This time, we will examine something that should seem quite simple: the size of a square meter.
First, let's see what Wikipedia has to say on the subject:
The square meter is a unit of area. It is defined as the area of a square whose sides measure exactly one meter.
For those particularly interested in the subject, it is worth noting that one square meter equals 0.000001 square kilometers or 10,000 square centimeters.
One question Wikipedia does not answer is the size of a Turkish square meter.
Experience has taught us that one European square meter and one Turkish square meter are not equal. This is most obvious when we receive the floor plans for the units we promote. These are often quite exaggerated, and we often see 2-bedroom apartments listed as 150 square meters. However, visiting the apartment in question often reveals a different story. In other words, the 150-square-meter apartment turns out to be just 100 square meters.
The main reasons for this are:
- In Turkey, informing about square meters is not subject to any legal standard. Each constructor and developer measures based on their own system. Providing wrong information is, of course, not legal, but often, fire stairs, hall areas, elevator areas, and inside service shafts are included in the total square meter figures.
- Estate agents are also not subject to a certain standard when informing clients about apartment sizes. Technically, public records are available, but in real life, they are difficult and very bureaucratic to access. Many buildings are also constructed slightly differently than what the public records and planning permissions show, so these figures are often not accurate.
This means that the figures given for each apartment are approximate and often tend to be a bit exaggerated.
In the end:
- Never trust the figures given by estate agents, private sellers, or constructors entirely. If the property is already constructed, this is less problematic since you, as a buyer, can view and visit the unit in question and see for yourself how big—or how small—the apartment really is.
- If the unit in question is an off-plan apartment and not yet built, you, as a buyer, should always ask for the floor plans and inside measurements—wall to wall—of the apartment. This way, you can fairly easily calculate the correct figures yourself.
Get the size of the apartment written into the buying agreement and make sure to specify that if the apartment turns out to be smaller than agreed, you will be entitled to compensation.
- In general, when looking for a new holiday home, do not be blinded by huge figures and apartments that, on paper, seem extremely large.
- At www.2base.com, we always try to give exact and correct figures. When promoting off-plan projects, we use the figures provided by the constructor. As explained above, these should sometimes be considered more as guidelines than facts.
In general, we try to use a gross figure that consists of the amount of livable square meters plus balconies. Furthermore, we make our own floor plans for each of the properties that we sell.
If you have any questions related to the square meter figures on our website, please do not hesitate to contact us.
