Property Management in Turkey (2026):
Non-Resident Owner's Guide

Property management fees in Turkey typically range from 6–20% of collected rent for long-term rental properties, and 18–35% of holiday-rental revenue for short-term/Airbnb-style management. There is no regulator that sets these fees — Turkey has no licensing regime specific to "property management" the way it does for real estate brokerage — so the range reflects real differences in service quality and portfolio size rather than a fixed tariff. Budget operators in tourist cities often sit at the low end for long-term lets; full-service holiday-rental managers who also handle POLNET guest registration and permit compliance sit at the high end.

A full-service property management company in Turkey typically handles: tenant finding and vetting, a notarised rental contract, rent collection, maintenance coordination and emergency response, aidat and utility payment, annual tax filing coordination, municipal/building registration upkeep, inventory/condition reports, key holding, and — for short-term rentals — guest check-in/out and mandatory police (POLNET) guest registration. Budget management companies may only cover tenant finding and basic rent collection, so always request the exact scope in writing before comparing prices between companies.

For non-resident foreign owners, professional property management is close to a practical necessity. Without a local presence, resolving tenant issues, coordinating repairs, tracking aidat, and meeting short-term-rental compliance obligations remotely is very difficult. The cost of poor management — unpaid aidat, a lapsed rental permit, an unresolved maintenance dispute — typically exceeds the management fee itself. For short-term/holiday lets specifically, a local manager is close to essential because guest registration (POLNET) and the tourism rental permit both require an in-country presence able to respond within short deadlines.

Aidat is the monthly building service charge set by the site yönetimi (the residents' association) under Turkey's Flat Ownership Law (Kat Mülkiyeti Kanunu, No. 634). It funds cleaning, security, communal-area maintenance, and building insurance. Aidat is legally the owner's obligation, not the tenant's, in the great majority of Turkish leases. Reported ranges vary widely by building type — roughly $20–40/month for a basic apartment building with no shared amenities, rising to $40–80/month for a mid-range site with a pool and security, and $80–200+/month for a luxury site with concierge, gym, and spa services. These are market-observed approximations, not statutory figures, since aidat amounts are set by owner-vote at each building's annual meeting, not by national law. A full-service manager tracks and pays aidat from rental income on your behalf; unpaid aidat can lead to legal action by the building management, including a lien-like claim against the unit.

Useful sources: (1) expat forums and property-owner groups, where direct recommendations from owners using the same manager carry more weight than marketing copy; (2) local real estate agents who also offer management — though note the conflict of interest if they also sold you the property; (3) directories of established management companies operating in your specific city (see the Turkey-wide directory further down this page); (4) a property lawyer, who can usually recommend trustworthy managers they have worked with on other clients' files. Always request references from at least two or three current clients, and ask specifically how they handle late rent, maintenance emergencies, and end-of-tenancy deposit disputes before signing anything.

A properly structured contract should specify: the exact scope of services included and excluded, the management fee percentage and whether it is calculated on gross or net rent, the schedule for remitting rental income to the owner, a defined spending threshold the manager can authorise without prior approval (e.g. up to ₺5,000–10,000, adjusted for current cost levels), monthly or quarterly reporting obligations, the notice period and conditions for termination, and — critically — who holds the tenant's deposit and in what type of account. Because property management itself is not a licensed profession in Turkey, the written contract (governed by the general agency/vekalet provisions of the Turkish Code of Obligations) is your main legal protection, so it is worth having a property lawyer review it before signing.

Typical flow: the management company collects rent from the tenant, deducts its management fee plus any pre-authorised maintenance costs and aidat, and transfers the net balance to your nominated bank account — usually monthly. For non-resident owners this is normally a Turkish bank account in your name, though some managers can arrange an international transfer. Always confirm in the contract that your rental income is held in a client account segregated from the company's own operating funds; mixing the two is a significant red flag when vetting a manager.

Yes, if you use the actual-expense method (gerçek gider) for your Turkish rental income declaration: documented property management fees, along with maintenance, insurance, mortgage interest, and property tax, are deductible against rental income, and you must keep the invoices/receipts as proof. If you instead use the lump-sum method (götürü gider), a flat 15% of your gross rental income (after the annual residential exemption is applied) is deducted automatically, and no itemised expenses — including management fees — can be claimed separately on top of that. You cannot mix the two methods, and once you elect the lump-sum method you cannot switch to the actual-expense method until two years have passed — so choose deliberately (switching from actual-expense to lump-sum, by contrast, is not restricted in the same way).

Yes. Since Law No. 7464 took effect on 1 January 2024, renting a residential unit to tourists on a short-term basis requires a Tourism Purpose Rental Permit from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in addition to a plaque displayed at the property confirming its registered status. Stays of up to 100 days fall under this short-term regime; arrangements longer than 100 consecutive days to the same tenant are treated as ordinary residential tenancies instead. In condominium buildings, unanimous written consent from every other flat owner is generally required before the permit can be issued — in practice, this is the single biggest obstacle for owners wanting to list a unit in a shared building. A property manager experienced with holiday lets typically handles the permit application, the building-consent process, and the ongoing POLNET guest registration that Turkish law requires for every stay.