When this covid-related chaos began last year, the apartment purchase deal in Turkey was already in full swing. At first, they wanted to cancel the purchase, as they did not know what would happen next. Then we decided to leave everything as it is, even managed to get the documents and return to Russia before the borders are closed. Now, on the one hand, we look at our apartment that has risen in price and are happy, and on the other, we are upset because of coronavirus restrictions. But the pandemic will go away, and the apartment will remain. I wanted to tell you about the purchase process.
Briefly about yourself. I live in Moscow, I am married, two children, my daughter is 4 years old, my son is 11 years old. I have been working for more than 10 years as a realtor in a fairly well-known company, so I know a lot about this market. I earn good money. My wife sells children’s clothes online, her salary is lower and not as stable, but she contributes to the family budget. There are two apartments: we live in one, the other, which we inherited, is for rent. There are savings, we decided to invest them in real estate in some warm country. They chose Turkey.
Choosing a country
Before buying an apartment, we had a vacation in Turkey only once, we always preferred other regions. Therefore, it cannot be said that they bought directly because they were in love with this country. No, the purchase was made not out of emotion, but purely out of practical calculation: no matter what anyone says, real estate is undervalued here. That’s what we started from in the first place. But, of course, other factors were analyzed before the purchase:
How did you buy an apartment
I am well versed in the real estate market, not only in Russia, but also abroad, I have a lot of experience, so I was looking for and engaged in negotiations on my own, without intermediaries. So the realtor’s commission, which is about 3%, went into my pocket 🙂
But if you don’t know much about real estate transactions, then it’s better to find a real estate agency, because in Turkey, although the fight against fraud is serious, there are enough scammers, including from post-Soviet countries. I bought the property directly from the developer, for this I had to use the services of an interpreter, since I do not understand Turkish at all. Well, I spent more time searching than if I had bought through a realtor.
They chose Alanya
The region was chosen purely for economic reasons: apartments in Alanya are cheaper than in other regions of Turkey. The good knowledge of the Russian language by many locals also played a role. And there are quite a lot of our people living here, and already on a permanent basis, that is, they did not come on vacation, but bought or rented real estate here, they work constantly, I know a couple of families who live with children, they take them to an English-speaking school.
To be more precise, the housing was bought not in Alanya itself, but in the village of Kargicak, which is 15 km from the city. The village itself consists almost entirely of low-rise residential complexes and villas, there are many foreigners here and there is everything for a comfortable life – shops, market, hospital, restaurants, well-groomed beaches.
Our apartment
We bought an apartment (apartments) with an area of 75 sq. m. m in a new house (commissioned in 2019). Layout – living room combined with kitchen, 1 bedroom, bathroom, balcony (exit from two rooms). The apartment was “bundled” with new furniture, household appliances, parquet and tiles on the floor, built-in lighting on the ceiling. We liked the accommodation, my wife is so delighted. Yes, and it’s not far from the sea, four hundred meters, no more.
The complex is modern, with a swimming pool, a sports area with exercise equipment, gazebos, parking, and a restaurant. There is a 24-hour security, sauna.
We paid 62500 € for the accommodation. Let’s add here the cost of an interpreter (150 €), 700 € was paid for the search, and the tax on registration of property rights was 2000 €. Also, water and electricity were connected for 150 €, 200 € were given for the act of expert assessment, and about 200 € were some minor expenses (fees, insurance).
Impressions
We don’t live all the time, we come for 2 weeks, then we fly to Russia, then back to Turkey. We combine the schedule of rest and work. Sometimes the wife and children live by themselves, sometimes all together. We do not give preference to a certain time of the year, for example, in winter we also flew in, got into sunny weather and temperatures up to +18 °C: warmed up, rested and back. And just a change of scenery is important, it helps to reboot, take a break from the restless Moscow rhythm.
I really like the village: it’s quiet, the scenery is beautiful, the sea is a blessing. There are no problems with nutrition. When we visited Turkey on a package tour, the food seemed a bit insular, but if we cook ourselves, then it’s fine: buying products familiar to residents of Russia and cooking a favorite dish is not a problem here at all.
Conclusion: we are satisfied with the purchase, the country is affordable, we recommend it to our friends and generally to everyone. We hope that we will not be disappointed in the future.
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