This is a long story, so if you are keen on reading, I would suggest you go get a drink.
Long time readers may remember that, we had a family home in Konya inherited by mom and two uncles. My grandpa was given the land in 1955, by a family member who owed grandpa some money. Grandpa planted trees, grapevines and used the land as a garden till he retired. He built a house in 1971 and my grandparents moved there. Grandpa loved gardening and enjoyed his place for 30 years till he passed away. My sister and I spent lots of time there every summer and we enjoyed it too.
After both my grandparents passed, uncle had a hard time keeping up with it. The house needed repairs and maintenance, the garden needed tons of attention or money and he was depressed due to his parents' passing and his business failing. My mom did not want it to be sold and both her brothers complied with her wishes. They tried renting it at one point but, that did not work out either. At the end, uncle used it as an office before he had to shut down his business.
ALthough, the property was at a very good spot, nobody was willing to buy it in Konya because, it had been sold to grandpa's relative by a religious foundation back in the day. Konya is a pretty conservative city. "Religious" people frown upon these types of lands and they would not want to purchase them. It is rather stupid because, the foundation decided to sell the place to buy income generating property for the foundation in the city center. They bought stores and rented them. The sale was all legal and in the registry and taxes were paid and all that. Nothing fishy.
All these years whenever someone showed interest in this property, it was always a low baller citing that it was a previously foundation owned property. Mom and her siblings did not sell the property at "a dead donkey price" (a local saying). I suspect that, grandpa's relative bought this place from the foundation and when he found out that, it was not a wise investment, he gave it to grandpa as opposed to paying him money. Grandpa did not care because he never intended to sell.
When my uncle's business troubles got worse, I had purchased his share so that we could keep it in the family as mom wanted us to. Then, my other uncle passed and his family asked me if I would be willing to buy their shares also and I did. When mom passed, mom's share was divided between me and SIS. I ended up owning 5/6th and SIS 1/6th of the whole property.
I honestly had no hope that it would sell some day because of the religious foundation issues and conservative people (who would love to buy it for real cheap). That was why I never put it up for sale. It has been broken into several times. The roof needed replacing, the whole house needed tons of expensive repairs if we ever wanted to use it again.
The thing is, nobody in my family, intended to live in Konya anymore. After my grandparents passed, we did not have any reason to go there. Uncle, who lived there his entire life, now loves living in Antalya by the Mediterrenean Sea and is happy where he is. SIS and BIL are planning to move back to Ankara when they retire, possibly within the year. I am also planning to move to Ankara although I love my home and Istanbul for fear of the earthquake.
Since last year, there were some potential buyers asking about the place but, we did not have a decent enough offer as always. By pure chance, SIS met someone through one of her colleagues who worked in Konya and that gentleman told us that, our place actually was one of the few places left in the area and it has become a favorable spot and it should sell for rather a lot of money beyond what we would even imagine. We knew that, the house needed to be taken down and rebuilt but, apparently the land itself has become very valuable. That was great news. We then realized that the offers we had been receiving were from people who knew that and who wanted to buy our place at a low price for bigger profit.
There is a real estate agency right next door and they had been asking me about it too. Finally, I told them I wanted X amount of money and they could try selling it for that amount till the end of March. The first potential buyer agreed to pay the asking price but, he retrieved his offer again citing the previous ownership by the foundation. Then, couple of weeks ago, the real estate agent called me that, there was a new potential buyer and that he accepted the asking price. They asked me to go to Konya to sign an agreement to sell by the end of March. The buyer was selling his property elsewhere and was trying to gather the money. He wanted to pay in cash and did not want to take on a mortgage. I signed a contract and got a non-refundable down payment. I still did not believe we would be able to close the deal.
Guess what? Last Friday, we closed the deal. The money is now sitting in my bank account ready for me to buy a place in Ankara even after I give my SIS her share and give my cousins some extra money because I did sell at a premium as opposed to what I paid them few years ago. At the time, the place was not worth much.
SIS told me to buy a place first before paying anybody including herself and asked me not to sell the Istanbul home. She said, they would be selling their Izmir home when they retire within the year and that I can have the proceeds from that home. She says my apartment in Istanbul is at a safer zone and is a safe building and that it would be a waste to sell it which I agree with (but I am so afraid of the earthquake that, even that I think I would be safe, I do not think I can handle the horrendous shaking). When I pass, my SIS is my sole heir so, we will not even exchange the deeds after their home in Izmir sells.
The nice young gentleman who ended up buying the place, bought it as an investment for his wife's business who is a dentist. They want to build a small dental clinic and they think, the location is ideal for them. I met the wife too and they are really decent and kind people. The guy is an Air Force pilot. They kept saying we would be always welcome to drop by anytime we would be in the vicinity. I got a bit emotional at one point as I signed off on the dee transfer because, I have great childhood memories visiting my grandparents every summer and the dentist lady's eyes welled up too. She hugged me and repeated that I and the family would be always welcome to visit. They plan to be done with the building in 18 months. I wish them all the best. That land served it's purpose and brought joy to us as a family for years and now it's time to serve others.
I am so glad, I was able to sell the property and a big weight is off my shoulders. I was already financially independent but, this provides an extra cushion.
The last few weeks were stressful but, the outcome was so worth it.
