Originally Posted by loz (Post 4188936)

Yep thats the one.................... :o sorry :rolleyes:

Loz x

Originally Posted by tonton (Post 4187322)

Hi dariamorgandorferuk,

I’ve lived in both Side and the local town, Manavgat, for over four years - for the first three years in either hotels or rented apartments. I sold my house in England two years ago and used the little that was left after paying off the mortgage (and other 'vultures') to design and commission a luxury two-floor penthouse apartment with four bathrooms (two with Jacuzzis), a balcony and two patios (one with a sea view and one with a mountain view) and with a private sauna, on a pleasant development a few minutes walk from the sea and the old Roman town of Side, with its well-preserved amphitheatre - used to stage the Side Annual Music Festival in September each year.

To give you an idea of current prices, one like mine recently sold for GBP £110,000. However, it is still possible to pick up a nice one bed apartment in a reasonable location from about GBP £40,000 - with two bed apartments starting from about GBP £50,000. Often this price will include quality 'white goods' (e.g. Siemens) and a good variety of well-made furniture can be purchased locally for considerably less than you would pay in the UK or Oz. By way of an example, a leather-covered reclining armchair with a built in massage facility will set you back less than GBP £300!

My Turkish is still only at the 'point and grunt' stage but, as the Germans have been visiting Side for 30 years longer than us Brits, most of the local people speak German, which is my (slightly) stronger language. I now have more Turkish than British friends, many of whom pay me the honour of calling me 'half Turkish'.

When I first started visiting Side (as a tourist) in 1999, it was still much like a Third World country and I operated a thriving 'concession' smuggling Shredded Wheat, English Marmalade, etc. Now you can get almost anything in Manavgat and even imported items are much the same price. The real saving is on food, especially the excellent locally grown fruit and vegetables, which they almost give away in the summer. :beer:

I'm only just getting into beer (Oops, I mean gear), but I'd better stop there or they'll think that I'm making a takeover bid for the Forum! Best if you tell me what types of information (e.g. health care, travel and transport, rental costs, etc) you would most value, so that I can concentrate on them.

Chris