Living in Turkey

Sometime in the near future (4 years or less) I hope to become an expat in Turkey.  To line up a budget, I have been researching the two biggest cost purchases I will have to buy, a residence and a vehicle.

So my inquiry is how to go about negotiating a fair purchase price of each as I'm certain there is room for negotiating the final price.  Here in the US, there are a multitude of websites to conduct research to arrive at a price which is reasonable.  Are there similar sites or resources so that I can gain leverage in the purchasing process?

Thank you

The main site is www.sahibinden.com. But YES....everything here is negotiable. I would suggest a second hand car as the tax on new cars is eye-watering. Second-hand cars hold their value really well. As to properly, I can only give you my example. When I bought my property (3 largely derelict buildings and 2000 sq m of garden) the owner wanted 260,000 TL. We eventually settled at 210,000 TL, which was a fair price. At the time it was about £58,000 or 77,984 USD.  I have to say that we bought the property in my Turkish friend's name initially because he rightly said that if the owner realises foreigners are buying the cost will go up. The current valuation (after 7 years here) is 2,000,000TL, which equates to 147,647USD. But that's an estate agent's valuation and the actual sale price (if I was to sell) might be a lot less. Bearing in mind, too, that I have done £50,000 worth of repairs (67,221USD). So when you add the original price and the repairs cost together it doesn't show a huge profit in hard currency terms. But you rarely lose moiney in property here. My previous flat in a seaside resort near Istanbul was bought for £14,000 in 1989 and sold for £75,000 in 2015. It would be good if you could find a worldly-wise Turkish friend to help you.

Mr. George,
Thank you for your suggested website, I haven't checked it out yet.  Also, thanks for expanding on your experience in purchasing your property.  I may come back with more questions after looking deeper into this matter.

To give perspective of my background, I am a first generation US citizen born in the US of Turkish heritage.  Between the ages of 4 through 7, my family lived in Turkey, where I attended first grade and subsequently, we returned to the US.  So I have limited conversational proficiency in Turkish.  In 2018, my wife and son and I visited Turkey for my mother's 80th birthday and my wife was enchanted with her experience in Turkey.  With all of the craziness happening in the US and the allure of Turkey, we decided Turkey was for us.  We really dislike hot climates, for that reason, we hope to settle in Eskisehir.
And by the way, my mother lives in Kusadasi. 

Lastly, I did put in an order for your book yesterday.  I'm curious as to when we do move, how many camels my wife would fetch.

Thanks again and best regards.

Ha ha....I was in Kusadasi today. I am planning to give a talk to some expats (25-30) on February 8th....about my book and some crazy things in my life. If you have more questions just ask. There's a wonderful blog (although he has given up on it) about being Turkish but never having visited Turkey....it is called Arse About Fez.....here's the link. I;m sure you will enjoy it. arseaboutfez.com

By the way my blog madaboutthekoy.blogspot.com has 16 posts.....

Hello Gino,

Welcome in advance. I just wonder to know why you choose the Eskişehir for settle? From my point of view it is excelenet city (both demographic structure, and location) but not famous one.
Property prices are changing daily nowadays just be carefull and check the price change in time (sahibinden is providing this data) on the other hand you can check the www.hepsiemlak.com.

Cheers and good luck at your journey.

George, thanks for the blogs, I'll check those out as well.

Aqu,
As I mentioned my mother lives in Kusadasi and she highly recommended that I look into Eskisehir.  Eskisehir checks all the boxes for me as it is:

✔️ Ideal geographically
✔️ Very progressive population
✔️ Excellent Transportation System
✔️ Clean and Safe
✔️ Extremely well run city government
✔️ A college town with a youthful population who are inclined to know English
✔️ Very cute and eclectic town
✔️ Lastly, its climate is a major plus because my wife and I do very well in the cold (we live in Minnesota) and from my research, the summers are manageable because it has low humidity.

Besides, last summer we vacationed in Turkey and made sure to spend 4 nights in Eskisehir. 😀

Finally, I have been browsing for residence listings in hepsiemlak with a bit of the aid of Google translate and many listings mention that there is room for negotiation but have no idea how much.  Maybe Sahibinden offers the actual sales prices of sold property, I intend to dig into that.  Here in the US, there are the websites Redfin and Zillow to look up home purchase details (final date & price of sale, home size and amenities, taxes, historical data) .  Are there such data available for Turkish properties?

Thanks, best of luck and much success in your pursuits

Well as l said Eskişehir have no issue but l should day that before the final decision l strongly advise you to check those cities as well

-Bursa
-Balikesir
-Çanakkale
- Bartın (May be)

I personally live in Ankara and not recommend it due to lots of disadvantages.

Anyway, hepsiemlak and sahibinden also present those information. May be you search with wrong filtres or keywords l m not sure. But price, properties and conditions are well defined mostly. As George mentioned if People (not only estates but also owner) realized that you are foreign they would change their mouth. Before things will serious get help from your mother's trustfull local friends.

Cheers

Hello again Aqu,
In response to your last post, last summer we traveled to 3 cities to scout potential areas to call home:  Samsun, Eskisehir & Bursa.  Samsun is cold but its climate is more humid and wet and its vibe was not appealing.  Bursa was too congested with heavy traffic.  Eskisehir had a relaxed feel with a charming atmosphere with its streets & buildings. 

If you could offer some reasons for suggesting Balikesir and Çanakkale.  I had briefly looked at Çanakkale last year but without too much seriousness.

Also, for when I enter the negotiating process for purchasing a daire, I would like to understand what a reasonable price is based on historical data for individual property transactions. 

On Hepsiemlak, each listing shows average sale price per M2 for the section of a town (like Tepebasi in Eskisehir). 

On Sabinden (which its registration process was difficult and cumbersome), I discovered it provides average sale price/M2 for the current month for the neighborhood a property is located.

Average cost does not help me in what I am seeking.

Thank you very much for your engaging response and your advisement for other other cities to consider.  It's a big decision and the more information, the better we are all for it.

Best regards in all of your pursuits and stay safe.

As mentioned in previous posts, I hope to eventually move to Turkey and purchase a condo.  As probably most of us are, I am flying blind when it comes to the negotiating process and I don't feel comfortable depending on any locals to lead the process who may or may not be skilled negotiators.

So, I performed a quick Duckduckgo search (as opposed to Google which I despise) using the phrase "satilmis konut fiyatlari" with my limited Turkish ability.  This means prices of homes sold.  My top result which seemed to be the most promising was a company called Endeksa  website:  https://www.endeksa.com/tr/ .  Seems that they offer a lot of services for real estate buying and selling and provides geographical analytical reports but its all convoluted for me with my limited turkish.

Anyone have any knowledge of this company?  Any comments or suggestions on this?

Thanks and best regards to everyone

Gino

I have purchased two apartments here in Esenyurt Istanbul with the assistance of a Turkish Real estate agent.I found him very honest and sincere.  If you are interested, I may provide his contact number
You may consult him by texting in your language by using your WhatsApp number. I am a teacher here,if I will free I may assist you in this regard.
Good luck.

Hi Abdul
Can you send me his name and phone numbers? I would like to rent an apartment there!
Tell me it's safe to live in Istanbul?
Thanks

Dear Mr Kaplan,
You have been living in Turkey for some time ... now.
Can I have a private, short conversation with you by phone, please ?
My mail:     paris@art-tour.eu
My phone: +33 6 72 50 57 00 (WhatsApp)
If the answer is no, it is very ok, then I apologise for asking.

Regards,

You wanted to talk. That is ok. Maybe later today.

best wishes


George Dearsley