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Bought holiday home unseen!
By Nils E. Bjørnæs
Wasn't this a bit daring - not to say foolhardy?
"Yes, that is what most people would say, and they're probably right" says Jan Baltzersen with a smile. "Of course we didn't act completely blindly, but I must confess we were quite nervous before we got the first receipt from the bank."
So how did this happen?
"It was my daughter who set us on the idea. She thought that since we traveled so much we might as well buy a place. And during a vacation in Crete, we began to think about it seriously. But house prices in Crete were very high, and for a while we considered Bulgaria or Croatia, but then Inger's son suggested that we had a look in Side in Turkey, where it was still possible to find affordable apartments."
"We looked on the Internet and found an apartment we liked through a Norwegian estate agent, and sent my son, Kai Roger, down to look at it," says Inger.
"After a few days he called home and said that a man who runs a bar on the beach wanted to show him a new development where we could get a very good price. He also sent a picture of the place and said that we would get a better deal if we negotiated directly with the developer. So we dropped the Norwegian agent, and all the negotiations then went through mail and phone to the Turkish developer, Kaya Homes. In a way, we put our fate in their hands, but luckily everything went perfectly. We could not have been treated better."
In November 2007 the purchase was completed, and in March 2008 Jan and Inger travelled for the first time to Side to take a look at their new holiday home.
"We were both exited and a bit apprehensive when we arrived, but the first impression was good, and we were very well received by the developer Kaya Homes, who picked us up at the airport in Antalya and gave us all the help we needed. The apartment was not furnished, except linen, so we had to go out shopping to make it habitable. But here, we received help from Kaya Homes, especially from their English employee Thelma, who took us to the right stores and gave us advice on what we should and should not buy. In a few days we bought sofas, beds and any other equipment we needed at a total cost of £3000. God knows how much the same things would have cost at home in Norway. But without the help of Thelma it would have been much more difficult," says Inger.
"Otherwise, I must say that we have a good impression of the shops here. The service is good, and there is no problem changing things if we are not satisfied," she adds.
The apartment, which is 104 square meters and has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, cost Inger and Jan 101,000 euro, which corresponded to about 80,000 pounds, when they bought it. The apartment complex, Oasis Residence, consists of 85 apartments, and was completed in December 2007. It has an outdoor and indoor swimming pool, fitness center, tennis courts, cafe and wireless Internet access. Maintenance costs are currently 70 euro a month.
It sounds like you are quite comfortable here, but have you been around exploring the local area?
"This is only the third time we have been here and there have been a lot of things to sort out, so we have not had much time to look around yet, but it will come. We have of course been around in the old town and seen the Greek and Roman ruins, but we know there are lots of other things to see in this area."
Do you rent a car when you are here?
"On the whole we have little use for it, but if we need it we can rent a car through Kaya Homes at a reasonable price. When we want to go to the beach we just jump on a minibus, and when we want to go out to eat we call the restaurant and they come and get us. The service we get is pretty impressive," they say smiling.
And how are the prices?
"We recently went out to celebrate a birthday. We were four people and all had steak, plenty of wine and drinks, coffee, and a birthday cake. All together it came to about 200 lira, which would equal about £90. That is pretty reasonable for an evening out. Otherwise, we use about 135 lira a week on groceries."
Do you have any advice for others thinking of buying a holiday home in Turkey?
"Perhaps we were particularly lucky, but for anyone considering buying something in this area, we would highly recommend Kaya Homes. Not only did everything go smoothly during the purchase, but they continue to provide a very good service. If we have any questions or something needs to be fixed, one of the employees from the company come straight away to sort it out. They will even sort out a babysitter, if you need it. We have nothing to complain about," says Inger and Jan.
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Turkey 2009