Real Life Stories Buying A House In Turkey

Date Published:

07/07/2008

Sally Gunnell after winning a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

Former Olympic hurdler Sally Gunnell lives in Sussex, where she runs a personal development centre. Earlier this year, she made her first step on to the overseas property ladder with a villa in Turkey.

By Mollie McGuigan

Tell Us About Your New Purchase

I’ve bought a three-bedroom, two bathroom semi-detached villa in the Legends Cove resort in Turkey with my husband, Jon. It’s in Imbat Bay on the Didim Peninsula and has lots of space, with various terraces and a garden, which should be great for my three young children – Finley, Luca and Marley.

What Attracted You To Turkey?

We’ve been discussing buying a property for the last two years but we wanted to buy somewhere that wouldn’t inhibit us from going on holiday to other countries and would also suit the kids. Turkey is beautiful, cheap, has great weather and is not so far away that we feel we have to spend all of our holidays there. We’ve just got back from the Maldives and we loved it, but if we’d bought there it would have cost a lot more – and we’d have felt guilty holidaying anywhere else!

How Will You Use The Property?

I think we’ll holiday there two or three times a year and our families will also have access to it. Aegean Resorts has a rental company, Artemis, which will rent out the villa when we’re not there. It’s an ideal arrangement – we can have a holiday when we want and leave someone else to deal with the rental and maintenance of the place.

Why Did You Buy In A Resort?

We wanted somewhere safe – a place where the kids can play and swim without us worrying they will wander off. Children don’t always want to be seen with their parents, and a resort set-up means they can go off and make friends without us cramping their style! Legends Cove is built so the villas have some privacy – I didn’t want to be surrounded by other buildings.

What Other Property Do You Own?

We live in a large old house called Charlton Court on the South Downs in Sussex, which we renovated extensively and now run our personal training workshops from. My husband has been investing in commercial property for a long time. His most recent project is six offices in a converted market hall in Brighton. My dream is to build my own house abroad, maybe in Turkey.

What Work Will You Be Doing At Agean Resorts?

I am concentrating on the spa facility. They want to take an holistic approach to health and fitness, which really fits in with my approach. I may do some motivational speaking there and I’m developing a personal development course for my UK business which could be transferred there

For more information on Aegean Resorts, call 08704 718 607 or visit their website: www.aegeanresorts.com.

Why not see how far your money might go if you buy abroad? Search for your dream overseas property on aplaceinthesun.com

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