Ready to fall in love with somewhere enough to want a home there? This British couple did and they’ve recently become the happy owners of a villa in Turkey…

Just three months after Kamaran and Danielle Rasheed began browsing properties on Rightmove, the couple got the keys to their new holiday home in the Turkish resort of Dalyan.

The Rasheeds [pictured above], who have a teenage daughter, completed the purchase of their three-bedroom detached villa in mid-January 2018. They first visited the property during a trip to Turkey over the New Year, when they agreed a purchase price of considerably less than £100,000 – about half the price of a one-bedroom flat in their home town in Buckinghamshire!

“We first came to Dalyan on holiday with friends in 2011,” said Danielle, who as a youngster visited other parts of Turkey. “Straightaway it felt different to other resorts – really laid-back, safe and family-friendly, with lovely people, amazing scenery, plenty of great value restaurants and lots of history. And with the river, the famous turtle beach, the historic tombs, jeep safaris, the lake and natural mud baths all on offer, there’s so much to do there. We fell in love with the place and have been back every year since.”

Kamaran continued: “We started thinking about buying in Dalyan a few years ago but it was after our holiday last year that we got serious about it, inspired by friends we’d been with who also decided to buy. Around October we started looking on Rightmove, where we came across and contacted the local agency Sunray Property. They were very helpful and responsive so we arranged to go to Turkey just after Christmas to view property, both with them and some other agents.”

When the Rasheeds viewed their villa for the first time, they were wowed by its size, location, immaculate condition and all the furniture that was included in the price. Called Villa Mavi, it is one of just five properties within a small walled complex, with a communal pool and landscaped gardens. Just 100 metres away are a shop, bar-café and authentic Turkish bath (Hamam), while the centre of Dalyan and the river are only five minutes’ walk.

Prior to being sold, Villa Mavi had been used for holiday lets by the original owners, an Australian lady and her Turkish husband, who had had the whole complex built from scratch. After the couple’s offer was accepted on December 30th and they’d paid a reservation deposit, their estate agent guided them through the buying process and helped get everything ready for completion.

“We flew back on January 3rd,” continued Danielle. “But before that, our agent took us to the local bank, where we opened an account and got set up on-line, introduced us to the notary, organised the sales contract and helped us appoint power-of-attorney with all the necessary English translations. A couple of weeks later, we sent funds to Turkey and were able to complete!”

The Rasheeds are planning their next trip to Dalyan, which is 30 minutes from Dalaman Airport, at Easter. Meanwhile, their villa is available for holiday rentals and can be booked through Sunray Property or other on-line rentals sites. In fact, they bought the property with future bookings, all of which they will honour.