Dilema!

[Janice1971]

My husband who is Turkish has been living here in the UK for 2 1/2 years and he hates it, he wants to go home back to Turkey, if we do this it means cutting all ties with the UK as we will have to sell up, we have lived in Turkey before fromn 06-08 and we were forced to come back to the UK as our business folded.  If all goes to plan we will buy a little place outright in Calis but I was wondering what other people who are living there think of the place at the moment, I have 2 daughters one his 1 1/2 and the other 4 1/2, I was wondering what you think of schooling, pitfalls and pros of life in Turkey as once bitten and all that.  I will obviously have to find some part time work etc (legally of course) please let me know what life is like out in Turkey at the moment, thanks Janice

[Eric]

Can't comment on schools etc, but don't buy..rent and invest your money in the bank to get around 8.5% which will help with your income.  If we had our time over again we would rent.

[ronzeus]

Janice after what happened to you before ,i would think long and hard about going back ,im sorry your husband has failed to settle in the UK but he still needs to think long and hard about his job prospects over there as according to my Turkish friend who has a few business interests things are still tough over in Calis.I wish you the best Janice whatever you decide.

[Janice1971]

I know thats why Im in a dilema!:( My thinking in buying a place outright is so that we wont have to worry about rent/mortgage then hopefully with both of us working we should scrape by, we are skint here in the UK surely it would be better to be skint in the sun  

[tony jenkins]

Hi Janice, you could consider renting. It depends on how much lump sum you have for a purchase. At 8.5%, if you have £50,000 you would earn £4,250 interest per year. I dont know if that is enough to rent but it will give you the chance to find jobs etc, and to see if you are going to like the area etc. If you like it you could then buy a place. If you dont like it you will still have your money in the bank.
Very best of luck.
Tony

[Old Daffodil]

You would have to pay tax on the interest earned.  
I have a friend who is married to a Turkish man and they also have two children of similar age to yours. Her husband usually manages to find work in the summer months but the winter months (from October to about April) are difficult for finding a job. Luckily  the Turkish grandparents have the children stay with them a lot to help out but it is not an ideal situation. I fear that you would find any money you may have put away would be gradually eaten into. Would you have support from your Turkish side of the family? Consider carefully.
One summer season her husband was not paid his wages as the restaurant he was working in did not make a profit, the owner sold his car to cover bills he owed.
Food prices are increasing in Turkey as they are in Britain. As you know if you have lived in Turkey it is not always lovely and warm and the winters can be cold and wet which means heating bills.
 I also have British friends who have brought their children up in Turkey and now the children are older they have gone back to Britain as they find Turkey boring. The parents are then left in Turkey.
I feel for your husband as he must feel homesick at times.

[Julesp]

Its not changed too much since you were last here, prices up a bit as everywhere, I imagine your childrens education etc is of most importance now? You dont say whether you rent or own in the uk My advice is if you own in Uk put it on the rental market there then use that rental money to live on here and then rent here until you are settled and are sure you are living where you really want to, then sell Uk home, If you are renting in the Uk again same advice, dont rush into buying anywhere here until you are sure

[Old Daffodil]

Your husband probably has lovely memories of Turkey as a young single man but would be find it so pleasant as a married man trying to feed a young family.

[minimoo]

I agree with the posts above, re renting first etc. You also have to think about your work/life balance. I am in the same position as you, although with 2 older children, of 13 and 5. Working in the tourism industry is especially hard when you have kids. During the summer, my hubby and I generally work approx 110 hours per week, so obviously we don't get to spend an awful lot of time with the children. Granted during the winter months, it is a little better, but then we are watching the pennies, so don't tend to do much exciting with them. We have now made the decision to try the UK for a while. I will be returning in August, after 6 and a half years here, and hubby will be coming at the end of the season. We just want a "normal" life for a while, and once we both have jobs, even though we will not be earning a fortune, at least we will know how much we are getting paid, and when we are getting paid every month, and that makes it much easier to budget.

[peecee]

I would agree with the comments re: renting as well.  Whilst, in theory, it's a good idea to put all your capital in the bank and live off the interest there's absolutely no guarantee that the interest rate will stay the same.  Talking to the guy in the bank he strongly believes that the rates will continue to go down, especially with the present government.  So you may find yourself in the position of having nothing in the UK house wise and not being able to afford the rent in Turkey.  If I had a UK property I would rent that out (bearing in mind that you should only budget 10 months rent into the equation) but, of course, the rental property in the UK is saturated as well.
Good luck, between and rock and a hard stone.