grove…
- Condominium ownership / condominium easement: Which one it is, for apartments.
- Annotations section: Under Article 32 of the Zoning Law, information on an unpermitted building or one contrary to its permit is notified by the administration to be entered in the annotations section of the title deed. Under Article 3 of Law No. 6306, risky buildings are also notified to the land registry office to be stated in the annotations section of the title deed register.
- Annotations and encumbrances: Mortgage, attachment, pre-emption or promise-to-sell annotations.
If you see a risky building record in the annotations section
Under Law No. 6306, a risky building determination is notified to the land registry office within ten working days at the latest from the date of determination; the record on the determination is posted on the building, owners are notified through the e-Devlet Gateway and it is announced at the muhtar's office for fifteen days. Owners have a right to object to the determination within fifteen days. For an apartment with such a record, you need to find out before buying at what stage the building's transformation process is and what decisions have been taken among the owners.
A zoning violation annotation, under Article 32 of the Zoning Law, cannot be removed until the administration notifies the land registry office that the violation has been remedied. The seller saying “the problem is solved” does not mean the record has been deleted.
4. Zoning status: ask the municipality or the special provincial administration
What can be done on a plot, that is, the right to build, is written not in the title deed record but in the zoning plan. You can learn a property's zoning status by applying in writing to the zoning department of the relevant municipality within municipal boundaries, and to the special provincial administration outside the boundaries. Some municipalities also offer this information online; even so, it is healthier to act on an official and current document when making the purchase decision.
For a built property, also ask for these documents:
- Construction permit and approved architectural project
- Building use permit (occupancy permit)
- A building registration certificate, if any
5. Combining the checks
The three sources must agree with each other: the area and nature in Parcel Query, the information in the title deed record, and the zoning/permit records at the municipality. Every mismatch (for example, “field” in the title deed but “zoned plot” in the listing) should be clarified before buying.
Short checklist
- Get the block/parcel number from the listing or the seller.
- Check location, area and nature in Parcel Query.
- Ask the seller for the current title deed information; read the annotations and encumbrances sections.
- Get the zoning status, permit and occupancy information from the municipality.
- Ask about mismatches in writing and settle them before paying a deposit.
Aktif Emlak can help you in the process of compiling the block/parcel and municipal information of properties you are examining in the Edremit Gulf.
