How well does a promise-to-sell agreement protect me?

A promise to sell that is executed before a notary and annotated on the title deed provides the buyer with strong protection; it creates security against the property being sold to third parties. Promises that are unannotated or in ordinary written form, however, carry serious risk. We draw up the agreement correctly and secure its annotation.

Its real strength is enforceability: once notarised and annotated, the promise lets you sue for compulsory registration of the transfer if the seller refuses to complete — you are not confined to claiming damages. That is why the notarial form and the title-deed annotation are not mere formalities but the core of the protection; without them the same promise is far harder to enforce. The annotation itself rests on the Turkish Civil Code (No. 4721).