ArtyMar's blog: buying the dream

[ArtyMar]

August 2011  Our villa in Koca Calis
BLOG 73 Tapu
 

The Tapu. I’ve been told so often about the importance of this document – and our contract makes it clear that we’ll obtain this after the snagging list has been finished. Again I contact K and S, the remaining directors of Deska Global and actually manage to talk to S.

Forget the Tapu, she skims over my reminder re the contract and asks, ever so sweetly, if I like her ‘gift’. Er, what gift is that? I enquire, unaware of what she can mean. Oh, she says, didn’t I notice the framed jigsaw painting hanging on the staircase wall? She tells me that when we were in the Infinity offices I admired it on her office wall, so she’s given it to us as a gift. Yes, I certainly did notice it, now on our villa wall, and was mildly annoyed at the gilt badge bearing the name ‘Deska Global’ prominently displayed on the bottom corner. The badge was well glued and surprisingly difficult to remove - requiring a knife to wrench it off. This I did not bother to tell her, and rather lamely thanked her for the “gift” before returning to the snagging list. Prominent among the snagging points that I tell her about is the extraordinary fact that I can’t see any down pipes/guttering on the exterior walls. Isn’t rain expected in the winter, I ask – where are these pipes? I also point out that some of the paint outside seems to be peeling – surely it’s only recently been painted and shouldn’t be peeling already? Anyway, when will these and the other points listed be fixed? She’ll talk to L and the workmen, and they’ll be in touch. Rather vague, but it’s all I can do at the moment.

But we’re here – and the villa is here – and by golly, we’re going to enjoy our holiday. The sun is shining outside, beating its rays on the terrace. It’s mighty hot but there’s a surprisingly cool breeze on the terrace and the pool’s turquoise water is sparkling and inviting.

. . .  to be continued  . . .usually posted on Thursday


---------------

[ArtyMar]

August 2011  Our villa in Koca Calis

BLOG 74 Snags and Snagging

Ok, so only one toilet works properly, the showers flood the bathroom floors and the Jacuzzi bath needs replumbing and repositioning, there are no downpipes or guttering, and the newly painted external paint is already peeling, you can’t turn the pool lights off and on without descending into the bowels of the earth, the cooker extractor hood complete with fan and light has no pipe or mechanism to extract fumes – so what? All can be fixed!

L brings Farouk, the general fixit man. They discuss these issues in Turkish. Who knows what they say? L turns to us.

“Don’t worry, we’ve noted all these things and they’ll be fixed.”

The obvious question: when? Needless to say, neither L nor F can answer this. They are not in charge of the work force. I say that we want to see some work done while we are here, but we can whistle in the wind. I can see from L’s face, that much as she would like to say ‘yes, of course, all the work will be finished’, there’s no way that this can be done – a) she has no way of knowing what her bosses will sanction and b) she has as little real faith in them as I do.

Outside, the pool and surrounding terrace face the forest. It’s so peaceful and so beautiful. We lie outside on our sunbeds. The area is so unspoiled, the road outside leading to the beach is not even paved. Then a car goes by, kicking up a mountain of dust – which floats above us and slowly descends over our wall, terrace and pool. My eyes begin to water and I start to sneeze.  Unspoiled is all very well, but when will that road be tarmacked? I reach for my antihistamines. Are there such things as wrap-around sunglasses?

Keeping to my firm decision to remain positive and reminding ourselves (and L) that Deska will get no further money until the snagging  repairs are carried out, we relax and enjoy the sunshine and the beauty of the area. Just love the Surf Café Beach Club – watching those kite surfers skimming the waves is a continual delight. Down at the beach as evening approaches, the vivid red ball of the sun sinks behind the mountains leaving streaks of pink across a purple sky. We lean back into the giant beanbags and a gentle sea breeze tickles our toes.

. . .  to be continued  . . .usually posted on Thursday

[sadler]

Do you know what Arty? That almost sounds normal given today's and the previous week's happenings! 

[gillian handbury]

Arty Mar.....We are there with you..... We can see it....smell it....taste it!!!!  Lurverly .... Can't wait to be back!! .
Sorry we missed our rendezvous .....hopefully will catch up September.... All the best.....x

[ArtyMar]

End of August 2011  Our villa in Koca Calis

BLOG 75 Promises, promises -

After a few more meetings with Farouk, L and another bod from the newly named ‘Deska Global’, whom L calls their ‘architect’, a few more things are fixed. The toilets now all have new flushing mechanisms and they’ve made an attempt to fix the Jacuzzi bath but it’s unsatisfactory. The showers still flood the floors of the bathrooms and I’ve finally got an agreement that at least one bathroom will have a full shower screen installed. Still battling about the other two because they already have partial glass screens but they’re insufficient to stop the flooding. Oh yes, promises that full guttering and down pipes will be put in (but what’s the urgency, they say – it’s not raining!). As to the parts of the villa’s external walls that are beginning to peel – yes, that too will be done.

On our final day, I go through the snagging list again with L. There are still loads of large and small things unticked – and then, to our amazement, L asks for the final payment! Our answer, needless to say, is ‘no – not until this list is all complete with every item ticked off as done’. She more or less promises that all will be done but it’s impossible to do immediately, and hints that this will delay our Tapu. Is the Tapu ready, I ask? That’s not her job, she says, she have to ask M, from Deska. I just wish I could speak directly to S, the woman partner from Deska, or her brother, K – but both are unavailable – always either out of town or ‘attending a meeting’.  As to M, I’ve neither met him or heard of him until now.

