We are always getting emails asking what happened to some of the people we have helped to find a home in our magazine or through our TV series. Here Richard Way revisits one of our successful buyers who bought their property in Turkey.
Allan and Denise Warren took early retirement and moved from Dorset to Turkey in 2013. Having rented for eight months, in December that year they moved into their newly built three-bedroom villa near the centre of Dalyan, after buying the property for £167,000 through the local estate agency Sunray Property. Says Denise: “We’re very happy here and have no regrets. Settling in and becoming a resident has been plain sailing, thanks really to the help from our estate agency. They assist with everything, from sorting out utilities to finding an electrician. Our villa was new but we’ve added a new conservatory, large balcony and carport.
Living costs here are massively cheaper than the UK: it’s what made it possible for us to retire early. The cost of council tax, water and utilities combined are about a quarter of what they are in the UK; and eating out is less than half the price.
“Dalyan isn’t like other tourist resorts in Turkey – it’s more like a working town and more traditional, but in lovely natural surroundings with access to trails, mountains, the beach and the river. We never get bored. I’m doing Turkish lessons and cookery classes, and we’ve met lots of new friends. There’s an expat scene you can dip in and out of, but there are people we know who come for their holiday every year. Dalyan is one of those places people visit and fall in love with. Like my cousin who bought a bungalow here last year. She’s still working, so, for now, it’s just a holiday home.
“We manage to travel a fair bit, which really isn’t difficult from here. Dalaman airport, which opened a new international terminal at the end of April, is only 30 minutes away and from there, an internal flight to Istanbul takes just 50 minutes and is really cheap. From Istanbul you can fly anywhere in the world, it’s a real international hub and soon to have one of the world’s largest airports!
“The only small niggle about life here is how slow paperwork can take. It can be frustrating but it’s a small price to pay for all the other benefits.”
