| Message | Posted by |
| Lack of water is a major issue. Some of the owners of FCC mention long periods of time during the day when there is no water. Bearing in mind the properties are mostly empty as they are still being built, the situation can only get worse once all the developments are complete. We have brought this issue up with our solicitors who state that Artev intend to install mains water once building is complete but at the moment it is being tankered in. Over development of the area is another issue. We intend to visit within the next couple of months, prior to completion, to judge for ourselves the extent of this then we can make a considered decision on whether to proceed or pull out. | Kim and Bob |
Hi Kim & Bob,
We are buying direct with Artev and to date have had no problems with them and found them to be very efficient and helpful (hoping it lasts!). What about you?
Waiting for my account to be approved on the FCC website so that I can see what the other issues are. Are there any that we should be particularly worried about? | kevinc |
| Hi Kevin. There are a lot of issues with the development. You need to log into the Flamingo Country Club website and read. We knew nothing about the telephone line to reception or about golf buggy pickups. Who did you buy through? | Kim and Bob |
Hi All,
We are buying on Turquoise and as the completion approaches (30th Nov) we are obviously interested in the issues being experienced and discussed on the Lakeside message board. .
The comment made by Liza1 about landscaping, particularly the green fencing caught our attention as we noticed the rather poor quality and appearance from the progress photos on the Artev website. The quality would appear to be inferior to that used on Hillside where there are nice quality looking metal railings. In one of the photographs it shows a gateway where the end of the fence looks like it has been roughly chopped off at an angle and sticks out past the fence post looking more like a second rate camping site than a five star resort! As there is a strong chance that Turquoise will have similar if not the same fencing I would be interested to hear what anyone else thinks. Maybe it does not look so bad 'in the flesh??'
Another interesting comment is that there will be no telephone connection between properties and reception surely this is not in keeping with the image we will be trying to portray, we also understood guests would be able to arrange 'golf buggy' pickups, not easy without a phone connection.
look forward to hearing anyone else's views
Regards
Kevin and Gill | kevinc |
Hi all. We have bought a 2 bed apartment on the Turquoise resort and have been told the completion date will be 31st November. Problem is..there doesn't seem to be any flights going direct to Bodrum for this date. All I can find are flights going via Istanbul with waiting times of 8 hours waiting for the connecting flight which I don't fancy much. I just wondered what other people are doing and if anyone had any info about the flights situation for getting out to Bodrum at this time of year?. Flights in General seem very expensive all year round which is a bit off putting as I was hoping to have a cheap holiday a few times a year though with the cost of the flights, this doesn't seem possible! I keep hearing how popular Bodrum is and how it is attracting more and more people all year round, would have thought more carriers would be going there.
Thanks
Paul | budd365 |
Hi Royvmax
I’ve just furnished my apartment on Lakeside, we also have one on Turquoise. I was looking at furniture and was not happy either. Just found cheap and crappy or well overpriced for modern good quality furniture, so we did our own. We sent up a web site to help with rentals when the complexes are finished.
www.wintersunholidaysbodrum.co.uk This has lots of picture of furniture and options it will also give you an idea of how things look when furniture is fitted. Hope this help,. neighbour.
Justin & Jeanette Winter | Justiin |
Hi All,
Spotted a warning on another forum regarding Spring Blue Furniture. It seems many people have paid for furniture and received nothing. Please be aware.
regards,
Roy | royvmax |
Hi All,
Just back from Turquoise inspection tour. Quite impressed with the facilities and think they will make an ideal holiday apartment. There are nicer apartments in the Bodrum area but they do not have the same range of facilities as Turquoise.
I put a deposit down on a D type apartment, 70 m2. Small lounge but decent sized terrace and large front garden (hope to be outside more than in!) The bedrooms in the D type are a much better size than in the E type but the lounge is smaller.
Found eating out to be quite cheap but wine was quite expensive in the restaurants ( 40 euros on average for the cheaper wines ) and a bottle/pint was 6 euros at night - much dearer than here.
Wasn't aware there was an issue with mains water - I will get the lawyer to check before I complete.
cheers,
Roy
| royvmax |
Guys - all your questions and more are fully answered on the Flamingo Country Club Owners Group which can be easily found on the Let's Talk Turkey website or better still, at http://www.flamingo-country-club.com.
