Canny investors will tell you that the skill is knowing when to put your money into an opportunity. Who would not have bought into Tuscany or St Tropez 20 years ago if they had had the knowledge and the funds? But many people thinking about a holiday home are not hard-nosed investors but ordinary folk with some resources, looking to improve their lives, perhaps make a small return on their property and anxious not to make a mistake. Turkey has been immensely popular for all the right reasons for a second home.

But it has hit the news headlines over the past few weeks more for its impending health crisis than for its continued economic growth. The Avian Flu virus H5N1 strain has shown signs of becoming endemic and people fear it could spread further. Yet the truth is that this is still one of the best regions with a long summer season, superb scenery, amazing history and some very attractive and attractively priced properties in serene locations. Indeed, Turkey is often described as the last of the affordable paradises

Think twice before changing your mind about investing in Turkey because of recent events and the related media exposure that followed. This problem will resolve given a little time. As with every potential (and actual) epidemic in history, bird flu will eventually lose its power, certainly by the time any property you could buy today has been built. And, if you wait until all this concern is history, you will find that so have many other people and price inflation might make your purchase more difficult or its market appreciation less. Bright investors bought into Tuscany and St Tropez when many of the properties were basic farmhouses, or fishermen