55 replies to this topic

[delgan]

Hi, everyone.

Having just signed up to buy an appartment in Bodrum, for holidays and letting, I thought it a good idea to check some things out and came across your site, I'm impressed!

We, Del & Jody, and our kids, Joseph & Grace, have finally settled on 'The Village' on the main drag from Bodrum airport to Bodrum Central.

Although the views from all the other places were fantastic, we liked the idea of the flat ground of 'The Village', plus Lake Tuzla and Vita Park golf being a few minutes away! Oh, and if it gets built, Flamingo Park Shopping Centre. (Any news on that one?)

Is there a company search type thing for Turkey? I was after finding out more of the construction company, S.C.V Koroglu Construction Co. Ltd.

We 'bought' , subject to all the legal stuff, 2 bed,1 bath, GF appt on phase 1, which is built and they are just tiling ours. Phase 1 finances phase 2, which is the reason for my question.

Many thanks for any replies, and glad to be a part of TurkeyCentral!

Del

[Cukurbagli]

Hi Delgan, welcome to Turkey Central. Congratulations on your purchase, hope it all goes smoothly for you. Can't answer your questions as I live miles away from Bodrum.

[Sirin]

Hi Del

I can't answer your questions either unfortunately, but just saying welcome!

[Abi]

Welcome to our forum Del, I don't live near to Bodrum either, hopefully some of the members who do will be along at some point and will be able to help.

From what you say it doesn't sound long before your new apartment will be ready and you get your Tapu. Don"t forget if you gave anyone Power of Attorney to cancel it when they have done their job and get it notorised,

If there are any more questions you want answering please ask and we will try our best to help you.

[delgan]

Thanks for the replies, very kind.

Sorry, I think I should have just said hello first, questions later in another section.....oops.

[Ken]

Hi Delgan and welcome!

It's always good to have a new member who is buying a property and moving to a place like Bodrum, since we can get a fresh view of the buying process as well as the area. I hope you'll keep us updated on things, whatever experience you post about is bound to help somebody else down the line!

I'll move this to the Bodrum forum so you'll be more likely to get some helpful replies.

[Kamal]

Hi Delgan
I do not know whether to congratulate you or to share my sorrow with you having bought in The Village. I went out to Turkey in October/2009 and ended up buying a three bedroomed villa in The Village. We were advised that the completion would be end of Feb/2010.
Since then they have been having lots of rain thus delay in completion. I am being advised that the completion is due end of July/2010.
I do hope that it will be completed after 5 months of delay. I have been writing e-mails to SCV Koraglu but their responses are not very frequent and do not alway give the information asked for.
I hope we can meet up once you acquire your place. Hopefully I will be flying out to Turkey in Aug/2010 to take charge of the property.
Kind regards
Kamal Bhardwaj

[delgan]

Thanks Ben, will keep you updated.

Hi Kamal,

We were over in June and ours was the 'last one' left apparently (B1-3), and it was being tiled the week after.

I think the places were being finished from the back of phase one to the front, as we looked at one of the rearmost villas and it was complete.

There were 3 foot deep trenches around all the blocks where they were installing water pipes, and these were to be filled in made good and turf/path laid.

The swimming pool was basically finished, with a small kids pool adjoining it, which wasn't on the original drawing.

As you have said, contact is at best sporadic, but hopefully that means they are soooo busy getting it ready, they don't have time to 'play' on computers, as my wife likes to say! Hopefully they will deliver on their delayed promise, we were also told of the rains.

It's nice to talk to someone in the same boat as ourselves, and yes, if we can, it would be great to meet up, before the AGM (cant believe I am going to be a part of this!)

Whereabouts are you based? We live just outside London, in Essex.

