Bali Villa: thoughts and experiences

Hi, thinking of moving to Bali for a change (semi retire) and buy couple of 2/3 bed villas to live & rent income (have a trusted Indonesian relative to use as freehold owner). I have 300k savings on hand and looking at villas within 100k-150k mark. Appreciate your share of similar experience and thoughts. Cheers.​

 

You know what they say about mixing business with family and friends.
Never ever do it.

 

okay point taken, will also consider leasehold if anyone had successful journey/experience on similar setup

 

Where in bali were you thinking?

We moved to bali a while back. We enjoy living here but it's not for everyone.

Personally I can't see $300k going far, nor providing much of a living.

Leasehold to me is a strange concept over here.

Blacky

 

Didn't Bayview do this back in 15?

 

Blacky - thinking of somewhere around north Kuta, Canggu or Seminyak, but also open for Jimbaran and the surroundings. Seen stocks of villa on sale within my range (100k-ish) and will still have leftover to invest on EFT or Indonesian "danareksa" for cashflow.
I can also do digital-nomad type of work on the side. How's your setup and lessons learned if you don't mind sharing? thx again

 

I'd just rent, then your not locked in, can't get burnt.

 

@ChrisM do a search in somersoft posts by Batam Guru.
He explained it very well about choices of structure when buying in Indonesia.

 

Thx a lot, sure will search that post.

 

@Blacky.

 

We decided to rent.
Personally for us 'that' side of the island has little appeal, however, from an investment perspective it may be better.

I dont like the uncertainty of investing in bali. Im not opposed to risk, however, I see far too much down side risk over here as far as the laws of ownership are concerned. However, I do know a lot of people who invest and do it successfully (noting that the internet is also filled with "I got burned" stories).

Be very careful working in bali if you do not have the correct visa (Kitas/Kitap). They are not gentle if you get caught.

I would strongly suggest spending a significant amount of time on the ground before investing or even taking a long term lease for that matter. There can be significant differences in value by moving very small distances (sometimes just one street will halve the value).

Life in bali CAN be very cheap. However there are a lot of hidden costs. Also as soon as you start living a 'western' lifestyle (and diet) it quickly becomes 'not-so-cheap'. If you need a visa an annual visa cost can vary between about $1,000 and $10,000. If I was single I could probably live fairly basic but comfortable enough lifestyle for about $15,000-20,000/yr. However added to that would have to be visas, health insurance (a must) etc. Which could add a decent chunk to your annual cost.
Rents are affordable, but note that it is standard practice to pay 100% of the lease cost upfront. So if you rent for 12months, you pay 12months upfront. Same if you lease for 3years.
If you have kids school is also very expensive for what you get.
Transport is cheap. We bought a scooter (second had for less than $1,000). And rent our little car ($350/month +fuel).

Black

 

Depending on how long you are planning to live there, a few things that you need to consider. The property market is not as liquid as the one in Australia if you decide to exit.

Reksadana usually don't give out dividend so you need to look for other avenue for cash flow.

My advise is to rent for a year or two while understanding the situation better to see if it's up to your expectation.

 

+1 on what @Blacky said

 

All to their own.
My issues are 1. Need to be around family and friends
2. I don't like the way they treat animals, so not for me.

MTR

 

Excellent sums up and lessons learned thx.. I'll have plenty of research to do and will definitely take up your advise on get-to-the-ground path before jump in long term. Will also get kitas before doing any remote-job.

 

agree, everyone path is different.
My wife's Indonesian (from Jakarta) and living in Bali is kinda 50/50 distance for us both, we both fell in love with the people & place (been there so many times).
Not sure which animal mistreated referred there (you may think of Thailand elephant ride?)

 

Ahh, well, that can change things significantly. Your wife is able to own land/property outright. Also she is likely to have a much better understanding of the law, and I presume she can read/right Indonesian (Bahasa).
Noting that you cannot own the land, nor gain any permanent residency there. So there remains some risk.

Black