I have a home in Istanbul and I bought in 1992. I live on the Asian side and the commute to Ataturk is a bitch. You might want to look on the European side which is closer to the airport. You would enjoy living in Turkey. They people are nice, the traffic horrific (hence the commute to the airport), the weather not so bad. IST is one of the "hot spots" for vacation according to travel magazines. Plenty of culture, great food, plenty of pleasure activities and you can fly to Antolya or Izmir for $25. I keep a bank account in Turkey and I drew 9.5% interest. It is now 7.5% and I have no plans of moving my money. Enjoy your time there. It is a great ride and stay onthe pony as long as you can. It will be worth it. Oh, and don't worry about taxes. They are quite low for expats.