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I have searched a lot about buying properties in Azerbaijan and all sources say the following :

Any foreigner has equal rights regarding buying a personal property in Azerbaijan as local citizens. A foreigner can buy real estate (immovable property) in Azerbaijan, with the exception of land. In other words, if you a foreign citizen or stateless person, you can buy a house, villa, apartment, commercial property and other property, but not land. Therefore, if you are not planning to buy land as a foreigner, you enjoy similar rights as local citizens.

What I don't understand is if foreigner is not allowed to buy land, who owns the land when he buys villa or house ?

If he does not own the land after buying the land, would he pay same price to buy and when he sell he would sell only house too ?

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    Whoever owned the land just keeps owning it I would imagine. How else could it be?
    – Greendrake
    Commented Jul 28, 2022 at 4:50
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    Sounds like 99year lease territory
    – Trish
    Commented Jul 28, 2022 at 6:34
  • @Trish, Can you please elaborate more about 99year lease and how it works
    – Madian Malfi
    Commented Jul 28, 2022 at 9:14
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    It's a stereotypical thing from old times: there used to be a common law doctrine that the longest you could lease real property to someone else was 99 years. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99-year_lease
    – Trish
    Commented Jul 28, 2022 at 9:44
  • FWIW, this is not an uncommon position. It is also the law in parts of Mexico.
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Jul 28, 2022 at 17:03

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Someone else would own the land and lease it to the building owner (usually on a very long lease comparable to the useful life of the building).

This is common in the United States for tax reasons for high rise commercial buildings. In these arrangements, it is often a non-profit looking for a favorable investment (businesses in the U.S. don't want to own land because the purchase price can't be deducted as a depreciable expense).

Parts of Mexico has the same law for the same reasons as Azerbaijan does, to prevent foreigners from having permanent ownership of land in the country.

Anecdote: the house I grew up in, in Ohio, was owned in this fashion, with a long lease to a local university since the university couldn't sell the land because it was a land grant, until curative legislation came along when I was in high school that allowed long term leases to be converted to ownership for a nominal fee.

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  • Thanks for your detailed answer , it would be really helpful if you can include in your answer about the price of property, do we just buy the building without the land and we lease it for free , or how that works ?
    – Madian Malfi
    Commented Jul 29, 2022 at 8:04
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    @MadiaMalfi Usually there is a long term lease with a fixed monthly rent. The value varies with market circumstances. Usually it is roughly the prevailing long term mortgage interest rate times the value of the land alone. But, sometimes it is just a nominal amount.
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Jul 29, 2022 at 19:42

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