However, as the observer of the magazine "Novy Inostranets" notes, quite recently our first love did not fully reciprocate our feelings. She was glad to see us - but only as guests, nothing more: until October 2003 we could not buy property here. That is, we still bought it - but in a contorted way, some covering themselves with fictitious marriages, others with a straw man of Turkish citizenship. And now any of us can buy, give, inherit, and conduct other real estate transactions in Turkey. As for land, its purchase still remains a privilege of legal entities, but transforming into a legal entity in Turkey is simple and fast. A day or two, a couple of thousand dollars - and you are the owner of a Turkish firm.
It must be said that other foreigners have far outpaced us in buying Turkish property - Germans, Britons, Dutch, or Norwegians were allowed to do it, and they did. As a result, Fethiye, for example, has become a completely English town - both in population and lifestyle; for some British residents of Fethiye, other British residents of Fethiye have opened restaurants and shops where everything happens in English, so pensioners and other Britons living there permanently feel at home. Only better - because it is warmer in Turkey than in England.
But our domestic offensive on Turkish resorts is only beginning. True, many of our people have settled in Istanbul - business needs to be looked after, and it is more pleasant to do it from one's own home than from a hotel. As for Alanya, Antalya, Kemer, or Bodrum, these resorts, familiar as a place to spend one or two summer weeks, we are only beginning to consider as a place for real estate investment. And by the way, the profit from these investments now is from 80 to 100 percent per year.
Turkey very much wants to join the EU. Perhaps it is not nice of us, but we absolutely do not want Turkey to be admitted to the EU. Because then we would have to forget about land costing from €30 to €100 per square meter, and about villas where a fully finished square meter costs from €1,000 to €1,800... And about the fact that a super-luxury villa, for which in Spain you have to pay about one and a half million euros, costs only 350,000 on the Turkish coast. And a simple villa on the coast still costs 100,000-120,000. With finishing that carries a five-year warranty. And packed with all kitchen equipment and furniture. And with bathrooms that have everything required. Just like that.
However, all this costs this much only for the time being - real estate prices in Turkey are growing by 20-25% per year, and there is no reason for them to suddenly stop. And if now the most expensive square meter of land costs about €100, then just a year ago anything more expensive than €60 was simply exotic for the coast.
Even a modest buyer, one who has acquired an apartment or a small house somewhere on the Anatolian coast for himself but does not live there all year round, can get about 15 percent profit solely from renting out his property. However, compared to the investor's 80 or 100 percent profit, this looks rather modest.
Turkey tries especially hard for the investor. So, an investor buys a plot for development, and municipal services completely free of charge bring to the plot what the plot needs, that is, they build access roads, supply water, gas, electricity. Turks build quickly - ready-made houses will appear in about 8-10 months. However, by that stage, as a rule, none of the houses on the plot remain unsold - almost everything is bought up already at the construction stage.
Seismically, the coast is far less dangerous than Istanbul - yet echoes of earthquakes can reach here as well. Therefore, a special commission monitors the seismic resistance of buildings under construction, overseeing practically every pour of concrete. And if something is wrong, the developer will not get the documents required to sell the houses, and all his efforts will go to waste.
In general, our people have gravitated south, to Turkey - both to live and to let others live. That is, to build hotels. Building a hotel takes about a year. A square meter of a conventional hotel costs about €350. All costs are recouped in at most five to six years, and then continuous income begins, which is the most pleasant part of the business.
However, the most profitable occupation in Turkey right now, oddly enough, is building shops and supermarkets. It would seem that all of Turkey is one continuous store, where fur coats alternate with T-shirts, Turkish delight, and jewelry. Yet among all this splendor, there is a decided shortage of simple supermarkets with milk, bread, and cheese.
Experts say Turkey now resembles our capital in 1996-97. It resembles it in prices - in the sense that order in Turkey is stricter: here laws have no retrospective force. Moreover, local law does not provide any grounds for taking away from a buyer what he has paid for. And if in our country a deal can be canceled because the rights of a minor were violated during its conclusion, or someone forgot about the share of a relative residing in places not so remote, then in Turkey that cannot happen. A transaction properly executed with witnesses is eternal and indestructible, and that inspires optimism.
Owning Turkish property is also pleasant because you are not tormented here when obtaining a residence permit. It is not acquired automatically, but almost automatically - €350, a couple of months, and then for five years you can stay in the country without a care. And then? Then you can extend the residence permit, or you can apply for citizenship - if you have property, obtaining it in this country is not that difficult.
So far, Turkish citizenship does not help in traveling the world any better than our own. But, I remind you, the country is striving to join the EU, and one day it will get there. And no one needs to explain what a pan-European passport is.
Turkey is a country that has everything. Four seas, mountains covered with forests and ski slopes. Antiquities - there are more Greek antiquities here than in Greece itself, so in terms of what to see, Turkey is one of the richest countries in the world. Moreover, this partly European country is not yet completely spoiled by Western civilization - morals here are not as strict as in the rest of the Islamic world, but not as frivolous as in Europe.
