lippy

I think we should try to keep this thread front page so that they know we are watching them and hopefully they will get the message,
DON'T TAKE US FOR MUGS.

pldouglas

Forgot to say .... that when you first decide on the property of your choice, the estate agent/developer will sometimes be a bit vague about maintenance fees and you get answers like 'oh it will only be about 20 quid a month or so, it will be up to the the site commitee when all the apartments/villas are sold to set the level of maintenance'. Now okay, with hindsight, thats not good enough, you want something in writing, but if thats not forthcoming, then what - walk away?

teresa

I have felt for a while that properties/apartments have come down in price and the money is being made in the monthly services. I see no reason either why the pricing should not be in lira. If the exchange rate goes the other way later on will they be giving a refund?

Avatar

Hi,
I have been reading everyone's posts with great interest. We have a 2 bedroom apartment in Gumusluk. Development consists of both apartments and villas, 3 swimming pools, security and cafe.
apartments pay €130 per month
Villas pay €150 per month
When we bought we were told maintenance fees would be £25 per month then went to €70 per month which we also accepted.
We have no maintenance contract.
From my own calculations builder has sold 10 villas and 12 apartments, so makes around €35000.00 per year on maintenance fees.
We have 2 security guards who work 12 hour shifts each. There seems to be just 2 gardeners and then a couple of guys who just seem to sit around a tree for the day!
I have always disputed these costs but in return would just get a mouthfull of abuse. Not nice and very upsetting.
This July I gave builder €800. They asked me to give another €200 before I leave Turkey to which I reluctantly agreed. When they came looking for the money I asked that they fix a couple of things to which they refused. Just a couple of safety issues at the pool and to clean toilets. Instead they decided to turn off my electricity and water. I subsequently went to police where they told me builder is acting illegally. My utilities were switched on that night. I feel like I have been bullied and intimidated by developer. We live in a beautiful development, I have always paid for services, although I have been told by persons on this site that I am completely mad to pay this money. I am really looking forward to the day the developer is gone off the site. The word on-site now is that developer will now sub-contract maintenance out to an independent maintenance contractor so they don't have to deal with any issues. They will also set up a committee next month. So my question is, Is there a legal way the committee has to be set up? Is it not the owners that elect the committee rather than the builder?
Before we left we were given back our spare key and told not to leave at security office when we are leaving. I'm not sure what this means.
Thank you for any information given.

PASH

Hi, Well i can certainly understand your concern, we had a similar problem but resolved it by getting all the owners together and putting the site out to tender (we basically managed to half our charges and get twice the service) The problem is that everyone thinks they can build, sell, maintain properties but offer nothing in the way of customer service. We found the best thing was to fight back because we all know what the going wages are over there!! It is not unusual to have a security man doubling up as a gardener, its better that way, at least they are doing something rather than sit in a box sleeping. I live on a site with 18 units, we pay £40 per month including security, gardener, pool and general maintenance. The company give us a spread sheet of all costs and their management charge every 6 months. FIGHT BACK, just because we are foreigners does not mean we will accept being ripped off!!

scattea

I'm feeling guilty reading some of these threads, I pay 720 ytl per annum for 24hour security, communal lighting, gardner plus the upkeep of the pool and any minor problems.

Sarah

we have 12 appartments, the pool is kept clean and the gardens well looked after the maintenance guy lives on site & acts as security as well and we pay 100 lira a month.

Janeavsallar

We have a detached villa with garden and private pool and we pay 100 euro a month to a local man who maintains the pool* (Empties it Oct, cleans and refills April), comes up every couple of days and cleans it and puts the chemicals in* does the garden and maintains the house but we thought this was quite expensive, so I have been doing a bit of research trying to find a maintence company, got one quote after asking 3 or 4 different companies and thought it was quite reasonable about the same as our local man but of course they were a professional company and would provide a professional services, they then told me this was for the house and the garden would be another £700 a year and the pool the same again plus chemicals, all in nearly 3 times as much!

So we have decided to think ourselfs lucky for our local man, also he has great local knowledge and there is no one he doesnt know or anything he cannot get or knows a man who can.

The company was a British couple who have been in business for a couple of years, but were running the company from their house as they didnt even have any business premises, I wonder if they had any Turkish customers or is it just us Brits that everyone thinks have more money than sense.

Jane

biggles

70 apartments security night guard ,2 gardeners restaraunt large pool £70 a month.