Lycia Properties appeared in the Sunday Express on 5th September 2010. Read the full article below...

JANE SLADE’s first visit to Turkey resulted in an instant love affair with the place and a down payment on a three-bedroom apartment. It was, as they say, a coup de foudre. For me it was when we climbed up the hillside to watch the paragliders soar over the turquoise lagoon and land on the silky sand at Oludeniz beach. For my husband it was watching the terrapins sunbathing on the rocky riverbank among the reeds where we were having lunch.

At last we had found somewhere we both found enduringly fascinating, culturally rich and scenically stunning with properties we could actually afford.

We were on turkey’s Lycian Coast, or turquoise Coast as it is known, where the Aegean meets the Med; where pine trees grow next to palms and where tree-clad mountains seem to drop into the sea. It is not hard to see why Mark Anthony chose this stretch as a wedding present for Cleopatra, and also why it is one of the regions recommended as the best place to invest in Europe by the Global Property Guide Property Recommendations mid 2010 report.

Just 15 minutes from Dalaman airport is the little-known village of sarigerme, nudging a 4.5 mile stretch of pristine sandy beach. This is where Turkish builder Hakan Cinar has been buying land and etching small developments into the hillsides priced from £75,000 off plan for a two-bedroom apartment.

He and his 31-year-old British wife Katie founded Lycia Properties five years ago when British holidaymakers started calling in at their jewellery shop in Fethiye, a larger coastal town 45 minutes away, asking if they knew of homes for sale. There weren’t many so Hakan, armed with a degree in geophysical engineering, teamed up with his electrical engineer sister and, with Katie, starting building.

“We thought we could build properties to a higher standard than anyone else, the kind that British people would want to buy,” said Katie.

It is not surprising to learn that they have been selling well. Spacious, bright, airy and well designed, Lycia’s villas and apartments also come with an attractive price tag, which in many other European countries would barely buy you a ruin.

I was reassured to learn that chartered surveyor Andy Parks, 53, had been sufficiently impressed to buy a two-bedroom apartment off plan for £77,000 last year at Hakan’s scheme of 12 apartments called Venus.

“I first looked at properties here about five years ago but the standard of build was poor,” said Andy who has his own practice in north London.

“But Hakan’s properties are very good quality and we love Sarigerme because it is underdeveloped and full of potential. “
Indeed, a golf course is in the throes of construction, a five-star Hilton Hotel with spa and eight restaurants opened last year at the far end of the beach and a 1,200 berth marina is due for completion in 2012.

Andy, like many of Lycia’s buyers, has also bought a plot of land to build a villa for himself, his Polish-born wife Kasia and their 15-year-old daughter Ola.

Colin Renwick and his partner Caroline O’Neill, musicians with the London symphony Orchestra, have done the same at the Royal Links hillside development above the site of a new proposed golf course.

“We just fell in love with the area and were very impressed with Hakan’s building quality,” said Colin who owns several properties in London and a timeshare in Borneo. “We will probably rent the apartment and keep the villa for ourselves.”

Apart from the price the attraction for buyers is the stunning location, fabulous climate and good rental return for investors over a long eight-month season.

David Cameron’s visit to Ankara last month enhanced confi dence when he expressed his support for Turkey’s proposed membership to the EU and underpinned the comments from Steven Worboys, of Turkish investment property expert Experience International, who said: “I believe that Turkey, and Istanbul in particular, presents one of the most attractive property investment opportunities available in Europe today.

“People who buy property here have either been coming to Turkey for years or are new visitors who look at the price and can’t quite believe how much they can buy for their money,” says Katie.

One buyer dropped into Lycia’s offices in Fethiye while out shopping for a toothbrush and returned home with a plot of land on which he built a four-bedroom villa.

“For £350,000 you can buy a six-bed villa with all whistles and bells including electric shutters, swimming pool and marble and granite flooring,” says Katie. “We can even install British plug points.”

Anne Phillips, whose husband Robin is the financial director of a global multinational, was looking to buy after inheriting £200,000 from her mother.

“I never thought we would be able to afford anything more than a modest apartment,” she said. “We first looked at Cyprus but couldn’t afford much there. I did some research and was amazed to find we could buy a three-bedroom spacious villa with our own pool including furniture here. It was costing us a lot renting villas for family holidays so this is just perfect.”

The couple and their four children, Harry, 20, Emily, 18, Polly, 16 and Charlie, 15, live in Manchester and have a weekend cottage in Wales. They spent their first holiday in their new Royal Links property in July just nine months after buying off plan. It is now valued at 20 per cent more than they paid.

The gated Royal Links scheme of villas and apartments also has a communal pool, sauna, gym, car parking and a tennis court over the road which it will share with the 12 low-rise Valley Apartments development which is where my husband and I have put down a deposit on a three-bedroom, two-bath first floor property overlooking the pool and new golf course.

We will be surrounded by the Taurus mountain range which is great for hiking in spring and even skiing in winter and in the centre of a luscious green landscape peppered with farms growing every fruit under the sun.

Our apartment should be completed in July next year. My husband thinks we should rent it out but I don’t want to. I’ve set my sights on a white leather sofa on the white granite floor in the sitting room.

Monday 6 September 2010

Lycia Properties has now branched out and opened a cafe bar in the centre of Sarigerme.

Cafe Lycia is open 7 days a week and serves a selection of hot and cold drinks as well as snacks and cakes. It is already proving very popular, especially with our clients.

If you are in the area why not pop in and have a drink with us!

Friday 3^rd September 2010

The last few weeks have been very busy on the Royal Links in Sarigerme. Our clients who bought off-plan have been choosing their furniture and moving in to their villa or apartment.

So what do they think?

"The apartment and complex is stunning. We are absolutely thrilled. So pleased with it we are now purchasing a villa too."
Caroline & Colin, Royal Links Apartment

"We are delighted with the whole look of the property. The garden is beautiful, and the pool is larger than we thought. It is better than expected!"
Anne & Robin, Royal Links Villa

"We are made up, its a dream come true. We class Kate and Hakan as friends. We would be happy to recommend them to our friends and family."
Mark & Sandra, Royal Links Villa

For more information about the Royal Links and a current availability list please just reply to this e-mail, or call us on 01282 446030.

Friday 3^rd September 2010