Before the admin here erases the link - this is not just another forum! Thank you. The group - which currently has 112 owner members is a self-help, self-supporting group for all ARTEV purchasers which use the central resources of Flamingo Country Club or Flamingo I as we prefer to call it. This includes Flamingo Country Club, Flamingo II, Turquoise, Lake View, Royal Heights and Lakeside Gardens. The group acts in the interests of all owners to force your rights as purchasers.
Issues currently being discussed with Legal Independence and Artev as a group are:
- Lack of facility completion in Dec07 including importantly, the beach and beach club etc
- Payment delay due to non-supply of above amenities
- Reductions / Waiver of property management fees until all amenities supplied as contracted
- Payment timing with regard to essential documents for mortgages etc
- Water supply issues and backup supplies in the event of drought
- Indemnification of costs for bringing mains water to the site when finally available
- Sewage handling
- Centralised satellite dish - who wants 1000's of ugly satellite dishes all over our buildings
In addition the group actively discusses and agrees actions regarding important issues such as rentals and furniture packages and is moving toward becoming a legal entity in it's own right in order to control and administer it's own activities.
If you are not currently a member, please join the group as soon as possible. It is free to join. As a member you gain access to all private member only areas which cannot be accessed by the public. We look forward to seeing you soon. | Tuzla Lake Owners Group |
Calling all owners on Turquoise to join our pro-active marketing and self-help support group - the Flamingo Country Club Owners Group.
This group, which is run on a non-profit basis for the benefit of its members - actively markets all aspects of Tuzla Lake and the Bodrum Area as well as being the home of owners on Flamingo Country Club, Turquoise, Lakeside Gardens, Lake View and Royal Heights.To join you must be an owner on one of the above resorts. The site offers owner members:
- the ability to market their properties cost effectively
- private member only areas
- cost-effective rental marketing plans
- property sales sections - free and paid for
- information on Bodrum and surrounding areas
- the ability to buy discount sservices and products
Please pass the word to contacts you many have on other resorts or fellow purchasers on FCC. Google Flamingo Country Club Turkey for more information. | FCC Action Group |
hi all
can anyone give me any info on garnet 31 and 35,views etc? | jambo |
| I emailed Artev back in April about their furniture pack prices and am still awaiting an updated list. I don't think you can view on line. I've mislaid our original price list. Unlike Tina, who visited recently, the furniture we looked at in the Artev HQ was top spec. It sounds like they have changed their supplier but doubled the price (we were looking at around £4K to furnish our 2 bed 2 bth apartment with top spec furniture). Springblue looks great but need to check out import duty on white goods. Apparently there is a duty of around 30% and all Springblue stuff is imported from UK. Idealworld is another furniture supplier that is being advertised by Lets Talk turkey that are based in Bodrum. We are definitely going to visit Ideal Home Exhibition in March to check out Springblue first. | Kim and Bob |
Are you aware they have a great website, springbluefurniture with all the options listed and prices etc does anybody know if any of the Artev stuff can be viewed online?
We are currently tied into a free furniture pack but I will try and negotiate areduction so we can buy our own and choose at the ideal homes exhibition next year rather than have to travel to Turkey to choose everything.
| FreeZer |
Thanks so much P. I've just rung Springblue and spoke to a really helpful man called Colin. They have given me a price of £3,645 (minus 6-10% discount for ordering early). He assures me all their goods are top quality and guaranteed for a year. The price includes absolutely everything (inc. cutlery etc). The good thing is that they are exhibiting at next year's Ideal Home Exhibition at Earls Court so we can have a look before we buy. They have many customers on Turquoise and the surrounding developments.
| Kim and Bob |
hi everybody, i was there a week ago and i thought it was looking fantastic, i am intending on renting mine out and i am sure it will bring a great return, i didnt like the furniture it looked cheap it was ok for renting but not using, if you are interested i have just spoken to a company recommended by another development for property furniture and they have very high quality furniture at the same prices as we are being charged just now, feel free to have a look, their name is springblue furniture, you will have to do a yahoo search for them, but they are worth the look.
