EX-Pats and Owners Abroad

Discussions for EX-Pats and owners abroad or those who are considering this idea.
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Hi,

I bought early last year in Yesilkent which is near Altinkum - about an hour from Bodrum.

My advice is when it comes to buying furniture think about what you need it for.

If you plan to rent out you need something strong, comfortable, hard wearing and long lasting. It may cost you a little more but in the long run it will be worth it.

You may get offered a furniture pack from your builder - but I would go round a few big furniture places and gets some quotes - it could work out a lot cheaper.

Have Fun!
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Hello Deb and Chris,
We have a place that we rent in Icmeler and would agree with Joolz307. I would like to add be prepared to haggle over prices even in large furniture stores and electrical shops. We found out after spending hundreds of pounds on lights and light fittings that we should have bartered :oops: . That came about when we went back to the same shop to buy one light that we had previously forgotten and the shop owner suggested that we should perhaps barter, I think he felt that he had had his profit and would come clean so that we would use his shop again. From there on we bartered all prices down and got free items thrown in to seal deals. The only place we have found you can't barter is in the large super markets. Good luck with your shopping, we enjoyed doing ours quit an adventure
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Hi Deb & Chris, which part of Dalaman is your Apartment in? we have a couple of Apartments in the Topala Complex
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We fell in love with Turkey the first time we came out and have bought an apartment in Icmeler. Now all we need to do is completely furnish it when we come out for one week in August! A bit daunting to say the least, I've heard Ikea in Izmir is at least 3 hrs away. We want to furnish whole place (3 bedrooms) within budget of £5000 max. Any recommendations welcome. Have heard electrical goods are much dearer than UK, what would be good prices for washing machine/fridgefreezer/tv/microwave & what makes to look for?
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Hi
Unless things have changed in the last 3 years I would say that we found large electrical goods cheaper than in the UK. I think our washing machine was something in the region of £130, the spin speeds are not like ones you buy here, but then clothes dry so quick it doesn't really matter. We have a very large fridge which was also much cheaper than here (sorry forgotten how much).
Before we went on our furniture buying trip, we made a plan of the apartment, and worked out what furniture we needed, and what would fit where. Then we used a page per room in a notebook to write a list, and put rough prices that we didn't want to exceed by each item.
When we actually went, the agent took us around for the major items, but we arrived the previous day, and had a look around Marmaris and got prices for things, theres loads of shops in the road where Tansas is for furniture, electrical items etc. Thats when we found out that some things like fridges could be got quite cheaply, so we got the agent to take us to the shops we knew were good. Although obviously some of the shops they took us to of course we didn't know, but because we'd done a bit of groundwork we knew what prices were reasonable. I think for some items we did get them cheaper than other buyers who just went where they were taken.
We did find that some items were more expensive than we had budgetted for - in particular the furniture for the balcony - but we did buy cane stuff, but we made up the difference on other items that were cheaper than we budgetted for. I think we may have spent more than £5000, and it is only 2 bedrooms, but we could have chosen cheaper items in lots of cases.

