2016 here we come...

When a year is about to come to an end it is time to take a deep breath and look back on the happenings and events of the year that has passed.

In the real estate sector two questions are always asked.

"How is the market?" (as in how are sales currently) and then of course "how will it (the market) develop?".

We believe that as an estate agent you will have two different choices of answer.

You can give a "real-estate-answer". 

This means that things are always good no matter how bad they really are and the market will always develop positively no matter how dark the forecasts are.

Or you can give an honest answer based on facts. 

At 2Base we truly believe in the second option.

So, how is the market?

Get inspired with themes

Browsing online property web sites can often be both confusing and frustrating, especially when it comes to properties abroad where your knowledge about each of the local area and their pluses and minuses might not be complete up to date.

Some time ago 2Base introduced a new way of sorting for properties called "themes". This is essentially a new way of putting all of our properties into different kind of categories making it easier for you as a customer to understand of this property might be of your interest.

We have a variety of themes such as "Beach-lovers", "Penthouse", "View", "Bargains" and so on.
Which kind of properties you can find under each theme should hopefully be easy to figure out :-)

But what is the new thing? 

Bodrum is worth a visit

No doubt that Alanya is number 1 :-)

The big questions is then who the runner ups are....

We would definitely recommend Bodrum for a top 3 position and in case you have not already been there, then surely it is time to go for a visit.

Bodrum actually consists of a peninsula on which you can find several bigger and smaller cities. 

Bodrum city itself is worth a visit, but for the accommodation most people prefer the more quite and peaceful areas.

We can recommend the area of Yalikavak and Gümüslük where you can get absolutely fantastic accommodation and views all the way to the Greek islands across the Aegean sea.

The Bodrum peninsula has always been known for attracting jet-setters and everyone else that wants a taste of luxury.

The more the merrier

For pretty obvious reasons it has always been popular to invest in a holiday home together with other members of the family or close friends. 

In that way costs are split between more people and the holiday home will not stay empty for longer periods. 

Also many families buying together enjoy actually visiting the apartment at the same. 
The space might be a bit tight but what is better than enjoying the sun and beach in the company of your best friends and family?

There are a few practical issues though to consider before teaming up with your best friends or parents and investing together.

- Always make sure that the official share of the apartment corresponds to the actual ownership. So in case you paid for 2/3 of the apartment and your friends family paid for 1/3, this must also be reflected on the title deed.

Are you a handyman?

It is not often that a property makes it all the way to our blog posts. Only when we have en extraordinary good offer or a very unusual property for sale we write about here on our blog.

In this particular case the property in question is both an amazing offer AND something special.

So in case you are a handyman looking for a property on the Alanya peninsula - also known as the castle area - then look no further because we do guarantee you that this is an offer that you can not find similar from any other estate agent.

A total of three units are now on sale for discounted price.

Click Click...

There can be many different reasons for wanting to sell your holiday home. But one thing that all sellers have in common is, that once the decision to sell the apartment has been taken then seller look forward to the day where they can sign the contract of sale and hand over the property to a new owner.

Before a property can be sold it must first be marketed and presented to interested buyers. Here the absolute best and most valuable tool is our web site. 

We dare to say that on other agent in Alanya can compete with our web site www.2base.com when it comes to property presentations and access to relevant and important information.

On the Internet 2Base Estate Agency has always been two steps ahead of competition and we plan to keep it so also for the future.

For the online presentation each apartment needs to have pictures taken. The quality of these pictures are very important and luckily we have a very skilled photographer working here at our office in Alanya.

Her name is Laura and besides taking photos she also deals with both our inspection service and cleaning services as well as our Lithuanian and Russian clients.

We asked here a few questions about her life as photographer.

- What is the key to successful property pictures?

First of all the apartment must be tidy and clean. Secondly nice interior can make a big difference. Like a few colored pillow or a couple of nice paintings.

Coming up: EXPO Antalya 2016

As some of you might have noticed or heard about Antalya will host a big EXPO in 2016. 
And this one might be a little different from most other EXPOs since the themes are "Flowers & Children" as well as "Cultivating a green life for future generations".

The EXPO area is located next to the main road "also known as D400" just 15 minutes drive from Antalya airport direction Alanya.

This botanical EXPOs will not only be available to visit during the EXPO period in 2016, which is April to October, but also afterwards since the area will serve as a park and exhibition area for the years to come.

It is expected that around 8 million people will visit the EXPO during the 2016.

Transparency even from your mobile device

In earlier blog posts we have often talked about how important transparency is when it comes to the daily operation of your owners union.

An owners union often holds a significant amount of money, and it is in everyone's interest to make sure that these are spend in the best way and that the documentation for each expense is available.

Sitting several thousands kilometers away from where all the action is taking place can make it hard to understand and follow exactly what is happening. How are the money spend, has everyone paid the yearly fees and so on.