There are excellent schools with English-language instruction. Medicine here is quite satisfactory - not free, but good. The ecology on the coast is wonderful - it is no accident that very wealthy people from all over the world vacation and live in Bodrum. That is, they, financially able to choose any corner of the world, prefer Turkish Bodrum above all. This is where they moor their yachts...
So we have absolutely no need for Turkey to become one of the Schengen countries. Because prices would also become Schengen-like. However, for someone who already understands what's what, Schengen prices are not scary. And what does he care - he has already bought in Turkey what he wanted, and now he can watch with deep satisfaction as his property appreciates day by day. I think that must be extraordinarily pleasant.
Of all Turkey, Antalya holds a special place in our hearts - for most of us it became the first foreign country we ever saw with our own eyes. And we started settling here even when we were not yet allowed to do so: long before the ban on selling real estate to our compatriots was lifted, our compatriots skillfully circumvented this ban. And as a result, now, according to unverified data, our compatriots own about five thousand various real estate properties in Antalya - that is, compared with the Germans or British, who have managed to found entire national settlements here, this is not so much. But for representatives of a state whose citizens received the right to buy real estate only about a year and a half ago, this is a very good result.
Turkey in general, and Antalya in particular, are currently experiencing an economic boom. That is, everyone is in a downturn, but they are in an upturn. Inflation is decreasing, the lira exchange rate has become stable, and the investment climate is attractive. Moreover, the Turks are trying to make it even more attractive - the investor is promised various benefits (such as automatic residence permit). And investors have started coming in droves. Unfortunately, mostly European ones - we, as a fearful people, are still cautious. But it seems in vain - according to realtors, all risks here are insured and minimized, and investments are so short that there is simply no time to start worrying. A multi-story building in Antalya is built in 10-12 months, a low-rise building will be ready in about three months, at most five... During construction, the property becomes more expensive by at least 30-40%, and a profit of 100% per annum is considered normal here.
Yes, there is a construction boom in Antalya. But it is somehow quiet - they seem to build a lot, but it is not very noticeable. During the season, mass construction in the resort area is prohibited; there are also no cranes here - so as not to spoil the landscape. They build quietly, quickly, and with quality - the future investor should not worry about the waterproofing of the house or problems with the roof. It seems that more and more of our citizens have come to appreciate this.
Another local plus: Antalya is a city with a population of half a million. In the sense of the local, Turkish population, which multiplies several times during the season. But, being a real city, Antalya is alive even in winter - everything is open, everything works, life is bustling, so if desired, you can live here permanently. There is even a Russian school with Russian teachers and a Russian curriculum, but with a couple of foreign languages added - so a family can be left in Antalya for the whole year. Moreover, this school has a boarding house, where, if necessary, a child can be left for as many days as needed.
Everything is also in order with medicine - everyone is free to choose a suitable insurance program for themselves from insurance companies, many of which have existed since the beginning of the last century. Safety - after all, the army and police are very strong in Turkey, so even a lone blonde can walk around night-time Antalya. Of course, people will turn around and cluck their tongues after her - but nothing more.
The third plus of Antalya is that there is an airport here. Therefore, it is easy for fathers of families living here to fly in for the weekend: three hours on a plane - and you are already home. Not every dacha can be reached so quickly with today's traffic jams.
So, what do we mainly buy in Antalya? First of all, various housing, and in this matter we are original. According to statistics, foreigners buy apartments here in 70% of cases, while the remaining 30% prefer villas or townhouses. And among our compatriots, no more than 50% buy apartments, while the rest live in their own houses. After European and domestic prices, villas in Antalya seem simply free - a house five hundred meters from the sea can cost €80-100 thousand. And a three-room apartment in the resort area is still offered for €30-40 thousand.
But our compatriots in Antalya do not live by residential real estate alone - they also do business here. Our fellow citizens are becoming Turkish businessmen - we buy shops, restaurants, nightclubs, fitness centers, and concert halls here. No one seems to complain about how things are going.
There is not much free land in the resort area that interests everyone. However, in Antalya it is still simpler - for example, in Kemer, a hundred square meters now costs no less than €50 thousand, while in Antalya land can still be found for about 20-25 thousand. But in the most tempting places it is already being sold for 50 or even 70 thousand. And this despite the fact that a little further away, for example in Alanya, there are still plots of a hundred square meters costing only €6 thousand. Some 'only' that is. This is why giant gardens around Turkish villas are not common.
What we call elite real estate (here it is for some reason not customary to call it that) has risen in price by 100% over the year. However, almost everything here can be called elite - over the past three years, the quality of construction has simply leaped forward. Technologies and architecture have improved, so houses have become truly beautiful. Moreover, here it never happens that a buyer purchases an empty box and then builds walls and lays wiring himself - in Antalya everything is sold fully finished, with plumbing and kitchen equipment, so for a new building it is enough to bring in furniture, hang curtains, and that's it, you can live.
That is how about five thousand Russians already live. And thousands more will live - there is information that our industrial giants intend to build their cottage settlements in Antalya. It seems we are becoming friendlier - earlier, when buying real estate, one of the main requirements was: "Not a single Russian within a kilometer!" And now we, like some English or Germans, are ready to live side by side with compatriots, and that is pleasing.