It depends how much time you have, but for quickness we bought most of our bed linen in Ikea here, its very cheap and things are packed very small, so it saved us time on the 3 days we had to furnish the apartment.
It took a few trips till we had everything we wanted, but on our initial trip we just decided what were essentials and concentrated on them.
We had a great time spending all that money, it was really exciting getting everything together, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I think the key is forward planning!
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Hi Alfie
Thanks for your advice. I think we are quite a long drive away from Ikea -did your agent take you there or can you get a coach? Are there many furniture shops to choose from in Marmaris? The Turkish Ikea catalogue online doesnt seem to have anywhere near as much choice as English one & prices are nearly always about 25% dearer.
Is it better to take the agent with us to perhaps barter for a better price on things?
I've heard that deliveries on furniture is really quick (not like UK) and often next day??
As we have only been to Turkey once before this is all a bit scary/exciting!! :?
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Hi Lyndy,
Sorry I didn't make it clear, when I referred to Ikea it was Ikea in the UK.
When we were buying the Bodrum Ikea wasn't open. If you did go there I think you would need to go by car, either the agents or hire car. If you are going all that way you need to be able to buy a lot to make it worthwhile. Yes there are quite a lot of furniture shops in Marmaris. As to going with the agent, it may depend on your agent as to whether they are able to get a good price for you. I think its just important that you have already been round some shops and got some idea of prices, then you'll know if the price through the agent is reasonable. It was a great help to have a Turkish person with us because we found although in the shops they mostly spoke English OK, it was much easier to ask questions, and there weren't any misunderstandings through our agent. I know they do deliver quickly where they have the item in stock, but it didn't really matter to us, because our agent took care of all the delivery arrangements when we had gone home. I think a good agent should do that for you. Hope you enjoy the experience as much as we did!
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Hi Lindy
I would just get the furniture in Marmaris. If you are standing directly outside the Tansas in the centre of Marmaris there is a road with a Mcdonalds on the corner. Go to the end of that road and turn left and then first right. The shop is called Aldimo. We got our suite there and also our dining table and chairs. He covered the suite in a cream chenile fabric I think it cost £700 for three piece suite and two chairs.He even done the feet in a cream paint finish. Its one of the nicest furniture shops there is.
The dining table was glass with cream faux leather high back chairs to match. I foget how that much was. Also matching nest tables (£60)
He also sell beds I never got mine there but when you are getting them I would advise to get the storage beds which lift up they are fantastic to put all your summer stuff under when you are going home (thats if someone else is using your apart). I will give you an address for curtains if you want, I paid around £400 for living room two bedrooms and patio doors(2) thats with the roman blinds all finished off with beads. I bought all my bedding at home and brought it over with us.
Anything else you want to know please ask.
Shirl
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Hi Shirl
Thanks for your info. Certainly interested in living room/dining room furniture from Aldimo as we havent really seen what we want in Ikea. However mattresses are good price in Ikea & we really need to get those sorted before we arrive. Did you buy your beds in Turkey? Did you go with an agent or someone who spoke Turkish? Are you supposed to haggle on the price, do they prefer payment in sterling? Does this shop also sell patio furniture and bedroom furniture i.e. bedside tables, chests of drawers?
Sorry to bombard you with questions, time is getting a bit short now and if we are going to order from Ikea I need to allow nearly 2 weeks before we go there for payment to go through and arrange delivery. :)
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Hi Lyndy,
I got my beds in marmaris. There is a road that runs the back of the Tansas in the centre of marmaris. It has a resturant on the road called Alins ask anyone and you will be on the right road. If you walk along for about 10 to 15 min you wil come to a junction I think there is a resturant called the Geroge and Dragon on the corner, keep walking for another 5 mins and you will pass a turkish supermarket begining with Se I think. Just a bit past there on the opposite side is the shop where I got my beds from. You have to step upto the shop from two big steps, it doesnt look much outside (i would have walked past it) but they are very very helpful, the man is called Camal. I got my storage bed superkingsize with mattress for around £350.00 My two single storage beds with mattress cost £150.00 each. We also got our wardrobes from him, bedside cabinets, dressing table. Also got my big silver fridge freezer off him, my gas hob, silver microwave, ironing board you name it, he had it. He wont rip you off. I wouldnt bring anyone turkish with you, it wont make any difference, some of the people on our complex have actually bean ripped off when they have taken someone from there agency with them, because they put money on for themselves for doing you a favour. The man in Aldimo you need to ask for is called Mustafa. He speaks good english, as well as camal in the other shop. Pay for it any way you want. We paid for ours in sterling, but its your choice.We got everything in the week apart from our big mattress which we got on our second visit.
As for the patio furniture, there is a couple of shops on the Datca Road, we got ours in the smaller garden one. I think the table (glass and plastic ratten and chairs (4) £300 to £350. The plastic ratten is a lot more comfi and weather resistant. This year we got ratten two seater and two chairs for a shop called Mudo. That is facing the sea just before the Ataturk statue, it cost £400. I hope this helps you.
Anything else please ask.
Shirley
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Hi Shirley & anyone else reading this!
Thanks for quick reply. Can you give me an idea of how much bedroom furniture costs and what its like? Is it flat pack, wood or veneered chipboard? Its only 3 weeks before we go out so we've got to decide whether or not to pre-order anything online from Ikea or take a chance on getting v.quick delivery when we are there for just 1 wk. Also when we open bank a/c out there do we have to pay in bankers draft from own bank here or could we pay in ordinary sterling cheque or arrange Swift transfer when we are in Turkey?
Lyndy
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Hi Lyndy. When buying Electrical goods, look for Arçelik or Beko.They are the same company but you will get the warranty serviced.Many others do not.

Ian
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Hi

We bought our house in Gumusluk about 3 years ago. When we went the first time for a holiday we also had to get the furniture.

We spent the first two nights in a small hotel, and went to all the big department stores:-
Kipa (Tesco), Kostas (B&Q) Metro (Macro) and one more I just cant remember.
We priced up all the goods, made a list etc etc then made up our minds which was the best value, and then bought the lot in one day.
Delivery and erection of the flat pack stuff took a further two days, (Fortunately the bed arrived the same day !
Then we had our holiday !

Total cost for EVERYTHING to be able to rent the place out:-
£3,000
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