Back on track

"I am now back on track after a tough week involving house moving, preparations for a meeting and ordinary office duties.

This week i will be writing the last two parts of "moving your house in Istanbul" series.

I have found Lost Symbol somewhere online so hopefully i will be reading that as well."

I started writing this draft on Monday and now it is Thursday. Sorry to keep all of you waiting but  i am officially back now.

By the way i still do not have any internet at home. It is simply crazy.

Tips for moving your house in Istanbul - Part II - Estate Agent

1- Most of the real estate agents are really not that smart. They stuck with an idea that buyer will con them somehow and deal with the house owner. It happens most of the time i guess, however when real estate guy is more careful than yourself, you feel unsafe and the idea of a fraud comes to your mind easily.

2- You need to pay some percentage. Officialy it is 3% for the buyer and 3% for the seller. If you buy a house for 100k then you pay 3 and the house owner pays 3 as well to the agent. But in times of crisis this is debatable. Most of the real estate agents are ok with 2 or 1,5 percent.

3- It is very important for a real estate agent to look trustworthy, however there are not so many trusthworthy types around.

4- A new house needs some new appliances. The real estate agent is the only one that can help you around with the plumber, electrician etc. He gets a share from these costs for sure but as he is not so smart he does not offer a whole maintanance pack for my house. And when gives the price piece by piece i can easily understand his "smart" way of earning some more money. He loses the job and my trust.

5- If i was an estate agent i would have created a group of neighbour technicians and get the best price from them. Then I would create packages for the potential buyers and renters. In the end i would have offered the packages with a sensible pricing policy.

6- The estate agent deals with your bureucratic duties as well. At some point the money shall be transferred. If the house owner is impatient he asks for cash. But walking in Istanbul with 100k is pretty dangerous. How you solve it? You go to your bank, ask for a delayed cheque, when everybody signs the papers then the money is released by the bank. However bank sometimes like to keep the money to itself for more than 3 days. Like our case.

7- No house is perfect. There surely is a minor problem in it. If you like to avoid it you go and buy the house, if you can't you look for another one. Don't listen estate agent bullshitting about the house, you probably know it much better.

8- Do not try to solve the paper duty by yourself. You may end up with no money and no house in the end.

9- Try to make the estate agent feel he fooled you, then he stops being stupid and act like a normal person.

10- There is some bribery going on in estate business, the estate agent deals with it as well. The cost of total paper duty is around 2000 TL.

Tips for moving your house in Istanbul - Part 1 - The Bank

1- Don't move if you have the chance.

2- I mean it. It is a tough and dirty road moving to a new place. If you buy the place it is even worse. Let's start with the bank issues.

Not in Istanbul and not my house

3- Your dream house is on sale and you decide to buy it. You apply for the mortgage and you wait for a week to get the confirmation for a 10 year debt.

4- The papers you need to sign are amazing. I signed around 40 pages of paper that is written in favour of the bank. The bank can chop my head off if they want. I mean it.

5- You may think that the interest rate is constant however it is changing in some extreme conditions. It writes some where in the 40 pages you sign. Try to bargain for the expenses you will paying for the credit you are borrowing.

6- The bank will ask you for a life and house insurance. They will rob you once again when they are selling you both. The disaster insurance is needed and it is also cheap. But the health insurance is pretty expensive.

7- The bank makes you feel that it is doing you a favour. But you will pay them for 10 years and when you miss a month they have the right to take your house.

8- After signing 40 pages, the bank has the right to say this; "Sorry we get your signature on wrong papers. Please come again tomorrow for the new set of signatures." If i do something wrong they make me pay it, when they do wrong it's only one "sorry". Sorry seemst to be the easiest word for banks.

9- İş Bankası in Beyoğlu, the one near Odakule is located in an old building and you need to chech its elevators if you have the chance. I have not seen such an elevator for almost 10 years. It is renewed some time in 80s and has a retro look.

İş bankası - Beyoğlu

10- The woman that dealt with our account was a funny one, i tasked her whether she loved her job or not, she told her hate with a big smile on her face.

11- Going back to tips, İş Bankası is one of the merciful banks in the market. Do not fall for Garanti's big ad campaigns. They are simply terrible.

So i spent around 1600 TL for the costs of mortgage, 450 a year for life insurance, 80 for disaster insurance. The money borrowed is 85000 TL and i will be paying 1260 per month for 10 years. I was already paying 1000 to rent so a fair deal for me.

In the next part; What is the deal with the house owner and real estate agent?

5 Educational Startups to Watch

According to Fast Company September 2009 Issue;

2Tor Inc.

EduFire

Grockit

Inigral

Knewton

are the starups to watch in online education programs. The magazine has 6 pages dedicated to this topic and it is a great article to read.

Facebook-like educational sharing sites will be more popular in the upcoming years replacing traditional educational systems.

Guardiola attends Coldplay concert

I have once read in Aceto blog that Barcelona was listening to Coldplay in the team bus. I am not sure whether it was under Rijkaard or Guardiola. Anyway;

According to this blog Barcelona boss Josep Guardiola rccently went to Coldplay concert in Barcelona and just before the concert he was greeted by the viewers with standing ovation.

He was also seen singing along Fix You during the concert.

It will be a tough year for Guardiola as Barcelona is not that hungry for success this year. They will probably lose some games due to lack of concentration.