Look forward to hearing from you,

Del

[Kamal]

Hi Del
There are some lovely people who help you along and show you the way to use this forum. I am very grateful for this. Del you have given me more information regarding the villa that I have purchased than what I could get out of them by sending 6 e-mails. They are really very bad in keeping people informed. I have not properly introdused myself as yet but here it goes. I have a family of wife Parveen and two girls and two boys , all grown up. I have taken early retirement from being a telecommunication engineer first in BT (32 years) then Cable & Wireless eleven years.
I have bought a villa (C1-3) both to enjoy by ourself and the familly as well as for renting out.
Completion date was supposed to be end of Feb/2010 but now I am being advised that it will be end of July/2010.
I am being asked to pay up before the exchange of contracts. I don't really know whether this is normal as I expected to pay them after making sure everything is okay. This villa will come fully furnished and I would like to make sure that there will be nothing for me to do as I walk into the place.
So far it has been one hell of a pain but hoping that the dark clouds will disappear. By the way I live in Heston Hounslow Middlesex close to London Heatrow airport.
Regards
Kamal Bhardwaj

Edited by Kamal, 02 July 2010 - 09:34 AM.

[Abi]

Kamal, I believe that the contract would state payment stages for the property and wonder what it says about final payments.

Has your Military clearance come through yet and have you checked recently to make sure that the builder hasn't taken out a loan against your property? I'm not saying he has but it is always wise to double check these things.

[Kamal]

Hi Abi
I have to see the contracts T&C but it is fairly normal in this country to pay for the property after exchange of contracts. I have employed a solicitotor in Turkey to take care of any legal issues and don't expect that the loan has been taken out on my property.
Millitary clearance has been given on the villa and hopefully should be ready by the end of July/2010. I have bought this place through Prime based in UK.

Regards
Kamal

[delgan]

Hi Kamal

I was a bit worried about paying anything before miltary clearance and signing contracts etc. but I am informed this is quite usual. (still in the back of my mind though)

We went to Bodrum with Cornhill Overseas, and the service has been second to none. Their rep, Antoinette, was fantastic and while in her company, she paid for all our food and drink. There was no hard sell, and we were impressed with what she showed us around the area, not only properties, but the beauty of the surroundings and the infastructure being put into place.

There is a second runway close to completion at Bodrum International, and they are installing water mains (drinking water) almost everywhere it seems.

While this is not what everyone wants, the onslaught of tourism, for me it appears to be a good investment opportunity.

We spent years travelling rural France looking at places to renovate, to live in and as a letting business, but what we could afford and the amount of work involved (I like renovating, my wife doesn't, well not how long I take anyway!) was very prohibitive.

We were not thinking at all about Turkey, but jumped at the chance of the offer from Cornhill, £99 4 days, flights, 5* B&B Hotel, free meals when with the rep, in June, without the kids, heaven.

After reading through this forum though, I am realising there is far more to Turkey than investment, and we cant wait to return time and again to visit some of the places people mention on here. I have read posts and followed links to stories of life there, and almost get the same sense of feeling as we did in France, a more natural way of life, and those that we met were very hospitable.

So far so good, are my thoughts on the whole process we have encountered at the moment, I will let you know if I hear from The Village, if I get an update that is. I hope your trip meets your expectations, send us a photo or two.

Oh, the solicitors we were taken to, and decided to use, are Legal Independence, a part of Martinez Echevarria Group, an International firm. I shall let other users know how we get on with them. Who have you used?

Thanks, Del

[Kamal]

Hi Del
I have spent a good 20 minutes responding to your message then it just disappeared before my eyes. Anyway we had a similar deal as yoursel buht with Prime Overseas. It was very good and we were well taken care off. We bought this property on our last day in Turkey and our plane took off half hour after the purchase. We paid £2000 pounds upfront and the rest to be paid in two stages of which we have paid the first stage one month after the purchase.
I am being advised that the completion is on 7/08/10 which is 5 months delay but they want the balance to be paid off by 28/07/10.
As per contract I am suppose to pay off balance on completion which is what I like do after seeing the end product. This place comes fully furnished and they want this money so that they can furnish it. I have written back and will wait and see what they come back with.
How far have you gone with your purchase ? Your completion date must be same as mine.
My solicitor is Maria Moreno Cabanillas of Legal Independence Istanbul.
Regards
Kamal

[delgan]

Ah!, the old disappearing text trick.

