.....we bought in Tenerife for the same reasons...we made sure that problems and hassles were minimised by using a "one stop shop" - buying/management/renting under one roof ; yes, they get a percentage from bookings, but a) its worth it to sleep easy at nights, and b) its in their interests to keep it booked, too.
....as for paying its way, lets just say that I'm glad there's no mortgage involved.....

I can't comment specifically about Turkey, because my house is on mainland Spain but I guess some of the issues will be the same.

We bought our house primarily as a holiday home for ourselves and rent out the weeks we're not there. As we use most of the prime school holiday weeks we Knew we were never going to make a fortune! I've only been renting for a year but here's my experiences and thoughts so far:

one of the best ways of minimising the risks and problems is to find a good local Caretaker you can trust. I'm lucky I believe I've got one of the best!

I advertise and handle the bookings myself and to be honest by the time the guests arrive at the house I've spoken to them (on the telephone and by email) several times and they do not seem like strangers at all.

I'm always completely honest even if it risks losing a booking and never forget that people look forward to and save hard for their annual holiday and so it has to be right. To that end I've spent alot of time making up an information folder about the house and area and guests now add their own experiences and recommendations.

I furnished the house well but not with anything too expensive and breakable things such as crockery and glassware came from the local hypermarket so are easily replaced. In fact I now have more glasses than i started with as a broken glass has been replaced by a pack of 3.

I do take a damage/key deposit with the final balance as a safeguard but have not had to retain it.

I have not had anything stolen or damaged beyond the odd small accident and have found that my respect and trust in my guests has more than been repaid.

Does it cover the costs? - Well it certainly helps. Renting enables me to employ the Caretaker and he takes care of the maintenance, pool, garden etc which means when we go, we too can have a holiday. it also covers the running costs but it would not cover buying the place in the first place so if you need to rely on rental income to buy I'd advise caution.

Maybe I've just had a lucky first year and that remains to be seen but incidentally I've not seen any difference between friends and family or complete strangers renting the place - except that strangers don't expect it all for free!

Wow sorry, I've gone on a bit there!!!!

There's a very good site for holiday homes owners called http://www.laymyhat.com which has a lot of good tips & a very active forum. A lot of the owners have places in France but there are many others as well. Well worth looking at.