I will also be posting my pictures in a few days. on my space, i will keep you updated.
| PJONES1 |
Thanks for the update Tina. We have actually bought a Type E 72 square metre apartment on the first release so I am a trifle worried now as to the bedroom size. The designs we saw whilst we were out there over a year ago looked fine but of course we didn't have the luxury of actually seeing any that had been built. Hopefully we won't be overlooked as the plot we chose was high up with nothing behind it. We paid quite a bit more than others who are buying now due to the prime location of the first plots that were released and we didn't have a furniture package thrown in but aircon was included. I think we may visit Turquoise again this year just to reassure ourselves we are doing the right thing.
| Kim and Bob |
The appartments we saw that were really tiny were on Turquise and they were the 72m2 ones with 2 bathrooms. I think they were the E ones not G like I said. The G ones are not buildt yet but they are going to be even smaller. I think I would insist on seeing the actual drawings with size if I was to buy off plan as the drawings in the brouchure shows space for lots of furniture and that was not the case. Also the outside space (so called garden) can vary so have a look at the drawings if they will show them to you. We did ask but all they did was to call the architech and he said the G appartments had room for a double bed.
Our estate agent who was a lovely lady said you can easily negotiate on the deal. She said on Tourquise you should get aircon and the furniture package as part of the deal if you pay full price.
The beach and monorail has still not been buildt and it is quite far from Lakeside so they would have to drive there.
Hope that help. | tigertina |
Thanks for the update. The 2 bed appts, were these on Turquoise or another completed development. Were they the 70sq/m appts?
| FreeZer |
Back from our inspection trip to Bodrum we were only there 48 hours but thatwas enough for us to make our minds up. The developments around the lakes are now really getting on and we saw a completed villa at Turquoise. Really nice and huge rooftop. The have fitted a webcam which will go live shortly so you can have a look yourself. We then went and had a look at the 2 bed appartments where the ground floor has the garden and the top floor and the roof terrace. We saw one called G which has just had it furniture put in. Now there was two bedrooms and my gosh they were tiny. I think the furniture was from IKEA but in one bedroom there was a double bed and double wardrope and a 5 draw chest of draws. You only had about 25cm from the end of the bed to the wardrope (had to pass to get to the sliding door. Also the chest of draws did not fit was sticking out across the door to the ensuite. The furniture really was not big but the room was just so tiny. The lounge was fine but again there was just too much in it. It had a nice breakfast bar but they had also got a table for 6 in the room. Anyway the roofterrace again was lovely but really really overlooked. You would have to get on with your neighbours to all sides. Also the garden for the flat below was not really what i would call a garden it was more like 2m of grass infront of the patio and a bit down the side.
Turkey was a lovely country very hot and sunny and the people were so nice. Artev builders seemed a bit full of it and talked very little about VitaPark. Apparently they still dont get on with the owners of the golf club so no deals have been struck.
I know £60 to £70k is not a lot and this could be a great investment in the end it was not for us. Too far to fly 3 1/2 hours for a weekend break (dont get much holiday) and the bedrooms were just to tiny. I wish all of you the best and thanks for the advice on here. | tigertina |
| Hello, I have bought in the same area as where the above developments are. My developer is a company called Trinity group and I bought from an UK agent called International Property Invest Limited. I paid £49950 for a 2 bed 2 bath appt they were very professional at both ends and also supplied me with a furniture packakege for £4000 pounds. The deveopment seemed alot closer to the lake and the neighbouring Village. | vimbo |
| Have just stumbled over the info below on another forum, all mostly positive yet again.
------------------------------------------------------
I asked Dream Homes Worldwide a number of questions. See below for their replies. The issue regarding golf at Vita Park fails to go away!!
We have a couple of queries that you might be able to help with.
Can you confirm the following
That the Vita Park Golf Course will be a pay as you play course i.e open to non members
There are 2 x 18 hole courses. One of these is a "pay and play" course available to all.
Will the properties on Turquoise require a "letting certificate" from the major tour operators to enable rentals through them?
Please see attached document showing which Tour Operators are already confirmed.
Who will construct the private beach and the monorail to access the beach and when will it be completed?
Artev will be construction both the private beach and monorail facility.
