Being born in the Middle East and, having lived in London for the past 43 years doing property investment and development, has made me quite familiar with both types of mentality. For the past fifteen years, I have been buying properties all over the world and, been setting up homes for myself, as a hobby. After my 60th birthday in 2012, I decided to visit Yalikavak for a late summer break and to do research my next project.
I found that I really liked the place, the food and, all together the whole vibe and, so I started talking and coordinating with a local agent with a view to embark on my next purchase. My next trip was solely for the purpose of viewing five or six villas and, to choose one and to seal the deal all at once. Upon my arrival I told the agent that I was only visiting for 2 days and, that on the day 3 I would be making an offer and, that by the end of the week I wished to sign the contract.
True to my words, I chose a property by the end of the second day and, when I told him of my choice, I was met with typical agent ploys. To cut a long story short, that local agent along with their recommended lawyer and a third party, were planning on adding one hundred thousand Euros to the asking price of the property as their own personal gain. It took me a couple of days while I was doing my own investigations to unfold the scam and, that’s how I found Darren.
I visited his agency to get some information about a villa that was for sale in the same compound and, was met by Deniz. She was most helpful and she advised me that Darren was away on holiday but, that I could contact him on his mobile telephone and, that he was due to return the following week. In the meantime, I ceased going any further with the other agent and went back home to London and, waited a week before I called Darren on the number Deniz had provided to me. He was still on holiday but, he told me that he was more than happy to look in to my enquiry straight away. Believe it or not, as soon as I told him about that compound and, that I had the correct knowledge about it, he immediately started to negotiate on my behalf, while he was still on holiday.
Less than a couple of weeks from that conversation, I meet him for the first time on my way to the lawyer’s office to sign for my beautiful little villa. That’s all it took for Darren to sort everything out for me (from a long distance too) and, now two years on I have a lovely little house in Yalikavak and, in addition I have a very good friend whom I trust very much and, because of him I have also met Guzide and Deniz, both of whom are two of the nicest and kindest professionals in Yalikavak.
I wish there were more Darrens in this world.