Planning the Great Escape...
Our next steps (and why we're buying instead of renting)
[Watch the video or read the summary below - the choice is yours!]
I've only been to Türkiye twice, my wife has only been once, and our kids have never been. But we’re still planning to move there!
You might think we're a bit mad for wanting to move to a country without spending more time there first. However, I explained some of our reasons in the last post/video, and our recent visit (more on that below) convinced us that, insha-Allah (God willing), this is the right move for us.
Most people like to focus on the worst-case scenario, asking themselves, “What happens if this goes wrong?” This isn’t unwise, but I think you also need to balance that out by asking, “What happens if this goes right?”
Plus, my parents moved from Bangladesh to the UK without ever having visited and with zero security (or even a mobile phone, let alone the internet!), so I’m putting my trust in God and am hoping to emulate their bravery to a much lesser degree.
What's the Plan?
Our plan is relatively straightforward:
We want to sell our house here in the UK, pay off the mortgage and other debts, and then buy a property in Antalya outright with cash.
One of our main motivations for moving to Türkiye is the possibility of living without a mortgage or rent, which could be a real game-changer. Just the thought of not having that financial pressure every month (and the freedom that might give us) keeps me going!
Our Progress So Far
Before we visited Turkey, I did a tonne of research (for those of you who know me, this won’t come as a surprise!). I watched everything and read everything I could find about everything I could think of: buying property, Turkish politics, economics, culture, education, business opportunities, and more.
Then, last November, I went to Istanbul with a group of acquaintances for four days to experience the city (and the country) - for the first time in my life!
It was amazing, but I quickly realised that city life, especially in a place as bustling as Istanbul, just isn’t for me. It's just too busy, and I’ve been sick of city life for a while, particularly as I age and develop Grumpy-Old-Man Syndrome.
We then turned our attention to Antalya. My wife and I visited in April this year for eight days. It wasn’t a holiday by any stretch of the imagination; it was a recce, a research trip with a packed schedule every day. We wanted to see if all the research matched the reality.
We met people who had already moved to Antalya and spoke with them. It was incredibly valuable to get their insights - both the good and the bad.
We met with estate agents, viewed properties, and explored different parts of Antalya we were interested in living in, narrowing it down to a couple of places.
I even managed to open a bank account (I’m so ready to make this move!).
And then, on the last day, we squeezed in an hour’s quality time at the beach.
The trip was busy but incredibly insightful and definitely worth it.
Sell First
Since returning in April, our focus has been on getting our house ready to sell, as it was in a bit of a state.
The past few weeks have been intense, trying to keep up with work while overseeing some of the renovations and doing a lot of it myself.
It’s been exhausting and I’m pretty much running on empty at the moment (so is my bank account!), but we are nearly there.
I need to find the energy to do as much as I can over the next few days before the house goes on the market at the tail end of next week, insha-Allah. Hopefully, we’ll get a good price that allows us to finance the move to Antalya.
Then, with cash in the bank, the plan is to head out to Antalya to find a property, insha-Allah.
I plan to do a separate post/video about the property market in Antalya (I’ve been following it very closely over the past 6 months), sharing what I’ve learned about the different areas of Antalya and what you can get for your money.
Why Buy Instead of Rent?
Many people ask me why we're buying instead of renting first.
Renting seems like the smart move - you can test the waters in the new country and see if the move is right for you.
And that was our original plan: to rent for six months, get a feel for things, figure out the best areas and then buy a property outright. But we changed our minds for several reasons:
It’s a lot of money to lose. Renting for six months or a year means losing that rental money, which adds up to a fair amount. Unfortunately, I’m not wealthy enough to throw away cash on rent if we can avoid it, even if it does help to manage the risk of things not working out.
Property prices in Turkey have been rising rapidly. A property we can afford now might be out of reach if we wait a year, and that would be very disappointing! On the flip side, if we buy early, the property should (insha-Allah) increase in value, so even if the move doesn’t work out, it will have been an investment. There are lots of things that could go wrong of course, but maybe we’ll save that for another post!
We want to get residency through property investment, which is currently possible if you spend a minimum of $200,000 (around £157,000) on a property. That threshold might change, and things change rapidly in Türkiye. Just last year, the threshold jumped from $75,000 to $200,000, and there are rumours that it might increase again - and we don’t want to miss the boat.
Finally, while you can theoretically get residency with a rental agreement, that’s no longer possible in practice. Apparently (according to some YouTubers and people I’ve spoken to) new applicants are being rejected, making buying the more secure option.
That’s the update.
I hope these posts are providing some value to you, and I’m looking forward to creating the next videos/posts where I’ll share what I’ve learnt so far.
Next up (God willing): the property market in Antlaya.
Until then, peace be with you!