How a Foreigner can Own/ Buy Property in Indonesia [Per 14 April 2016]

I sometimes wonder, are we talking about the same Bali?   

And have no worries about Ubud.  It is the cultural heart of Bali, and it will remain as such well after you and I, and most likely our kids too, are well gone from this earth.

The move, direction, resolve of local village banjars and the people of Bali is insurmountable.  But of course, one would really have to know the Balinese to understand and appreciate that. 

What happened in the south of Bali (and Jimbaran and the Bukit are part of southern Bali) has served as a giant wake up call for the rest of Bali. 

A suggestion to casual readers of this forum…get to know the poster.   

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My Interview with Expat.com:  https://www.expat.com/en/interview/292_roy-in-bali.html

Some of my Writings on Bali:  http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/deec0/

Having said all that, if I had to live in either Bali or Jakarta then mostly likely I would still choose Bali.

for sure i would never live in jakarta  surabaya or many other cities/towns  in java , me and my missus have been having a good "nose around" over the past few years in java , unfortunately for our requirements there have been a lot of crosses on the map , we have found one area which may suit but it still needs more investigation.
bali after 8 years is getting tedious , the traffic , development etc etc and im sure in the south there will be water problems , maybe starting this year ,after a minimal rainy season . no water no life ! .

I also crossed off Medan, Padang, Jogjakarta and BSD off my list of places to live in Indonesia. Quite difficult to find a place not too quiet and not too busy or not too dangerous (tsunamis, volcanic eruptions etc). Right now I couldn't imagine living anywhere else in this country than where I am now.

ya its a tough one to find " the good location" and of course we all have a different dream  .

Foreign men who take Indonesian wives, one day, sooner or later, need to reconcile the fact that for Indonesians, family and ancestors matter most. 

We have a number of friends in mixed marriages here in Bali where the Indonesian wife isn’t Balinese.  Eventually, and for each of those couples, the wife ends up spending more and more time back in Java (or wherever) with family.  Inevitably, most of those couples end up moving back to Java, or to whatever province the Indonesian wife is from.   

Family is a huge bond here…something that seems to have gotten lost in many areas of the West.

Where you live usually gets forced upon you by your needs.
The big cash is in Jakarta, a place I would avoid living in unless I had no real choice.
I'm still considering a move to Purwokerto (or somewhere like it).
The area is free from the terrible traffic jams, but has easy transport to the cities if needed, and reasonable local shopping. It also has a reasonably well off population (So my possible future English course would stand a reasonable chance of making a little cash).
It strikes me, if I live in a big city, I have to work a lot harder, just to pay the rent, so I'd be tempted to go for less cash, but a lot less to pay out.

However, imagine if I fancied that in Bali, but rents on a ruko were forced up by daft expats who were conned by greedy estate agents, so making it impossible for me to run a business.
If I couldn't afford to rent, the locals wouldn't be able to rent or buy, so would have to leave.

I'm sticking with "Indonesia tidak dijual" in general, but would make exceptions for small groups of people who have ties and/or commitments to Indonesia.

My advise for everyone, anyone is to buy property when you can, and when you can afford it as a long term investment.

I have seen the rise of property prices from the 1980s, stockmarket average returns and bonds. Nothing beats property in performance.

I give an example.
If Inflation at worst roughly devalues your currency money to 25% its value in 20 years time.

When taking into consideration, stockmarket average returns in 1980s is around 11 to 18 percent average returns per year. Even if the stockmarket index performs 900 percent increase from then till now - nothing still beats property.
By average, if a property increase at least 10 percent every year in value.
An urban property in Jakarta Indonesia in the 1980, valued by the government on official paper NJOP at 25 million and now in 2016 is 18 billion. How many times explosion is that?

By common sense property in average doubled in value every 5 to 8 years internationally. This happen without fail.
Sometimes, it skips a beat. And it took 1 to 3 years to double in price.

So those who do not leverage and buy property now, will lose out. They will always lose out everytime. Those who dispute this fact, and dont believe it - have not owned properties significantly.
Property is scarce in supply, you cannot build property out of existing areas that are already cannot be supplied.
Of course, in all things, buy good property. And not junk property/bonds/stocks.
Dont over-leverage yourself too much on debt too. That wont go pretty if the economy crashing.

I know people who bought out properties in China, whole apartments.
And also in Australia, before turning 40, owners of hundreds of properties at a young age.

In comparison, Indonesia is still really cheap. Those who are living in Indonesia should buy.

Great advice as always. In the long run you cannot go wrong with property and it really is affordable in Indonesia compared to most other countries in Asia. I wish I had hundreds of properties....

"Those who are living in Indonesia should buy."

Agree, but not in Indonesia, where that's impossible except for Indonesian citizens.  A Hak Pakai lease fine...but never a Hak Milik. 

Indonesia, tidak di jual!   

Indonesian land is not for foreign investment...so say the vast majority of Indonesians.

Hak pakai does not mean ownership in anyway...it is a lease...and cannot be rented..no foreigner can own land house...u must be an Indonesian citizen..that.s where a pre-nup comes into it.even if yer married..

don.t know where u would find a 5 or 10 mill Rp home...5 or ten k.AUD.

sorry thats 500 dollars or 1.ooo.....

i still think the price of real estate is way out of control...so many people selln up..and it.s hard to sell.their just greedy.

bundy2 wrote:

Hak pakai does not mean ownership in anyway...it is a lease...and cannot be rented..no foreigner can own land house...u must be an Indonesian citizen..that.s where a pre-nup comes into it.even if yer married..

Or a post nup now.

"i still think the price of real estate is way out of control...so many people selln up..and it.s hard to sell.their just greedy."

Yes!  I can certainly understand your point of view...but you would likely be very surprised with the levels of money that real estate in Bali changes hand...Balinese to Balinese.  And please keep in mind that Bali to non Balinese Indonesian buyers is yet another price level. 

As trite as it might sound, I could say, "Bali...they ain't making it anymore."   My point is obvious...the appeal of Bali grows and grows each year.  And within that reality is the perhaps more important issue...that being the ability for the Balinese to continue to hold what they have the most right to hold. 

Location, location, location...the guiding principle of real estate...period.