Hi Tibbs.
its not uncommon. I hope that you do not have too much aggro. My advice to anyone is make sure that you have time to cool off before buying. Just go back to your hotel and have a beer and chat and if necessary go back next day. Agents here are all selling much the same places and therefore don't want the competition to see you. Most workers are affiliated to certain agents and are on commission. This bumps up the price you pay. Try to go to a registered agent eg an association, at least there should be a code of conduct.
If you need any help or advice I can try to help ( no commission)

Hi chelsea boy, We bought in the end but had major problems with the estate agent we originally viewed with. We know someone who bought thru them so all being well we would too but they failed to show us anything close to our agreed budget/criteria and only seemed interested in selling us much dearer properties. Prior to going they told us that there are loads of properties for our budget so i agreed for them to put us up in a apt. I pointed out that i did nt want to restrict ourselves just to them in case we seen something better elsewhere and would i owe them any money for the acc. We were told that we would owe £190 for the acc and return transfer but were told it would nt come to that. After 2 days of viewing property way above our budget we were getting fed up and as our little girl needed a chemist we had a day off. We were as good as told that we may struggle to get what we asked for which made us curious as to what other estate agents had so we had a look and were annoyed to find loads to match what we wanted and ended up buying a 2 bed duplex under budget. We then were told to pay back £184 for three nights acc, kicked out and threatened with the police if we did nt pay up pronto. We `d told them we were willing to pay the agreed £190 but after the bullying and eviction i told them to get lost. We were warned about them on our first day by someone who had bought from them last year. We ende up buying from Albatros homes who were excellent and are looking forward to going back and furnishing it.

Tibbs have Albatros homes got a website?

Hi Sue, They have a website at http://www.albatrossturkishproperties.com. Sorry can`t do the link thing as i`m not that up un pc`s. We mainly dealt with Vanessa Quick but also Serkan if you need to e-mail them. Regards,Tibbs.

Ahhh, the link thing gets done for you!

What an awful experience you have had - Not sure whether this sites T&C allow you to name & shame - But think other potential buyers need to be made aware of these cowboy estate agents

Ps when we bought we had the probs with differing prices between agents - But none of the bullying tactics you encountered

Cheers

LA

http://www.turkisheconomy.org.uk/buying_property.html

print it off and take it with you so you can refer to with your estate agent

i used this family on bodrum and they have been very helpful , they also have a scottish girl working in their office - Sally,

http://www.sunshineturkishhomes.com

Tibbs.
it is a good thing you found HT. let it be a lesson to all NOT to be dependent on 1 estate agent. Book the viewing trip yourself and be free to see who you want and when. luckily you had a day off and I recommend this to everybody. Don't feel the pressure is on you to buy quickly. The pressure is on the estate agent to sell and unfortunately they will use underhand tactics to do this. They don't realise that by upsetting one person they can ruin their business for a lot more.
Hope that you are ok with your property and you now can enjoy yourself

You are ofcourse right that you should book your own acc. This gives you the freedom you need to get the right thing for you without any pressure. Even the estate agent we had trouble with may be fine under these circs but when they think they ve got you...? In the end we are more than happy wiyh the deal we got and are more than comfortable with our conduct. It may not be the done thing to name them here but anyone needing that can pm me. It`s suprising how quickly word gets about and maybe their way of doing business will come back to haunt them. Regards,Tibbs.

Tibbs.
sounds like you had a narrow escape. I am glad that you are happy. Take note that it is not only Turkish estate agents that do this. Many have european staff/ owners and this can still happen.
Good luck with your Turkish dream

Thanks and it was an English person we had the trouble with but its done now and can`t wait to enjoy it.

Chelsea Boy is right, ther are estate agents if all nationalities an in every country that will try to rip you off and take advantage. especially some British ones, look at the reputation they have in the UK. To an extent Brits are easy pray to unscupulous agents abroad, we see everyone as "Jonny Foreigner" and not to be trusted, we are far more likely to trust our own. Hence we get ripped off.

Most people employed by estate agents are working on commission. the only way they can survive is to sell. This can lead to hassle and bullying. In Marmaris there is an estate agents association, whilst this is not a guarantee, it does have a code of conduct. Do your research before coming out and pick agents that have what you want and the price you want to pay.

Thought i`d done my homework re prices and recommendation but they just ignored what we`d discussed. Maybe as they thought the deal was already `done` that they would squeeze a bit more out of us. Anyone interested in buying should just arrange the trip out there themselves and play as hard to get as you can because sometimes it does`nt pay to be too nice as they may take the mickey.Tibbs.

Have to agree with a lot thats said about the agents here, but we are not all bad in fact I set up to combat some of the sharks here. I would further add that a lot of purchasers are so keen to get into the market that they are causing the feeding frenzy. And finally your viewing trip should never come to this but if you think a property is overpriced say so, if an agent tries to take you to a property outside your range refuse to go to view it. If the agent is not taking you to what you want to see cut short the day and go elsewhere. I hope that all of you dont experience the bad practises but sadly I know some of you will gecmis olsen -may it get better.