Singing Pig

Hi all

I thought my experiences with Midas might be of some interest to this thread which is about whether to invest or not.  Whilst I am certainly not telling you it is risk free, and would advise you to make sure you are completely happy with the terms and security etc I can tell you that I invested and I own a 4 bed villa on their Sunset Village development in Yalikavak. 

This was Midas's first build in Turkey as I understand it and it is to be the "flag ship" for them as they move forward.  I was one of the first to invest with them, and like many of the investors in this thread was interested in the various funding options on offer.  Whilst I did not take up the cash-back or guarateed interest routes, I did invest by negotiating a price much below the market rates, paying for my propert in full up-front, therefore helping to fund their build costs.  This was a cheaper option for them than to borrow from Turkish banks etc.  Whilst this was a big risk for me I did my homework which included visiting Midas' offices and the key people, researching them and as you are, looking through the web at the various chat rooms and forums.

This was back in October 2005 and whilst the build was somewhat delayed, I took delivery (as it where) of my property in April of last year and have visited on numerous occasions since.  Phase 2 of the build has just started and they hope to have the development fully completed later this year.

Whilst there have been a few glitches, there has been nothing too material that has doubted their integrity and the quality of the property is as they said it would be and I have no reservations about the investment that I made.

The original tie up of Barfa-Sim was a partership of kind between Ian Simpson and a construction company in Bodrum called Barfa.  I visited some of the Barfa sites when I was making my decision and was suitably impressed, however, as I understand it, when the build on Sunset started, Ian was not happy with the quality that Barfa where working to and decided to part company with a new builder coming in - that's why the Barfa part of the business is no longer and that is how Midas came about.  I don;t know much more about the detail, nor am I that interested.

I now have a villa that is as described, to the specification on the original plans and in my view superior to a lot of the other developments on the Bodrum Penninsular.  Midas have delivered what they said they would and I am very pleased with the outcome and am looking forward to the build being fully completed.  It will be a development that in my opinion is second to none.

Their website has a lot of pictures of the build progress and the quality that they build to.  I have also provided a testimonial that is on the site along with other owner.

 I hope this helps 

 Pat 

Mitico67.  The credit crunch has made the cost of funding higher, but I think Midas were providing this product before the credit crunch really started to bite.  I think the real reason they constructed this product is that it can be tricky and expensive to raise capital in some of the markets that they operate.

Pat Brown.  You say you “Took delivery of your property in April of last year” yet you go on to say you are “looking forward to the build being fully completed.”  Is your property complete?  Is development property is in complete?

Has anyone got there capital back yet ie had the 4 quarterly payments and received there money back. I am currently awaiting my first payment for quarter one in May but wanted to hear from anyone who had successfully used them.

Thanks

I expect Pat Brown means 'looking forward to the rest of the development being fully complete - he was phase 1 and says they are now doing phase 2.

I too would be interested to know if any Midas investors in the 25% deal have been through the whole process i.e. received 4 x quarterly interest payments AND their money back at the end.  I have spoken to Midas (in particular David Southwell, a director) several times and he seems honest and straightforward and I haven't seen any particularly negative feedback about Midas, but it would be interesting to hear from successful investors.

David Southwell said to me that they can afford to pay 25% on a small proportion of their finance because it would be difficult for them to raise loans initially in countries such as Marrakech.  They then offer discounts for up front payments on properties  and the cash from these is used to further finance the development and minimise overall finance costs. They value the land used as security for the 25% loans every 6 months. 

Gavin

As Bryan says, I was part of the phase 1, which has been completed at Sunset village.  Phase 1 consists of 11 or so villas and a few appartments, the main communual pool and the pool bar. Phase 2 has started now and that is what I was referring to being completed.

Pat

Thanks Pat.

Has anyone completed their 12 months with Midas and had their stake back?

Looks as though Midas have problem with their 25% loans and other loan style investments.  They are saying that these products may need to be regulated by the FSA and are holding back all interest payments, etc on the grounds that they are not allowed to make them until they have clarified the position.

I'm not sure if this is genuine, or whether Midas are in trouble cash-flow wise following a drying up of investors due to the credit crunch and are stalling for time.  I'm trying to find out more and will update if I find out anything.

Bryan,

Thanks for the update. Very interesting. I was close to placing some funds into this deal, decided to put my money elsewhere, but have recently contemplated looking at this again and as such have been keeping a very close eye on this thread.

Any further news that you find out would be greatly appreciated.

 Jason