Turkish Property Sales

Archive for the ‘Turkey Living’ Category

We have just launched our latest website – www.myyesilkentvilla.com. Having now completed several new villa projects in this gorgeous corner of Didim, we wanted to create an information outlet which is a little more flexible and accommodating to build the right picture for what we can offer the more discerning villa seeker.

Happy browsing!

As I was driving back from Soke the other day, azure blue skies spanning the horizon, the mountains crisp and fresh looking in the noonday sun, I counted my many blessings for being able to make a life in this wonderful country. Arriving back in Didim, I alighted from the comfort of my air conditioned car into… 90+ degree heat. Uuufff ya! as the Turks are wont to say.

It got me thinking as to what the absolute best time to visit is weather-wise. July and August are the hottest months – the place steams in the summer heat, with little relief at night.

My mum and dad (God rest his soul) loved the heat, if only because when they got here in July it would completely zonk them out. They would spend their days sleeping late, swimming, reading, swimming some more, reading some more, and having gentle strolls in the evening. This heat, when you are genuinely on holiday, is fantastic for relaxing you.

However when you are leading a relatively normal existence which involves work, kids, shopping and all the burdens of modern living it is extremely hard work. Strapping a young kid into its car seat after the car has been sitting in the sun is sweat inducing for all. You particularly have to watch out for those metal buckles!

My favourite time is April/May. It is the time in Yesilkent where we live where the plant life goes wild, the colours are vibrant, the birds are a riot of song. It is at this time that I like to take some time out from the office and work in the garden with the sun a welcoming warmth on my back.

Picture: a brilliant April day in Yesilkent.

The Didim Marina is run by the Dogus Group. This is a massive group which owns and runs many of the large companies in Turkey – Garanti Bank forn one.

Last night a massive free concert was held at the new Marina in Didm, featuring one of Turkey’s greatet popstars, Mustafa Sandal. This was totally free of charge being sponsored by D-Marin.  There must have been 6-7000 people there.

What a fantastic facility to have on your doorstep – a beautiful balmy summer evening, surrounded by some beautiful yachts moored up in the marina, the bouncing, zipping energy created by Mustafa and his band. And the joyful prospect of more similar concerts to come this summer. We are very lucky!

I always choose to travel backwards and forwards between Izmir and Stansted airport using Cyprus Turkish Airlines (www.kthy.net). For years this company has been like a bridge for me, giving me comfort that my family in the UK are just a familiar few hours away. We take the same plane, at the same time, using the same car company to pick us up in the UK.

Last week the airline’s operations were suspended due to mounting debt. An agreement with Atlasjet is on the table, but there seem to be issues with the Cypriot unions and Atlasjet were unsure as to whether the deal was going to be commercially workable.

My mother is due to fly out next Friday. I am due to fly back at the beginning of August with the kids. All tickets have been booked, but at this stage we do not know whether there will be a plane waiting to ferry us all around. The financial implications aside (KTHY are not the cheapest) it is the uncertainty that worries me most. A couple of months ago it was the ash cloud that was throwing spanners into the works. Now it is the demise of an airline that I always believed to be secure and reliable.

At this stage I am hoping that the deal with Atlasjet can be sorted out. They have just over a week to get back to normal flights before I shall at look at rebooking a flight for my mother. I shall just have to keep the situation monitored.

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words…!

Well, it’s official. I am now a Turkish citizen. Not that I am letting go of my UK nationality, God forbid. No, I now have dual nationality and to be honest it is quite a strange feeling.

So what does it give me? Well, I can go out and get a proper job for which I actually get paid. I can start paying my insurance, which allows me to receive a pension in my old age. I can have properties signed straight over into my name without the need for military clearance - excellent for the business. I am entitled to free health care through my husband’s insurance, which I was not before.

Basically, anything that a Turk can do, so can I. So it does actually make living in this country feel that much better as I no longer feel so much like a second class citizen. My kimlik (Turkish ID card) will give me a lot more freedom of movement.

Yet fortunately for me I also have my UK nationality and passport, so can continue to move around the world without the restrictions that so many Turks have.

It also means that I have an offical piece of paper on which my surname is the same as my childrens’. I did not change my name when I got married, mainly because I am rather partial to it and was reluctant to let it go, having had it for such a long time. However I was happy for the kids to take my husband’s surname (Emre). Now on my kimlik I am known as Kate Emre, and in the UK I am still Kate Ashley-Norman.

I’m a lucky bugger to have the best of both worlds!

There has been a lot of controversy recently surrounding the closing of the road that weaves its way round the Temple of Apollo into Didim. The local businesses in the area are up in arms about the potential drop in trade.

I see it another way. If I had a business up there I would see it as an opportunity to really create a corner of Didim of which we can be rightly and properly proud – an area which really celebrates the ancient and traditional atmosphere of Turkey that you cannot get along the front.