I tell L that as soon as all the work is done and I have photographic evidence, we’ll pay the final amount and on our next trip, receive the Tapu as per contract. 

Then it’s time to go home – the time has flown. OH has spent most of his time either lying in the air-conditioned lounge watching the English news on the satellite TV or lying on a sunbed at the Sport Café beach sipping an Efez. I seem to have spent a lot of time in the pool, the best place to cool off, or arguing/negotiating with L and workmen from Deska . At any rate, we’ve had a change of scene and in between times, a lovely break.

Can I trust Deska to fulfill their promises? Hmmmm

. . .  to be continued  . . .usually posted on Thursday

[Bluwise]

Wow, the cheek asking for the balance!!

[ArtyMar]

September 2011  Back home in Blighty

BLOG 76  Round and round

I long for a life where I don’t have to play this game with Deska: the constant flow (or should I say ‘write and await a reply’) of emails back and forth. From my side: “when will such and such be finished? When will I get the photos?” From their side: when will you pay the remaining £7000? Now we have a new demand added to the bill: an exorbitant amount for electricity. It looks to me as if some of this covers the time when building was taking place, not just our occupancy, and the bill is in the builder’s name – so I join the game of bluff and counter bluff, telling them to pay it (as it’s in their name) – hinting that I’ll pay up our share when we settle the final bill. I ask about the bill being changed to be in our name but it seems this can only happen once we have our Tapu and our own number.  So here we go again, round and round. We want our Tapu; they say “when you’ve settled all bills”. We say we’ll do that when you’ve completed the work according to contract. Stalemate. Even Deska can’t argue that all work is complete when there’s no guttering or downpipes!

In the end, I can see that we’ll need to go again to see the final results for ourselves as to the completion of the snagging list. I write to K and S, the brother and sister directors, with whom we conducted our original negotiations to buy and build, to explain this. I state that I am giving plenty of notice so there should be no excuses as to completing everything on the list, which we have gone over extensively with L and Farouk and their ‘architect’. We plan to book again for April. Can we do the final exchange and Tapu receipt then?

As usual, their reply is a long time coming. . .

To be continued - usually posted on Thursdays

[sadler]

How frustrating. I think had it been me, I would be on a murder charge by now! 

[ArtyMar]

February 2012 Home in London

BLOG 77  Winter blues

I think February is the worst month of the year – Winter is ever present: dark, leaden skies, rainy days and icy streets. Spring is a long time in coming and Summer – well, even when it finally comes, it’s over in the blink of an eye.

OH and I have not been out very much – it’s too cold and miserable and I worry that OH, now not as steady on his feet as he was before the op, could easily slip on an icy pavement. But, that said, his health is steadily improving. Now that he is rid of that dreadful body sepsis and not on non-stop alternating antibiotics, his face no longer has that strained, fragile appearance and though he can’t walk with the vigour of pre-op times, he actually looks younger. He can now think and talk much more clearly, but I’ve got into the habit of protecting him from what I consider bad news. And as far as our villa in Turkey is concerned, it really is a mixed blessing. The good news is that it is built! The bad news is that there are still quite a few outstanding issues, not the least of which is the final payment and getting our Tapu.

When OH was at death’s door, the fleeting thought crossed my mind that we’d have to sell the villa before we’d even made use of it. And then, the further thought: how difficult it would be to sell when not fully finished and without actual ownership proved by the Tapu! At least we’ve been able to stay and enjoy the brand-new villa even with its imperfections, the pool, the beach and so many other delights of a simpler life.

I have had the odd reply to my many emails – the latest one from S, the sweet faced, sweeter-talking, woman director of the newly named Deska Global. I had reminded her  (yet again) of our forthcoming trip in April to sign off the snagging list and in bold that we look forward then to receiving our Tapu as stated on the contract. Her reply merely states that she looks forward to our return. This time, in frustration, I turn to OH and read him her email. “What do you think?” I ask him.

His reply is unprintable.

. . .  to be continued  . . .usually posted on Thursday

[ArtyMar]

March 2012 Home in London

BLOG 78  Here we go again

I have written to Deska, to the two directors with copies to both L, the English speaking admin assistant/client liaison person and E, the relatively new ‘general manager’ to let them know that we have now booked our airfares for end of April (my half-term break), during which time we expect to finalise the outstanding items on the snagging list, pay the final amount and receive our Tapu as per contract. We have seen photos of the downpipes so we know that at least one key item has been done. They acknowledge our email with my suggested time for a meeting with the directors (I suggest a morning appointment at their office for two days after our arrival). Their reply is the usual polite “looking forward to seeing you”. Just to spell it out, I write again that this is not a holiday for us; we are coming with the express purpose of ‘handover of money and Tapu’ .

At the same time, I am really looking forward to those blue skies and seeing our precious home-in-the-sun again. Bit by bit, agro by agro we are nearing the end. I don’t really bother OH with niggles about the Tapu – from his point of view, this will be a short break in the sun. Hopefully there will be more sun than rain!

So, here we go again. . .

. . .  to be continued  . . .usually posted on Thursday