Is the beach private only to Turquoise owners or is it available for use by Flamingo Country Club, Royal Heights owners?
This is available to residents of Turquoise, Flamingo and Royal Heights.
Are there any other developments planned in the vicinity that could affect future returns?
None that we are aware of, other than those already under construction.
Am I correct in understanding that Artev are constructing the Royal Heights, FCC developments?
Yes, Artev are the Developers of these sites. This is of benefit to all clients on all three developments as all construction / finishing works will be sympathetically developed to ensure that a "community feel" is created, and is more in keeping with the entire area and location.
Here is the list of "Confirmed Contracts" tour operators issued by Artev:
TOUR OPERATORS & AGENCIES
CONFIRMED CONTRACTS
* Hotel Reservation System (HRS)
* Booking.com
* Booking Turkey.com
* Setur
* VIP Tour
* The Corendon Group
* Scott Travel
* The First Choice Group
* PPS – Prime Property Solutions
* Bodrum Travel Service
* Odeon Tours
* Aegean Tours
* Metro Tours
* The Holiday Group
* Mea Villas
* Crusader Travel
* Turkey 5 star Vacations
| FreeZer |
| Really looking forward to going now leaving on Saturday. Thanks for the idea of the prices in Bodrum. We do live in the South of England but for £20 we would expect a very nice bottle of wine. Will report back next week. Thanks again Tina | tigertina |
| incase it helps i found a great furniture supplier, who doesnt do the mdf crap.
check them out sprign blue furniture | steffb |
Lovely to read more about Tuzla on here we are off on our inspection trip next week being shown around by Artev. We are still very unsure if we want to buy at all so hopefully seeing the area and the country for the first time will help. If anyone wants to know anything specific please let me know and I will try to find out for you.
Our friends went a few weeks ago and they said the area was very expensive. They paid over £20 for a bottle of red wine in a restaurant which was really poor quality. Also they found drinks in general very expensive over £50 for 2 coffees, 2 cocktails and a two bottle of beers. Are there two price lists one for tourists and one for locals? If so how do you avoid paying over the odds. Any help would be appreciated. Many thanks | tigertina |
Hi Tina. We didn't find Bodrum expensive. All the restaurants (and there are loads of them) clearly display their prices outside, so you can pick and choose. We did have a wonderful meal at the yacht club whch was quite pricey but still cheaper than we would pay for an equivalent place here. We drank wine and didn't find it expensive either. It depends I suppose on what you are used to paying here in the UK. Bodrum prices were cheaper than we would pay in UK but not hugely cheaper. When we were out of Bodrum our rep took us to his favourite places for lunch. We took it in turns to pay the bill and it was always very reasonable and the food extremely fresh. I never liked calamari until I had it in Turkey! You just can't compare the stringy stuff here in UK with the beautifully fresh calamari served in Turkey.
Hope you have a good trip. Let us all know how it goes.
| Kim and Bob |
Lovely to read more about Tuzla on here we are off on our inspection trip next week being shown around by Artev. We are still very unsure if we want to buy at all so hopefully seeing the area and the country for the first time will help. If anyone wants to know anything specific please let me know and I will try to find out for you.
Our friends went a few weeks ago and they said the area was very expensive. They paid over £20 for a bottle of red wine in a restaurant which was really poor quality. Also they found drinks in general very expensive over £50 for 2 coffees, 2 cocktails and a two bottle of beers. Are there two price lists one for tourists and one for locals? If so how do you avoid paying over the odds. Any help would be appreciated. Many thanks | tigertina |
Hi, again. The source for the news about the large new development the other side of the lake is a guy called Simon who is a regular contributor on the Lets Talk Turkey website. He lives in Bodrum and is also an estate agent so knows what he is talking about. Scroll through the postings on that site and you can read the latest. The overall feeling, I think, is that if such a large company wants to invest such a huge amount of cash into that area, they must be confident they will make profits so this is a good thing for us all as it is obviously an up and coming area. Also it may well push for all year round flights direct from UK to Bodrum which would be great news for us all. Lets just hope the area does not become too overdeveloped but I believe Turkish law would not allow this.
