Quote from Ghost of Cutten:
Turkey has no real international trading community AFAIK. This alone would make me write it off as a destination, unless there were other compensating factors (e.g. you know people there). If you relocate, it's good to be able to share a workplace with other motivated trading professionals, it will help you improve your skills, and it also provides a ready network of friends and acquaintances.
What kind of prices were you seeing in Turkey? I would recommend NOT buying a home anywhere the first 3-4 years after emigrating, especially emigrating to somewhere outside the first world. The reason is that within 2-3 years there is a good chance you will hate being away from your home country, and if you just bought a place, then you can kiss goodbye to 10-20% of the property value in transactions costs (assuming you don't get rooked on resale because the agent/buyer realises you are a forced-selling expat about to return home). Further problems are that you will have to do maintenance and fix problems yourself, whereas if you pay rent, your landlord and agent are economically incentivised to keep things working (if not, you can just stop paying rent and move out, they can't enforce a lease on a non-citizen who leaves the country). You also become vulnerable to extortion, legal harrassment (frivolous lawsuits etc) or kidnap, since your name will be listed on the land registry and people will assume a foreigner is rich. In every 3rd world country on earth, you can hear stories of foreigners who got screwed by owning real estate. Owning property is inimical to rapid relocation, which is a key factor in being an expat and living in the 3rd/2nd world. Finally, and most importantly for a trader, buying property ties up capital which is better used in your business.
If you really want to own real estate, take a holiday to Miami or Vegas, and buy apartments in foreclosure, then rent them out at 10% yields. Then when your US tourist visa runs out, go to Turkey, Dubai, or whatever other place you choose, and rent there for 6-12 months while you get a feel for the place. But my advice is don't buy. Landlording is for people with steady incomes and lots of spare time, who are good at fixing problems and handling moaning tenants who trash the place periodically. What if you have tenant problems when the markets are going crazy? You will be totally fucked.
Living on that in London is close to a life in Pakistan, so to say (ok, dramatising).
