So you want to buy a land somewhere and do something with it. Well, all of us are more similar to each other than we are different. That much is for sure. Therefore we all dream about many of the same things. One of those is to get some land outside of the city somewhere and build your own house on it. Perhaps just a small wooden cabin would be enough. A place to escape to on the weekends and reconnect with nature. A lot of people want to go one step further and leave the city completely. Perhaps a camping place or permaculture farm. Well, I definitely can relate. Afterall, we have always been 100% natural beings, completely biological, though sadly we forget it so often. Generally, it seems we are completely out of touch with nature and we react by destroying it. We kill any insect that gets into our homes. In regards to nature we don’t always act out of basic needs. We act to conquer it or tame it. Yet we forget that we are a part of all this. So its no wonder that many of us eventually seek to return to nature somehow, or at least to find a balance between the city life and it. However, the task can sometimes seem daunting…
I should know of course. I’ve started two different projects from the ground up over the years: Reflections Camp in the stunningly beautiful Kabak Valley and The Beyler House outside of Beyler village, Seferihisar, Izmir. Neither land had a water source waiting for me nor an electrical source to plug into. Both lands were far away from the nearest paved road. In fact, in 2002 in Kabak Valley you couldn’t drive a car down into the valley. You walked. You can imagine what that meant… And of course, neither land had an existing structure on it where I could move into. So what do you do and how do you start? Well, the first step of course is finding your dream land.
Step 1: Finding your dream land
All lands are beautiful. Some are steep and some are flat but most are somewhere inbetween. Some have big, wide open views and some have small, valley views. Some are forests and some are void of any trees. But for some reason they are always wonderful. I suppose it goes back to the fact that they are a part of that inherent nature that’s in all of us.
Before buying there is one important consideration: are you going to obtain a building permit or not. In Turkey, if you are going to build with a building permit then there are different rules for each area. In short you need to get an ‘imar durum’ report from the Belediye. You could do that after you buy the land or perhaps better, have the owner of the land get one before you buy. At least ask before and they can tell you verbally what the situation is. Basically, if there is at least 1 meter of road (kadastro’da yolu) adjacent to your land and it is not a sit alan area then you can build at least 5%.
Cost of the land
The cost of the land is a huge concern for most people. Obviously it depends on the location for the most part but it also depends on other factors.
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Is it by the sea or inland?
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Is The land facing south so you get plenty of sun?
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Transportation:how far is The land from building material sources?
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How much are the trees or vinyards producing?
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Does it have a year round water source or no water source
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Is it easy to hook up electricity or not
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Does it have a paved road, dirt road or no road at all
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Can the land be divided into two separate parcels?