You are right about our contracts. They do list everything that is included in our purchase and I think the Flamingo buyers must only have had verbal agreements as to what was included in their sale. Also we will get compensation from Artev for every month that they are late in completing (also in contract). Our completion date is currently November 2008. I am a little worried about the furniture pack price but when we visited Artev last August we were given a price list and both my husband and I seem to recall the price for a 2 bed 2 bath apartment (taking off non-essentials like juicers etc) was around £4 (aircon is included in our sale price). I have the list 'filed'somewhere. If that hasn't gone up too much we will be very happy.
Funny you should mention Marbella, but the first guy we talked to at DWW said that his gut feeling was that in a fews year time the same thing that happened to property prices in Marbella would happen to those in Bodrum as its popularity grew - fingers crossed!
| Kim and Bob |
Thanks for the update Kim,
Yes we were told about the lack of lake or sea view and realised pool view was the best we could afford at the time. A quick stroll up the hill though and the wonders are there to see.
I feel that as the Turquoise properties have been sold by proffesional agents and the fact that we are in effect dealing with only these agents and Artev that we have far less to complain about than those in Flamingo. I feel like I knew exactly what I was buying into from the start.
No surprises so far like inflated costs for furniture packs or finding out that that there is no boiler in the appt and this is charged extra.
Everything is clearly detailed in the contract and lets not forget also the build quality is excellent for Turkey.
Can you confirm your source for the 20000 villa's plan. I heard something a while back about the intended 800 villa plan over the other side from the golf course.
I can't make my mind up if all the building in this area is better or worse in the long run.
All other "new resorts" in other countries in the past seem to have started small and built up size whilst at the same time built up in popularity. If the amenities in the area keep up pace e.g shops and restaurants, aqua parks also infastructure (roads etc) we could be sitting in the middle of a new Puerto Banus or Marbella. Which you may or may not like but one thing for sure prices rose despite overdevelopment. It depends on your view really.
I always ponder if more people go to street with 1 shop or 10 or if you are going out for a drink do you drink in your local pub or a street with 10 pubs.
I think I am just optimist by nature.
I am signed up now so looking on the bright side keeps me happy.
Lets see what happens. | FreeZer |
Hi All
Been keeping an eye on this website for some time. Little action until your recent mails.I to keep a close eye on Lets talk turkey, as you say lots more chat from Flamingo clients. We bought on Lakeside in March 06 and Turquoise and apollomiun May 06. This was through Superoir in the UK and an Artev rep showing us about in Turkey. All dealing have been very profesional and we feel happy with our investments. One thing is for certain, quality in property only comes second to location. I believe we have a positive balance on both of these. Good to speak to other Artev Buyers.
Regards
Justin & Jeanette
| Justiin |
There is another website called Letstalkturkey which seems to be the main one that people who have purchased in the Tuzla area use. If you read the postings you will see that there are now around 6 developments who will have use of the 'private' facilities planned for the Turquoise. There is also another huge development being planned for the other side of the lake which will involve 20,000 (not a typing error - 20,000) villas and 5 x 5 star hotels. This will impact on the rental potential for anyone who is buying to rent out. Buyers at Flamingo have formed an owners group. If you visit the site you will see the level of dissatisfaction. Perhaps this is a good idea for owners of Turquoise also.
We also bought through Dreamhomes and were extremely impressed with the professionalism. You paid less than us Dave and Mary. We paid £74,000 for a 2 bed, 2 bath with roof terrace and that doesn't include the furniture pack. (We're hoping to negotiate a reasonable price with Artev, otherwise we will use a different supplier provided through Letstalkturkey). However we bought into the first batch that were released to Dreamhomes and we have a spectacular view over the lake. I spoke to them at the beginning of the year about the difference in price and was told we paid more because of the views and the first batch were cherrypicked by themselves for this reason. The apartments that are being sold with furniture packs reflect the fact they have no view.We are a trifle worried to discover that there are many developments now in that area and some are selling villas for less that we paid for our apartment! Flamingo owners also feel they paid over the odds for their apartments but to be fair to Dreamhomes we were shown cheaper alternatives that just didn't compare with the Artev properties.
