Nicky Dawson scrambled to the top of the ridge and gazed down the mountainside to the choppy, spume-flecked Mediterranean. “It’s exactly like Spain was 10 years ago,” she panted. At first sight, it was hard not to agree. Chalk-white homes covered with bougainvillea tumbled down the hill, one on top of the other, like discarded children’s building blocks. Lines of washing stretched from crumbling balcony to crumbling balcony. There was not a single golf course or tower block in sight.

But Dawson was not in Spain and she was not talking about the view. She was discussing cash. Dawson, from Boston in Lincolnshire, believes that she has found a place that will become the new Costa del Sol and, disappointingly for the inhabitants of Bodrum, in western Turkey, she might be right. “Bodrum is like the Spanish market used to be. It’s a free-for-all investors’ paradise,” she said.

There may be no kids’ menus, crayzee golf, shopping malls or “English spoken” signs adorning Robin Hood pubs yet, but Bodrum is about to find out what it is like to catch the beady eye of one of Spain’s most aggressive British-owned estate agents. Property agents and developers on the Costa del Concrete, who have been searching for “the new Marbella” because prices in southern Spain have slumped and a recent spate of mis-selling scandals has dented investor confidence, believe they have found their salvation in Turkey.

Ocean Estates, which claims to “undisputedly sell more property than any other agency on the southern coast of Spain” contacted me promising “amazing investment opportunities” in Bodrum. So I went to the harbour town, an hour’s flight southwest of Istanbul, to see if it had the makings of a new Marbella and to find out whether the company had exported its Spanish practices to Turkey.

Flying into Bodrum airport, it was clear the peninsula had all the attributes that first drew buyers to southern Spain. Unspoilt forest-clad mountains sweep down to the sea. Deserted coves, beaches and marinas line the shore. The roads are wide and empty. Most people speak English and, like Marbella, made famous by the Spanish royal family, the Istanbul in-crowd regularly visits Bodrum, earning it the nickname “Turkey’s St Tropez”.

A small army of property agents was waiting in the airport arrivals hall to welcome bargain-hungry buyers. Murat Arman, Ocean Estates’ local representative, wasted no time in telling me that prices in Bodrum were rising “by 30%” a year, but could go up by as much as 100%. Any local property investments I made would be virtually risk-free. Ocean Estates would also help me rent out my property for up to £350 a week.

Local estate agents who have worked in the area for years, such as Victoria Williams of Propa Homes, say promises of a 100% return are unrealistic, but rental values for a modern two-bed apartment can reach £350 a week in peak season.

Arman took me to meet Dawson, who markets properties for Artev, a local developer, across the Bodrum peninsula. When asked last week about the relationship between Ocean Estates and local developers, the company’s lawyers said: “Ocean does not market properties, but rather introduces potential purchasers to the developers.”

Dawson gave me a sales pitch about Bodrum “having everything to offer” before saying that it was like Spain a decade ago. What she meant, she said, was that it was the kind of place where buyers and sellers could exploit a laissez-faire culture for their own benefit. “This is a ‘whatever you want to do’ place.”

To illustrate her point, she told me that she did not have a work permit, which, under Turkish law, Britons working in Turkey require, and that she was paid in cash. “Nobody bothers with annoying regulations,” Dawson said.

She and Arman drove me to Lakeside Garden, where 180 whitewashed apartment blocks and villas are being built near a planned 18-hole golf course complex. Most of the new homes around Bodrum, which range from two-bed apartments at £60,000 to detached villas with a pool at £180,000, are built on gated developments.

Sitting on a rock, pointing out all the plots, Arman and Dawson listed the ways I could manipulate the buying and rental process to maximise my gains. “Opening a Turkish bank account is very easy,” Arman said. He claimed that regulations were often overlooked, in particular the law that says foreigners must have a Turkish tax number to open a bank account. “Some banks say it is not necessary, some banks say it is necessary. You go to the bank and you give a Turkish address and you open an account. It’s very easy.” The Turkish embassy in London, however, confirmed that foreigners need a Turkish tax number to open an account.

Arman also claimed that “millions of dollars” could be deposited in cash, and “nobody asks you” where the funds have come from. “It’s very easy in Turkey. If you have black money, it doesn’t matter,” said Arman. “You could come with the trailer and put the money (in).” In fact, under Turkey’s anti-money-laundering laws, foreigners who bring in large sums of cash must explain why they are importing it and show that it comes from a “clean” source.

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