I decided to “surf the net” and see if any “off plan properties in the sun” caught my eye. Spain and Portugal were quickly rejected as being too expensive, Bulgaria bit the dust because the summer season is barely four months long.

Enter Turkey, where East meets West, we’d holidayed in Kusadasi about ten years ago, sailed for two weeks on a gulet from Bodrum and spent ten wondrous days exploring Istanbul, so we knew a little of the culture and found the people a little pushy but very friendly.

After perusing many web-sites I was overwhelmed with the variety of properties and locations on offer, however, the big breakthrough came when I landed on the website of Kaya Homes. Several things impressed me:- the layout of the web-site, the design of the properties, the photos of Side, the client feedback and the quality/value package.

I sent an e-mail to Kaya Homes expressing an interest and within a couple of hours I’d received an e-mail response and spoken on the ‘phone to both Aykut Kaya and Thelma, an English lady who works for the company. Being rather cautious, and having heard a few horror stories I asked for the contact details of three English people who have purchased properties from the company. By return I received the details of six referees who I contacted by e-mail and telephone. The contacts were all delighted to respond and were unanimous in their unequivocal praise of Kaya Homes.

November found my wife and I staying in a hotel in Side as a guest of Aykut Kaya, we visited several completed properties, explored the historical area and decided to purchase off-plan a two bedroom apartment in a field that was to become the Neptune 2 site. From then on everything went like clockwork, we were assisted all the way by the Kaya Homes staff and nothing was too much trouble. We’ve obtained our Tax No. opened bank accounts, visited solicitors and notaries, selected furniture, lighting, bedding, all in the company of Kaya Homes representatives whom we’ve found to be professional, knowledgeable and courteous.

Our property was completed on time, on specification and at the agreed price (no add-ons). A few minor snags were quickly rectified and we’ve spent two weeks of each month from July to October enjoying our new home.

During our October visit we decided to exchange apartments with the owner of a larger apartment on the Neptune 2 site and we are extremely grateful to Aykut Kaya and his staff who made all the administrative and physical arrangements to effect the exchange which was accomplished totally painlessly - they even transferred our white goods and light fittings.

Our search is over and we regard ourselves to be extremely fortunate that we found our perfect property partner without having to trawl through all the local estate agents and believe it or not everyone in Turkey is an estate agent – especially the taxi drivers and waiters!!

Jen and Vic Barkley of Stalybridge and Side.

Coral & I have visited Turkey many times during the last 10 years and have always dreamed of owning a property overseas but doubted it would ever happen.

Last year, we holidayed in Side and we both believe this is best resort we have visited. We were put in contact with Aykut and were most impressed with his honesty and desire to ensure we were always in complete control of achieving our dream property.

Aykut took us to some of his completed projects and we were delighted with the quality of these and this also provided us with the opportunity to speak to some of his clients to find out first hand whether they still believed buying a place in Turkey was the right thing to do. We did not come across one person who gave us negative feedback.

Whilst in Turkey, Coral and I went to view some other projects but the standard of finish at those were not as good as Apollo Hill and so we decided to purchase.

The whole process from deciding to purchase and taking ownership of the apartment has been extremely simple. Kaya Homes have been in regular contact with us updated us with progress and helping us to choose the internal fittings.

Coral, myself and our two children Harry & Anya have just returned from our first holiday in our apartment and we did not want to come home! Apollo Hill is exactly what we had hoped for and we have yet to find anywhere in Side that looks as impressive both internally and externally as Apollo Hill.

The whole team at Kaya Homes have been wonderful in helping us buy our first property overseas and when it comes to buying our next, we will use Kaya Homes again. Their help during the purchase was excellent and the after sales support has been magnificent.

Matthew, Coral, Harry & Anya
Berkshire

Kaya Homes STATEMENT As at 25 October 2005

My friend of 30 years, Pat Dudley, and I decided to have a nice quiet holiday in Turkey last week but we only managed 2 hours on the beach! We both bought a property from Kaya Homes instead and spent the week opening a Turkish bank account, getting a Tax Number, buying furniture and signing papers. We did, however, make time for a day white water rafting in the mountains and a trip to nearby Alanya, as well as the obligatory Turkish bath!

I have been going to Turkey for 10+ years and have visited all the “normal” places like Bodrum, Marmaris, Kusadasi and Olu Deniz; as well as Istanbul. I have always loved Turkey, not just for the sunshine the people are so kind and honest. No crime whatsoever. However, I call the above Turkish towns “Candyfloss Turkey” as they have Kentucky Fried Chicken, MacDonalds and yes, candyfloss.

Side in the South of Turkey (near Antalya airport) where Pat and I bought our properties has none of that. It is a most remarkable place, with ruins, sandy beaches and very few Brits. I feel privileged to have found Side 4 years ago. I have been there twice a year ever since but I never thought I would be able to afford a property there.

Kaya Homes showed me the way. I spent several months researching via the Internet of all property developers in the area I so love. All of them emailed me BUT most of them would not reveal the price of their properties until you met them. This is not my style. Aykut Kaya, however, was most professional. He emailed me 6 x email addresses of English people who had bought from him over the past 2 years. I, in turn, emailed them all and spoke on the phone, at length, to each one drilling them really I was very skeptical at this stage! But every one of them helped me along the road to a house purchase.