Its nice to be able to post to other Turquoise owners. They seem a very quiet bunch compared with Flamingo purchasers! Any shared information can only be a good thing for us all.
Regards, Kim
| Kim and Bob |
I visited Turquoise site in Nov 2006. The location is beautiful with the lake on one side and sea on the other. We visited a lovely restaurant on the lake where the food was fresh (that day's catch serve with vegetables form the on site farm to the rear).
Whilst the appt I purchased does not have view of either sea or lake the setting is still wonderful.
As for the golf course course. I have been informed directly by emailing the owners of the course that one course is open for public use and the other will be for members only. It is literally 5 mins away as we drove past it on the way from Artev Sales Office on the way to the turquoise site.
The sales office by the way is impressive with models of the site and also a mocked upo villa and appt so you can choose furniture etc, they seemed to very proffesional and I am told they are respected locally
The golf course is called vita park golf resort so I will leave to you work out the address of the web site. This site clearly details costings should you wish to become a member or maybe take up the commercial membership which allows any guests at your proeprty to use both courses.
We have purchased from a company called Dream Home Worldwide and they have been fantastic. The rep we met in Turkey was great and spent 2 full days showing us different options in the Bodrum Area. We were placed under no pressure and decided after we returned home.
We bought a 70sq/m top floor appt with (64qm) roof terrace for £70000. The price included a furniture pack worth £8000. So this really is a turnkey investment.
One good thing is that Artev have offered to manage rentals and whilst thedetails are not finalised the price for a similar development in the same area is around £200 per year. Although any rentals you get yourself must be directed through Artev. They plan to market to tour companies etc and on driving around there are not many larger size developments in this area at the moment. With the golf course and private beach and all the on site facilities I think long term this will investment will pay for itself. What I do dispute though are some of the figures quote for capital growth of 30% per year. I cannot see this happening in the short term. I feel that this is medium to long term investment. With mortgages properly available for the first time by early 2008 (some agents are even offering them now) I think the property market in general will receive a boost. No capital gains tax locally if you hold the property for 4 years or more. In addition Turkey is trying to enter the EU although that could take 10 years.
Overall this is not a get rich quick scheme but if you intend to hold and rent and like golf, fishing, watersports, tennis and sunbathing you cannot go wrong.
God I sound a salesperson. To be honest though I feel like I have carried out all the due diligence I could possible do from long distance and still feel I am on to a winner.
Well thats my view anyway.
Dave & Mary
| FreeZer |
We have just booked a viewing trip with Ocean Estates to view Turquoise over the August Bank Holiday. We are really keen golfers so the situation with Vita Park does concern me. Has anyone bought at Turquoise? Any advice? Seems the cheapest 2 beds are going for £64k+ so perhaps we have missed the boat.
Many thanks
Tina (Portsmouth) | tigertina |
We have just booked a viewing trip with Ocean Estates to view Turquoise over the August Bank Holiday. We are really keen golfers so the situation with Vita Park does concern me. Has anyone bought at Turquoise? Any advice? Seems the cheapest 2 beds are going for £64k+ so perhaps we have missed the boat.
Many thanks
Tina (Portsmouth) | tigertina |
| hi ,i am looking at buying in bodrum,Turquoise looks nice i would also welcome feedback PAUL LAKEDISTRICT | dally |
Hi, we too have bought an apartment from Artev at Turquoise. We were so impressed with the standard of workmanship and the situation of the site etc. We were under no pressure to commit and were shown other developments on the Bodrum peninsula by our agent but decided to go for Turquoise because of its location. Can't wait until November 2008. I'm not sure if there are any left now though.
| Kim and Bob |
| ** EDITED ** Please respect terms of posting. NO commercial ads | tunali |
Hi, We have bought on the turquoise, in a joint venture with some family and friends. We were impressed with Artev as a company and visited some other sites that thay are building, and were impressed with build quality and the standard of the fixtures and fittings. On a whole we think it offers great value for money and the plans for the site look fabulous. If you would like any more info let us know. Hope this helps.
Colin and Nicola (Hertfordshire) | yids |
Hello - were thinking of buying at Turquoise and would welcome any feedback/contact from other people who have took the plunge !
Nat & Barbara (Swindon) | Nat and Barbara |