Building Heights Changed - Maybe here as well ?

[kevincat99]

An interesting article in The Turkish Daily News

 http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=104662

Is this the shape of things to come??



Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=1568.0

[Cosetta]

In Kalkan there are 4-story buildings, in which the ground floor is the bodrum, usually NOT visible from all sides.  This law affecting Bodrum bodes ill for all the coastal villages of Turkey.  Maybe the foreign visitors should offer support to the Bodrumites to turn back this ruling.  It is in everyone''s interest.

[Pauline]

I know I have a four storey villa which was built right in front of my villa - was promised emphatically by our builder it would be a certain height and length (i believed him ha ha) and during the winter when i visited saw this monstrosity a few metres away from my front terrace and stretching halfway across the pool grow like jack''s beanstalk - unfortunately they put the final (fourth) floor on after I left - I wonder why - have now had to make a pagoda to hide it and built a sitting area on our third floor to see the view.  Yes we have a three floor villa! Very sad about it but what can you do?  Could not believe they had built a bodrum which makes it four floors.   Any suggestions - no not a bomb please - have thought about that - one of those swinging pendulum things with a great ball on it that knocks buildings down.   Somedays!!!!  Do they hire them in kalkan?  Any suggestions please!!??   So beware do not buy with land in front with a fantastic view - I know we all learn the hard way I suppose.   Pauline

[Mctee]

hi, am new member, i think that is terrible and i have massive sympathy for you, I''d like to buy villa to retire to but this really puts me off. Is there no protection in the law here to stop this kind of thing? I would feel devastated if this happened to me.

[Pauline]

Thanks McTee for your sympathetic response.   Don''t be put off buying in Kalkan you just have to be careful - if you need any help do let us know as by now we are ''experts'' .  We still love it here but we were one of the unlucky ones who believed in our builder ha ha  But I think we should make some stand against this and I will give my full support Pauline

[freeat]

There must some action you can try for this in the courts. Have you not thought to take your builder to court? or even the builder who''s built in front of you?

[Pauline]

hallo Freeat
Unfortunately the builder who built in front of me - built our villa too - and has really treated me (personally) in quite a bullish way.   Have thought about court etc. but have come to conclusion better to sell the property as I am quite depressed and disillusioned by the whole thing.   Have learnt a BIG lesson and will not repeat again.  Quite sad really as I have lost belief which spoils what I felt for Kalkan.   Hope it comes back with time. Thanks for your comment appreciate the concern.  I''m back in the UK at the moment and really happy to be here for a while because the last few weeks have been ''hellish''  They are still building this four storey monstrosity and it is mid-june.   Have tried everything but they are still working on it.   Pauline

[Pete]

Pauline,

I feel so sorry for you. You must feel like you are hitting your head against the proverbial brick wall.
We were in the process of trying to buy in Kalkan three years ago but it all fell through when the seller/builder suddenly made ridiculous demands for money. What amazed me was how one minute they were trying to be our new best friends and the next threatening us with menaces!! I have witnessed this a few times. It is actually this behaviour, that has totally put us off buying in Turkey.

Pete

[Pauline]

Hi Pete
Your comments sound all too familiar - wonder whether we are talking about the same builder!!!
It really is such a shame as Kalkan is a fabulous place for a holiday, which makes me think maybe I should have just visited Kalkan as a tourist and not got involved with investing money!!  Thanks for your comments.   Pauline

[Mctee]

Hi Pauline and Pete,
  To my experience this kind of thing is only too common here. Rather than see you as unlucky, I would like to see those others without problems as being ''lucky''. I think you''re very brave sticking to your guns and not letting this get lost in the swathe of self interested property owners and estate agents who of course want to paint a hassle free picture of property ownership here. I was instantly rubbished on another thread when I tried to bring to light the fact that it is not a ''breeze'' buying here, and in fact the purchase process is so simple because the safety and protection aspects are removed here i.e. the structural survey and the Searches. These two processes are paramount when purchasing property. Without these you really chance to luck, not what I want to do with £150,000 of my money. Well done for speaking out and showing some responsibility to those thinking of purchasing here in the future.