Initially I thought I could only afford an apartment but Thelma,a wonderful English lady, who works with Aykut at Kaya Homes suggested I just take one quick look at a house that was only £5,000 more than the apartment. When I saw it I was bowled over (see below). So I bought the house and my friend Pat bought the apartment in Side.

I have no hesitation in recommending Aykut Kaya, Kaya Homes and the lovely Thelma to anyone who is thinking of purchasing a property in Turkey. Any queries – I would be happy to answer your concerns, after all, all the others helped me.

ANGELA REARDON (Surrey, England) – Akdeniz Sitesi, Side
PAT DUDLEY (Essex, England) – Taurus Apartment, Side

We were on a family holiday in Side at a friends apartment and became aware of the property investment opportunities, as a result we met several developers and viewed a considerable number of projects. When we were introduced to Aykut Kaya the sixth sense kicked in and we immediately felt he was a man we could trust.

Since that initial meeting in July 2004 we have invested in the Villa Allure project, for us a very big step. A year on we have enjoyed several wonderful family holidays at the apartment and have been able to extend this luxury to close friends.

From the outset of our purchase Aykut offered to help in any way possible, he has been true to his word even to the extent of arranging a mountain rescue for us from the snow in Saklikent last February. On our last trip one of our daughters was taken ill with a temperature and tonsillitis, a phone call to Aykut and he was there within 10 minutes to take us to the hospital and arrange treatment, we were collected and returned to our apartment without question.

In short Aykut and the staff at Kaya Homes have made the purchase of our apartment very straight forward and have been there to help whenever we have needed them.

In our dealings with Aykut and Kaya Homes we have found them to be open and honest, if he says he is going to do something it gets done and he doesn’t make false promises.

In short we wouldn’t hesitate in going through the whole process again and recommend Aykut Kaya and Kaya Homes to anyone.

Neil, Vicky and the girls
Crabtree

We were greeted at our hotel by a very friendly gentleman called Aykut Kaya. He suggested a tour of the area to introduce us to Side before taking us to the properties that he had for sale. Aykut made us feel very much at ease, he was very friendly and was wonderful with our daughter Lydia. We had a drive and walk around the old town, to the local beaches and to Manavgat with its famous waterfalls. The area was fantastic and Aykut gave us plenty of information about the local area. He had arranged for us to visit a lady who had purchased a property from him previously. The apartment we visited was wonderful, its size and the quality of finish were excellent. We had an opportunity to speak to the lady regarding purchasing property in Turkey and the service that Aykut’s company offered pre and post sales. We were very impressed by what she told us. Only after all this did Aykut start to talk about properties that were available. What impressed us the most was that at no time did we feel that there was the “hard sell” and that we were put under any pressure to buy a property. The whole experience was relaxed,
non- committal and very enjoyable, the personal touches made all the difference.

We talked to other local people about Kaya Homes Limited and every time were informed about the companies excellent reputation and their commitment to selling quality properties with excellent after sales service. We fell in love with the town of Side, the people in the area were so friendly and family orientated.

We decided to buy an apartment and contacted Aykut the next day. He took us to meet the architect to talk about the property and sorted out all the paperwork efficiently. At all times Aykut dealt with us personally and ensured that we fully understood the whole process of buying the property. Since we have returned to England, the company have been in regular contact with us via e-mail and the process of buying property in Turkey so far has been much easier than buying property in the UK. We have complete trust in the Kaya Homes Limited and are looking forward to holidaying in our quality holiday home when it is completed next summer.

September 2005

David and Sally Cryer,
Lancashire

In our opinion Aykut and Kaya Homes live up to their word, which is a refreshing change from many of our experiences in other ventures.

Ian & Ann Cornish – proud owners of C1 Villa Allure

We saw some properties being advertised as a refurbishment project in Side, an area that we thought sounded right for us. A local agent in the U.K contacted the developer for us and arranged accommodation and transfers and we sorted out our flights.

On arrival in Turkey we were collected and taken to the accommodation where we got lots of free time and no pressure to buy. A representative from Kaya Homes collected us from the hotel and took us to view the property and we decided that we wanted to go ahead with the purchase. Whilst still in Turkey Kaya Homes helped us to sort out the legal side of things and took us to open a bank account.

Once the sale had gone though we went back to Turkey and the staff helped us to furnish our apartment and get all of the little problems sorted out. In fact the staff were at our beck and call for the week so that we could get everything done whilst we were there.

Now we are back in the U.K we are trying to rent out the property and Kaya Homes are helping us by sorting out the cleaning and laundry. We correspond by email which seems to be working well. We are really pleased with how things have gone so far and are looking forward to lots of holidays in Side.

Kaya Homes have been good to deal with and very attentive to our needs. By dealing direct you save yourself commission charges. We certainly would recommend Kaya Homes to any prospective purchaser – Good Luck.

13/09/2005

Paul and Tina Paskins