Last year 2Base set a new level of transparency of owners union and allowed all owners to log directly into the accounting books of their owners union. 

No more waiting for excel files or monthly emails.

Instead every owner can now get real-time view access to (and only view, of course. Not editing or deleting) all postings such as expenses and status on payments of the monthly and yearly fees.

Power cuts and how to know they are coming

In an earlier blog post we have been discussing the major break down of the electric grid in Turkey earlier this year. 

Today the topic again will be electricity and to some extend also power cuts. 

Because it actually seems like the authorities and providers of electricity and infrastructure is actually doing something about it.

In the Alanya area the grid is currently undergoing some serious maintenance. 

And how do we know that? Well, simply because currently there are a lot of power cuts....

But these power cuts seem to be related to repair and upgrade work rather than breakdowns, which is of course very positive at least in the long run.

The best time of year

Spring is the best time of year in Alanya. 

Nothing to discuss or argue about here.

In Alanya spring time is perfect and it luckily last for many month.

So what is going on during spring 2015 in Alanya?

Political parties are preparing for the upcoming election
Later this year the local elections are coming up and the political parties have started to promote themselves and their candidates.
In Turkey a political career can be a quick way to fame and easy money so the competition is hard.
This is of course very unfortunate and one could wish that Turkish politics would focus more on doing the right thing for your country or region than personal gains. 

Alanyaspor is hitting it
Last year local football team Alanyaspor surprisingly made it into the 1. division, the second highest division in Turkey.
This year the good performance continues and currently the team are holding on of the play off positions for the Turkish Superleague.
Visit the teams web site where you can also find information on upcoming matches.
Web site: http://alanyaspor.org.tr/

New concepts are coming to Alanya
Last couple of years a lot of new concepts has come to Alanya. This is great news and there are a lof of new restaurants and shops to try out.
A few examples are...

Power cuts in Turkey and what to consider

The subject for this blog post came up all by itself when our office this morning went from lively and productive to "hey, who cut the electricity?".

As i am writing this blog post a major part of Turkey is without any electricity due to reasons that are currently unknown. 
Flights are grounded, offices closing down and everyone is waiting for the power grid to come back on.

Most people here in Turkey speculate why this has happened and social media are full of speculations and the twitter hash tag #buradaelektrikyok (there is no electricity here) is currently Turkeys most used.

Luckily Internet and mobile phone networks are not affected, but charging devices might be...

We here at 2Base wants to take another approach and instead talk about what this means for property owners in Turkey. 

Spring is the best time of year in Alanya

For this blog post we had a little chat with Yildirim Kabasakal who is responsible for all service related questions and tasks at 2Base. 

We wanted to know about his best tips for restaurants, advise for property owners and a lot more.

If you have ever visited our office or send us an email, you will most likely already know who he is.

Lets hear what he has to say...

Winter, spring. summer or autumn: Which is your favorite time of year?
Definitely spring. Spring is the sign that summer is coming soon. I like this period because it is more quite and not so hot than summer. 
During spring the air and sea is very clean and it is a great time to swim and play beachvolley which i enjoy a lot.

Where would you go for a Sunday brunch?
On the castle almost on the very top there is a place named Muhtarin yeri. There breakfast is the best and very traditional with fresh bread, eggs, omelette, vegetables, different kinds of cheese and of course fresh tea. Sundays are very busy but the place is great and i can recommend it. From the restaurant there is view all the way to Gazipasa.

You have been living more than 20 years in Alanya. Can you offer any insiders tip on best things to do?

Beware or you might be caught by surprise

Over the last decade the Turkish banking system has developed into a powerful and very modern business area with a long list of active players.

Some of the banks are still under Turkish ownership while others have been swept into European banking groups.

Ten years ago loans were very difficult to obtain and interest rates were sky high. On the other hand the banks offered their services without too high transaction fees.

Today this has changed completely. Loans are given faster than McDonalds serves a burger and fees have sky rocketed.

Where this is good news for those who wish to finance their dream apartment by a local mortgage is also calls for attention to those who just wish to have a bank accounts for minor transactions, since this can end being very costly.

Considering selling? Then the time might be right...

The decision to sell your holiday home abroad is not easy. Just like the decision to invest in a holiday home, the decision to sell should only be taken after a careful consideration.

The reasons behind wanting to sell can be many, and it is never easy to sell a holiday home that for most have been a source to many joyful moments and happy memories.

At lot of people wrongly think that the beginning of a new year often is a quite period for estate agents. This is not correct and the first many sales of this year are already signed and completed.
The truth is that the first month of a new year can actually be a very good time to sell...

Should you be thinking about selling your holiday home in Alanya then do not hesitate to contact us. We will be more than happy to guide you through the process and help you in finding not only a new owner for your holiday apartment but also to do it in way that secures you the best outcome.