[Lantana]

We have recently been contacted by three couples who are experiencing dreadful problems with a builder and estate agent. In one case, the builder/estate agent has taken deposits and instalment payments and embezzled it. All three couples are going to lose vast amounts of money and two may lose the dream homes they thought they had bought.

On investigating what had happened we discovered that all of them had used the same lawyer who was in each case, acting for both parties. Obviously, huge conflicts occur when this happens.

Currrently in Kalkan almost no property is being sold, this is putting tremendous pressure on builders, many of whom were already massively financially over extended. The builders in this situation are taking tremendous risks, ''disguising'' the truth and using money which buyers have given in good faith to pay off debts totally unlinked to the house purchase.

It is very easy to get sucked into the fantasy of Kalkan being the most wonderful place in the world, full of people who are going to be your best friend for life as soon as you have purchased a property from them.

Of course there are many totally honest and completely reliable builders, in general they have been in business for years and have well established reputations. If you do want to buy property here check very carefully into the builders background and history and ask to speak to previous customers who have successfully bought.

Caveat emptor

Lantana

[Pauline]

sorry to have to say this but our builder is one of the ''reputable'', established,  builders in Kalkan!
Pauline

[Mctee]

Sorry Pauline, but what is meant by ''reputable?''

[Charlie]

Mctee you started a thread 3 weeks ago ''Want to buy'' (in Kalkan) - why?

[freeat]

Hi Lantana,
  Can''t your friends report the lawyer who is acting for both parties to the Turkish equivalent of ''The Bar'' and have him investigated for such practices.

[Mercimek]

You would be refering to the Antalya Bar Association, yes if you believe a lawyer has acted in an improper or inappropriate manner you have this option http://www.mymerhaba.com/Lawyers-&-Bars-in-Turkey-244.html

[Cosetta]

I have just heard from a well placed and reliable source that the new Title Deeds Law (now in Parliament) will not be passed this summer.  Although no one ventured to say why, one can deduce part of the reason is that by lowering the prices of houses more of them will become available to Turkish buyers and fewers to foreigners.  This is already happening in other areas where owners/builders in financial difficulties are substantially lowering their prices and selling to Turkish families.

[Hoca]

Cosetta
I think it is a good thing that they are trying to lower property prices so as more Turkish people can afford to by. I assume they are doing this in the cities too. Over the last decade local authorities in Britain have made builders put what they call social or affordable houses as part of the planning application depending on the scale of the development. It was to try and ensure that local people could afford to buy in there own area. I for one was in favour it was the people buying 4-5 bedroom detached houses that were not so keen.
So if that is the case and more people will be able to buy property in their own country then a little delay in proceedings is well worth it.
Isn''t it ?

[Cosetta]

My comment about the purpose of the delay in the passage of the Title Deeds law is my personal suspicion.  There are at least three reasons to consider: 1) put downward pressure on the property market, 2) halt excessive building of new properties, 3) gov now concerned with its own problems.

Few contractors are going to build more villas and apartments in such an uncertain environment.  On the contrary and unfortunately, it is conceivable that many contractors who took loans against future sales may find themselves bankrupt.

One of the effects of this delay is that Croatian and Bulgarian realtors have capitalized on this problem and are stating in their advertising "Unlike some other countries (aka Turkey), we do not have problems selling homes and getting legal deeds for foreign buyers". 

[alantj]

Hoca,

The number of foreigners wishing to buy in most residential areas surely cannot be large enough to impact on house prices overall, so I don''t think it will have any impact on house prices in Turkey generally.

However, it will hugely damage the market in areas such as Kalkan where the market is almost entirely driven by foreigners. I wonder what the average apartment/villa is worth in Kalkan for anyone needing to sell in the near future, probably less than half the current asking prices. 

Even after the new law is passed, I cannot see many people wanting to risk investing large sums of money in a country that has so little respect for property rights.