Now you’ve successfully completed the purchase of your holiday home and investment in Turkey, what comes next?
How do you make sure that your home in Turkey is kept in sound condition for you and your family to enjoy year in, year out? How do you ensure its return on investment is maximised via rentals and/or a future profitable sale? You know one thing for sure – if you look after your property well, it will appreciate in value and if you neglect it, it will lose its value before you know it. There is nothing like walking into a well presented and loved house that’s well looked after and diligently maintained.
What aspects of your Turkish property should you maintain?
The following is by no means an exhaustive list, yet some of the main points of maintenance and management that your new home in Turkey will require.
- Most of us who buy holiday homes in the coastal parts of Turkey do so for the proximity to the sea. It’s likely your new home in Fethiye, Kalkan, Antalya or Bodrum enjoys excellent sea views: you can almost smell the sea, right? Well, so can your property. Nothing washes the paint off your property and causes internal humidity like sea weather. Your property will need aerating at least once a fortnight – even in your absence.
- Bought a property with a private pool? Your private pool will need maintaining almost daily. Adding chemicals, scooping the leaves and insects out is imperative if your pool is to remain in top condition. Water will need changing once a year.
- Have you noticed how quickly grass and bushes (mostly unwanted) grow in Turkey? Someone will need to trim those unsightly edges regularly or before you know it will cross the border into your home.
- Most of us put our holiday homes overseas to good use when not in use by renting them out as holiday lets. You might want to ask your guests to kindly clean up after themselves, however, that probably will not endear you to future guests. So, you need to provide before and after rental maintenance: cleaning, welcome baskets, a guide to your utilities, the air-con, Sky TV to name a few.
- No matter how well you manage your property, some amount of natural wear and tear is unavoidable. There will be things breaking, door knobs not working, window seals leaking and so on. Mostly small things, yet enough to spoil your fun – and your investment – if not fixed timely. So, you will need a fixer-doer at hand.
The good news about managing and maintaining a property in Turkey
Property maintenance fees in Turkey are not expensive. You can get good value for money if you appoint the right company or individuals to take care of your property. Make sure you give the job to a company or individual(s) with proven track record in property management and maintenance. Do not just appoint someone because they seem friendly enough. Make sure they have credentials and the right experience.
Here are some of the most common and effective ways of managing your home remotely from overseas;
If your property is located in a managed complex: you also have shared facilities and possibly shared pools with shared gardens, maybe even a restaurant and fitness centre. The costs for these facilities are borne by the property owners. The estate (the complex in which you are a shareholder and owner) generally appoints a management team to oversee complex management. The management team in the early years (first couple of years after completion of the complex – not a rule but a general trend) comprises of the development company and their services. They do this because they know that if the complex is well presented, they will have a greater chance at selling all remaining units speedily. So this arrangement works for both the developer and the buyers.
Such management and maintenance fees will generally be recorded in the purchase contract and is a share of total expected costs divided by the number/size of unit you own. For example, if you own a 2 bedroom apartment within a complex you pay a proportionate amount in comparison to other types of units in the same complex. If you own a 3 bedroom villa in the same complex, then expect to pay a little higher.
The management company will generally extend their services to provide individual management and maintenance to individual properties on the site upon agreement with the owners. So, you will be covered for shared facilities and private sections such as the points 1-5 above.
What sort of fees should you expect to pay?
As a general guide:
- For a 2 bedroom apartment in a complex around 800 Euro per year
- For a 3 bedroom villa in a complex around1,200 Euro per year
Once the development company washes their hands of the project, it is up to the owners to appoint a third party management company. A management company is appointed and a contract is put in place for management and maintenance. These contracts are generally reviewed every other year, with fees determined in advance. The management company manages the shared facilities of the complex and not your individual property. Most property owners will take out a private contract with the same management company to maintain their own properties as well. Fees are similar to indicated above. If you rent out your property and require cleaning before and after, fees are generally in the region of Euro 30 for each cleaning. Say you achieve 20 blocks of rentals in a year and need to clean before and after, this is 40 cleans, so you are looking at around Euro 1,200 for running your rental cleaning and maintenance.
If your property is a private stand-alone villa: This will naturally mean your maintenance and management fees will be somewhat higher because you are contracting someone specifically to look after your property. Cleaning before and after rentals will be the same of course, that is if you rent your property, however, private management and maintenance of villas tend to be slightly higher, in the region of Euro 1500 – 1700 per annum.
Houses with on-site caretaker quarters
Here we are referring to some very exclusive homes in Turkey with large private grounds and spacious living areas. Some of these homes come with separate maid’s houses to accommodate caretakers. This may seem like a far fetched idea, however, in reality it is more than feasible. Some of these very private mansions in places like Bodrum, limited numbers of homes in Kalkan and Kas have gardens that are so large and living spaces that are so spacious they need constant attention. A live-in caretaker is the perfect solution for this. Not only will they care for the house but they will also help with cooking and other house duties. Live in caretakers are usually local husband and wife teams. You provide accommodation and a reasonable salary (Euro 6,000 per annum for the pair) in return for full home care, management, maintenance and security.
Royal Property Turkey’s concierge service
Our bespoke concierge service allows home owners in Turkey an easy way to care for and maintain their property. We take care of everything: from marketing your home to after-rental cleaning to ensuring you’re paid on time. Read more about our dedicated concierge service here.
