Need info on Kusadasi

Hi
I am going out to Kusadasi in February to look at some property. I would like an apartment or similar to use for holidays and possible retirement some time in the future, not really interested in renting as property would be used by grown up kids and myself. Would be willing to spend up to 100k.
I am going out with an Irish group who are selling property out there.I approached them on a recommendation and there has been no hard sell.
Would appreciate a few pointers, from anyone who has experience of this area.
Thanks
Tomas.

Advice on "the island of the little yellow birds".

Used to be a nice enough seaside town, mostly grew up because of its location -- close proximity to one of the Greek islands and was an entry point to Turkey. Now with the growth in cheap air travel, this is not such an issue, but still a busy enough route for small ferries.

Price here have risen from cheap and affordable to expensive vis a vis what local market wil pay. Was marketed as a possible retirement/winter sunshine destination to irish buyers, but heavy winter rainfall, difficulties with access and security issues have seriously dented the market here. Promises of sharp rises with EU entry have fizzled out now that the EU has effectively stepped back from this process. Some developers have been known to try the "rental guarantee" stunt here to try to drum up sales.

If you really want a home in Kusadasi, i.e. you want to spend your summer holidays there for ever and ever, and you don't mind sitting there all alone looking at cloudy skies in wintertime having taken three flights to get there, then you should have no trouble doing a deal with sellers. Most should be willing to take a good drop in price to shift what they have on hand.

Would advise also not to buy in an estate that is half built -- the slowdown may mean that you are living in a building site for years. Buy second hand in completed developments and bargain hard, offer low.

Thanks for the advice, will take a look anyway and see what turns up.

Tomas.

I went there on holidays, a good few years back, and it would not be somewhere where I would like to return to.
It is very commercial and not exactly pretty.
There are much nicer areas in Turkey, I have been to places like Bodrum which were much nicer.

I made a lot of enquiries about property in turkey and if you are looking I would suggest fethiye as the area around it looks spectacular ( oludeniz in particular) Calis looks the part and dont forget to have a look at alanya. plenty of paddys there by all accounts. getting to these places particulary in winter isn't the easiest. the airport for the former two is dalaman and antalya for alanya. cheers

Hi Tomas,
As an ex-pat whose been living close to Kusadasi for the past 18 months, I'll try to give you my view. It certainly was a popular destination for Irish holidaymakers but that popularity has certainly diminished.

The winter weather is not that bad, you have at least blue skies and sunshine which is alot more than anyone has had back in Ireland this winter. The lack of a year round direct flight from Ireland is a big negative. There is direct scheduled flights now from London Gatwick with BA and in March, SunExpress are starting a direct service from Stansted. but this is still a struggle for Irish travellers

In the past 6-12 months, it's amazing how many English people have bought property here and further south towards Marmaris, even buying sites to build. A direct flight is a great help.

There is certainly nicer places in Turkey than Kusadasci. For example, Marmaris. Bodrum, Dalyan, Fethiye. Or Antalya and Alanya in the deep south. Antalya is way over priced and theres no value to be had there. The Russian mafia is buying up everything there. However, it does at least have direct flights from UK and the weather isn't bad even in the winter. Alanya has become popular with Irish buyers but it's a bit out of the way.But if it get's it's own airport, that could all change.

One thing that has happened here is that many Turkish people with seaside homes have been selling up in the past couple of years. Last summer (2006) prices dropped 30%. there is good value to be had if you have the contacts. In last Sundays newspaper, i saw a 3 story villa, 85% finished for sale for 40000 Lira (about 21600 Euro)

Overall Tomas, come over and have a look,don;t rush into anything. Why is this group selling up their property? Certainly set your sights at spending a lot less than 100K. Don;t pay off these guys a fat profit for an overpriced appartment. I know a couple of lads who bought last September, they paid between 55 and 60K. Probably got good enough value at that.

Good luck