We ate at Olios restaurant the other night. It was lovely. The food was good, but even better was the environment. Unhassled, cool, serene, a place that I would say had soul. We were cheeky. Because the roads were closed we sneaked round the back streets and managed to park in front of the restaurant. It was lovely to sit there, with the backdrop of the Temple, and not be blasted with the continuous revs of coaches, dolmuses, lorries, vans, cars, etc etc.

I understand that there is a Unesco pledge to help fund a redevelopment of the area (correct me if I am wrong). If I were mayor I would positively endorse the closing of the roads and ensure the following:

1. That a dedicated coach and car park be located nearby with pedestrian friendly access to the Temple area.

2. That the area as a whole be regenerated and sympathetically restored to recreate a traditional Turkish working village.

3. To encourage partisan type businesses to give visitors a taste of true Turkey.

4. To promote a series of ‘free’ concerts and street shows during the summer consisting of Traditional Turkish dancing, street sellers, music and singing.

5. Work up a selection of winter activities (eg local walks with breakfast and dinner start and finish points in the local vicinity.

This is one of the reasons why the Didim area is so exciting. We have the town itself – a thriving, buzzing, cosmopolitan place. The Didim Marina will add to the energy and modern mix of its future. The Temple area is there to feed its soul and put the place on the map as a major tourist attraction.

It is so easy to look at a Google Earth image of the area now and understand how all these elements need to be brought together.

Would that I were mayor…!

I get very excited about my garden at the moment – does this mean that I finally have to admit to getting on a bit in age? We moved into our home in Yesilkent about three years ago now, and I planted several bushes which were chosen specifically for their smells. For the first time this year the plants seem to be doing what they said they would on the packet. The roses are abundant both in red-ness and number, the honeysuckles (all four of them) are tumbling over the walls and throwing out the most amazing scents every evening, we have another large bush that I have absolutely no idea what it is, but at night it knocks you out with its smell. I even counted about 20 new fruit coming through on the apricot tree.

As we sat on the veranda getting drunk on these scents, we discussed whether it was more important to us to be surrounded by the smells of a garden we have created, or unlimited sea views. Well sea views are all very well, but for us, the sight and smells of my gorgeous red roses would win every time.

Yesilkent (literally green town) is an incredibly green and lush area of the Didim peninsula. The soil is very rich and clay like, and mixed with some gubri – the Turkish equivalent of horse manure (but extracted from sheep instead) plants can go absolutely wild.

Sea views? – I can just walk down to the end of the road to get my fix!

I love this business. Over the years we have made a lot of people very happy by ensuring that they purchase a home in the sun which fulfills their needs, and is legally safe.

But the process of getting there can be excruciatingly painful at times. I know I should toughen up and not take things personally, but when you care deeply about what you are doing then human nature never fails to dumbfound me.

When people contact me looking for property, I spend a lot of time keeping them up to date on what is available, what is happening in the area. I correspond regularly by email, occasionally contact by telephone… over time I like to build a relationship which I hope makes people feel comfortable and have some kind of familiarity when they first come over.

The competition here in Altinkum is horrendous. It is cut throat and underhand. We have a policy of never commenting on other people’s business because we would not want others to do the same as ours. However, not everyone works to the same standards.

By the same token, we realise that potential buyers may want to spend time with other agents as well.

What I find upsetting, is that you make an appointment and nobody shows up. No cancelling email. No phone call. No note under the door. Nothing. I have lost count of the hours I have spent sitting outside hotels waiting for someone who has no intention of honouring an appointment. You wonder if they are lurking behind a pillar waiting for me to leave! Or sitting in a cafe across the road loitering over a latte until the coast is clear! 

I feel uncomfortable chasing them up with hotels as I believe that if somebody does not want to see you, a no show is as good a way of telling us as anything. But I would really much prefer it if they could let us know – it is after all only polite. Just a simple phone call would make all the difference in the world. We are then not left hanging and wondering… what have we done, has somebody said something, have we inadvertently upset them, are they poorly…

Despite what is commonly thought about agents and emlaks, we are only human and trying to make an honest living!

The sun is out. The temperature is hotting up. The season has started.

I would like to extend an invitation to all to come and see us if and when you are out in Altinkum. Our offices are open 7 days a week during the summer season, normally until about 8 in the evening. We are located in the Second Beach area, just up from the Tuntas Hotem, opposite the Letoon Hotel (used to be called the Atac).

If you want to talk through the possibility of buying, feel free to come for a chat. If you already have a property but are having a few problems, come for a chat. If you want to sell, come for a chat. If you’re thinking abot emigrating out here, come for a chat.

If I am not in the office when you come, do call me – often I am no more than 10 minutes away.

I am very excited about the future prospects for the area, and I would love to share that excitement with you all.