as i wrote u before if u write what u want i can help u i guess.do u wish to buy or to rent? i dont know about narlidere a lot but can tell about bornova if u want. as an avarage for giving an idea a good house with 3 rooms 1 saloon kitchen bathroom toilet balcony is about 50000 euro if u want to buy. however that flat's rent is about 300-400 euro. if u look for cheaper solutions the minimum rent was 425 in bornova for a liveable flat.

and if u plan to work in turkey: if ur avarage u can earn 500-750 euros according to ur qualities on the begining.

I saw my name
For istanbul as someones said it depends on where u want to live. if you want to live in a central place, it will be a bit expensive.
There are some districts, universty students live. rents are approximately 600-750 YTL, if you are lucky u can find 400-500 one. BUT real estate agents wants extra money at first.
I think U can find a good apartment with 600 ytl

Have a look on this website:
http://www.emlakaktif.com/index.php?language=english

Bornova will be a little more expensive than other areas because it is close to Ege University. A good 2 bedroom flat can be rented for 400 YTL, while a good 3 bedroom flat will be around 600 YTL.

Notice that 600 YTL or even 400 YTL (205 EUR) is pretty serious money in Turkish standarts. As a poor school teacher a 600 YTL flat would cost me more than half of my monthly income in Turkia. This is why some school teachers are selling lemons on vegetable bazaars on weekends. When I was working in Tukia I haven't sold lemons but I haven't lived in a 600 or 400 YTL flat either.

Thanks, great I'll have a look at it after breakfast. Thanks a million.

And actually I'm looking for the smallest appartment as possible A 1 bedroom one would be fine, because we hope it to be temporary.


I think I will really have to get used to the money-standards in Türkiye, because I don't want to seem like a rich girl who gets everything just by clapping her hands. Because for Duthc standards we're pretty average.. and instead of sellign lemons, i work in a restaurant and i babysit twice a week.. so..

There even was an appartment for 250 YTL Well anyway..

Is it in Türkiye usual/possible to erhm.. i don't knwo the word.. to discuss about the price? If the owner says: 600 a month, can you try to pull it down to like.. 400-500 ?

Or is that not usual when it comes to estates?

You can try haggling but it won't make a big difference. There are two types of landlords. One are the ones who know about the property prices. They will ask for a fair price and if you are bargaining the price might go slightly down. The second type are the ones who are too optimistic for their property. They are very unreasonable on prices. They will rather keep the place empty for 4 months and lose more money than renting it for a little cheaper. At the end it depends.

I must warn you on the fact that there are more crazy people among landlords than the average of Turkish people.

I would suggest looking for many different places to get an idea on prices. This way you will understand what a reasonable price is or isn't.

I wish you good luck on your search for a one bedroom or studio flat in Bornova or anywhere in İzmir. As a single man who prefered to live alone I have looked and looked for these kind small flats for many years. Generally speaking, in Turkia there is almost no such thing as a single person living alone. I don't know the statistics but if 30% of German women between 25 and 35 are living alone then the number is 1/100 of this in Turkia.

There are very few males who live alone and for females the number is even less. Of course there are some people like me who insist but compared to European countries singles living alone in Turkia in percentage to the population are next to nothing. There are very few small flats designed for singles. Some studio flats are designed for the very posh show offs who live an European lifestyle and they are more expensive than an average 3+1 house. Other small flats will be designed for doorkeepers on apartments. It's hard to find just a normal one bedroom or studio flat.

Sometimes you see a two bedroom flat which is nice and clean. It costs around 350YTL and you know that it's too big for a single person. You convince yourself that there must be smillar flats that are the same quality but smaller and thus cheaper but belive me there aren't.

Lack of small flat's is a huge problem for Turkish singles living alone, but it's not the only one. I had some annoying experiences on shops a few times. When I used to live alone I was shopping for myself only and a silly sellesperson didn't agree to sell me half a kilo fish. He told me it was too less to sell. He asked me what I would do with half a kilo of fish. He said it wouldn't be enough for nobody. He said I should buy at least a kilo. I was telling him that I was living alone and didn't need one kilo fish. Anyway, at the end I couldn't buy fish.
It is the same with vegetables. If you buy any vegetable only half a kilo they will look at you as if you were very poor. Supermarkets are less annoying for this reason since you don't interact with the people directly. But that's not always the case for all supermarkets.

Some supermarkets employ a greengrocer. You tell him what you want and what amounth you want and the person brings it to you. Modern supermarkets are not always very close.

I think you will find Turkia less annoying. You are not going to stay long enough to drive yourself crazy with the small things and traditional lifestles around you.

I hope this gives you an idea what you should expect from living alone.

Thank you for your informing post Well the fact is, probably half of the time i will live in Kadir's house and he will live in mine the other half of the time. I think that basically spoken, I won't be alone too much. The reason I decided not to move in together immediately is.. we barely saw each other yet and getting used to each others 24/7 company will be difficult, seeing i will also face other life-style-change-problems and the language barrier. Plus i will keep my independence and i can more easily be alone when i need to be alone in this way. But because I was always being taken care of by my mum, i have no idea how to live on my own. So being close to Kadir will be perfect for teaching me how to be responsible for my own maintainance, without falling into traps n stuff.
And he lives together with his best friend Gökhan now. I think i should give him a fair time to let him get used to the fact I'm around much too.. and i don't want to steal his 'lifepartner' away as soon as i get there.

I don't need a one bedroom flat in particular, a 2 bedroom one is fine too. But i was figuring: the smaller the cheaper and the easier to keep it clean.

If I wasn't going to go all on my own to Türkiye and if i would have a good share of girlfriends there, i would never consider living all by myself. But all Kadir's female friends already live together or still live with their parents in Izmir. So actually this is the only option. Many (Turkish, especially male) people have reacted with shock that a young western girl is planning to live there all by herself. I keep wondering if I am too naive or if they keep forgetting that Kadir will be there for me to take care and see when things might go wrong.

Erdinç, once again thanks for the information 350ytl sounds like an amount of money that my parents could afford for my rent.

Once again, thanks everybody for their help. I found a suitable appartment. Well, Kadir found it it's on the first floor of his own building, which is the perfect situation!

It has two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom and two balconies with view over the Izmir-bay
It already has carpet and woodenfloors, the kitchen is quite new with oven and the doors and windows are safety-locked with iron-bars. The price is really good and my dad is now on his way to the bank to send the money for september's rent, the commission and the deposit.

I am very happy as it gives me the possibility to learn to live on my own, but I'll be close to Kadir, so I will never be really alone or helpless. My mum was very happy about the Siemens-oven, but the poor thing is that I don't know how to cook anything to put in it

Lots of work to be done, but at least I have a nice place to live, from the day that I get there

You sre very lucky, deli_kizin that your parents will pay for you during your stay in Turkey. i will go to Turkey to university for 5 months and I will have to pay for everything myslef. And only a student's hostel will cost 500YTL per month ( or 90$ if I choose state hostel with hot water once a week during the winter)...