Exploring Turkey for retirement

@DeeVos Welcome, Istanbul is a mega city, I would never ever live there. Still Turkey is great. Welcome I would say.

@cdw057 Hi, it isn´t our plan to live in Istanbul. We have been looking at the coast where we visited a few years ago and plan visiting again in May. We were thinking about Izmir or Antalya. We both enjoy the sea.

@DeeVos

Hello, I wanted to add my two cents.  I'm not an expat yet (living in Minneapolis now) but have started to make my plans to move to Turkey in about 2 years.  I'm waiting for my son to complete his college and establish a good footing for his post college life.  I wanted to give my perspective. 

I stayed in Izmir for 3 nights in the Ismet Kaptan neighborhood and it seems too busy traffic wise with a hectic lifestyle.  Not to say that there are probably quieter neighborhoods if that is what you are seeking.  It's also an earthquake region.

As for Antalya, I know its hot and humid in the summer.  We stayed one night in Kaleiçi and it reminded me of Panama City FL, lively, loud people at night which doesn't suit our style but Kaleiçi is known to be lively.  Again, there may be more laid back neighborhoods there if that is what you are seeking.

For my wife and I, our target city is Eskisehir.  It is a very clean and safe city of about 850k population with calm traffic, bustling at night without being loud or wild due to a large student population from 3 universities.  It is a progressive, cultural town.  Another plus for my wife and I is the colder climate.  Its known for having cold winters and summers are not humid so night temps are cooler.  Its in the central part of the country so that would not be attractive to you.

I looked into Mudanya which is very close Bursa but it is too hot for us.  Another place to consider maybe Yalova as it is close to Istanbul. Good luck in your search.

Hello everyone,

Welcome on board @DeeVos !

Please note that I have created this new thread from your post on the Turkey forum so that you may better interact and discuss with members.

All the best

Bhavna

@DeeVos I am from UK , retired and living in Turkey for the past 20 months. I live in a costal village about 20 miles from Yalova, not too far from Istanbul. I am very happy with the move I made, and my family do come to visit me regularly. I do speak Turkish fluently. If in a any way I can help you or give you advice, please do get in touch.

Hello 

we have been planning our next move and have settled for a place in Ayvalik. It gets busy in the Summer, but not like Bodrum, for example. There is life in the winter and it's very well priced, compared to other touristic places. therefore, I highly recommend this location.

The biggest downsides are that there is no private hospital nearby and to get there from Istanbul it's a domestic flight to Ereremit Airport then bus transfer. The nearest international Airport is Izmir- about 2 hours approx by car.

There is big Marina project in progress, so it will get busier in the future, but its still preferable as a location to live all year round. Plus you can catch the feribot to Lesboz (EU) from Ayvalik center.

Hope that helps!

@DeeVos FYI Turkiye has changed the laws and the majority of cities here do not allow permanent residency anymore as the cities now have quotas of how many foreigners can stay on a permanent basis. Most cities quotas are filled so people get rejected to stay now. Just so you know - if you google which cities are closed for foreigners you should find a list.

@marleysa We are residents and we have our Ikamet extension (we own out own property) and I have to say the process was very smooth. (we live in Mahmutlar (Alanya)).

Mahmutlar perhaps one of the strongest closed for new foreigners.

I personally the rule of 25% will be quickly abandoned (Alanya and other towns I am sure have built a huge numbers of 1+1 appartments, no local family can or will live there, so many apartments are empty, we just can look out of our apartment, in the evening virtually no lights). The new rule of USD 200.000 in Tapy might sound nice, but who knows what happens in property taxes, insurance etc. There is a big, big difference in TAPU and reality.

Perhaps Turkey will adopt rules as in The Netherlands (WOZ value), you pay taxes (to live) in the property you own (I can say this can be MASSIVE), for an appartment of EUR 200 K you can easily pay EUR 7 K per year.

We bought a few years ago and a big appartment which would justify USD 200 K, but 1+1???

The USD 200 K will (in my view) also be abandonded, not this year (that would not be serious).

For Turkey they should do something about the massive available 1+1 apartments (nobody wants them (apart from some tourists)), but renting out is also a problem.

@Gino_C I have to say 850K people in a city sounds big (too big for me I have to say). For me 50K residents are already at the top, almost a million sounds like a mega city to me. Of course Mahmutlar is expensive, but all is there, supermarket, markets, restaurants, .... (ALL GOOD, but with developments one see that many businness close (no clients, salary,rent,energy,..) sad really.

I have to say 850K people in a city sounds big (too big for me I have to say). For me 50K residents are already at the top, almost a million sounds like a mega city to me.
   

It's actually a very calm city and despite its size, there is not the hustle and bustle of large cities like Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara.  You ought to visit for your self, it's a very attractive city.  If you do, I'd be glad to host you and show you around.   

@cdw057 Friends of mine were refused a renewal of their residence permit even though they've been living here 9 years already. They don't own property.

@marleysa Must be shoking for them after 9 years of residency, denied extension. Sorry to hear that.

But, it has been a few years now that rule has changed for non-home owners. Many people have returned to their home country because of that.