After getting lots of calls from In-laws and Friends about this in general day to day use of computers, long emails etc. I now recommend the following:-

Type your text in your favourite editor, I always say openoffice.org as this is FREE, M$ compatible, and autosaves! (you must save after creating new document, to enable autosave function)

Then just select all (ctrl+a), copy (ctrl+c), then paste (ctrl+v) into your forum/email/whatever.

My Stepfather-in-law does this now, and I no longer get the 'how do I......' phone calls.

p.s you can use Notepad, Wordpad, Vim or countless others, if you can remember to keep saving as you type.

[Kamal]

Hi Delgan
Thanks for your tip regarding use of the computer. What I would like to know is how far have you gone with your purchase. Are you taking possession at the same time as myself i.e 7/08/2010.
Regards
Kamal Bhardwaj

[delgan]

Hi Kamal

We initially paid £2000 deposit 9th June 2010
mid payment 10th July 2010,
final payment 31st Sept 2010,
completion date 30th Oct 2010.

So we are nearing our mid payment now, have you made your final payment yet.

We are holding back an amount for snagging purposes, which seems appropriate.

Thanks

Del

[Kamal]

Hi Delgan
We have paid the initial £2000 whilst in Turkey last year and then half of the rest in December last year. We only have the other half to pay on completion which is 7/08/10 but they are demanding this to be paid by 28/07/10. As per contract we are only supposed to pay on completion. They are advising that the proprty will not be furnished until we make the payment.
It looks like that you have not bought in the first phase as first phase due to be completed by 7/08/10.

Regards
Kamal

[delgan]

Hi Kamal,

We were latecomers to The Village, and were shown the last available appt on the first phase. As we viewed and decided to buy the first week in June 2010, and the Military clearance on average can take 3 months, we have a later completion date, which hopefully will be before the 26th October, because we hope to stay there! (I am hoping they will bring completion date forward a few days.)

Interestingly, I noticed on thevillagebodrum.com site, there is a 6% discount if full payment is made, were you made aware of this? I wasn't but 6% saving would have been nice, still payable over a few months I think, because of the clearance issues etc.

This is the link to 6% discount option if you want to take a look, ignore me if I am going over stuff you already know.....

http://thevillagebod...om/spayment.htm

It seems to have taken me ages to type this up, as I keep getting interupted, I think I started over 2 hrs ago!

Speak soon

Del

[Kamal]

Hi Delgan
I am aware of this 6% discount but I decided not to do this as I thought paying all the money upfront may be too risky. One thing I have found it is tWhy hat they appear to hold back work until full payment is made. I am saying this because I am being asked to pay off the balance before the completion date and similarly you are being asked to pay before completion.
Why they can't wait till the client is satisfied with the finished building is beyond my understanding.
I suppose same as myself you will be getting fully furnished apartment.
Regards
Kamal

[delgan]

Hi Kamal,

We didnt go for the furnished option, hoping to do a better job ourselves for the £3000.

We did, however, take the aircon and white goods package at £3500, but on investigation, I feel we have been overcharged there as well, more to the point, the extra was added on to the sale price, which, as you know, is the final figure that all percentages are worked from, tax, solicitors, etc. etc. seems everyone wants their pound of flesh.

The figure given as a guide by our solicitor was 5-6% of the purchase price, so if you have been given the final purchase price with these extra packages added on, that means you will be paying, £325-£390( edited, got my sums wrong) over the top for no benefit whatsoever.

Can any forum experts give me any pointers on this? Why spend more than you need to?

While we were out there, our rep took us to a furniture showroom, which was fantastic, and they can do packages to suit your needs, deliver and setup, next day or within days. The guy even said he would provide furniture for us to use, until our order was fulfilled. (Jody wanted the corner sofabed in leather!)

We haven't bought anything as of yet, not till things have progressed further, but hopefully we will have something to sleep on, and sit on when we arrive late October!

Be back in a while

Del

Edited by delgan, 06 July 2010 - 11:36 PM.