In Reply to: Yes....of course posted by Rhonda on Tuesday, 17. March 2015 at 13:31 Bali Time:
Rhonda is absolutely correct,anything here to do with property is a minefield.I have built and rented out villas here for a few years now and although the initial rental yields appear attractive much of that pot of gold is only a mirage.First word of advice is only buy leasehold property,at least your name alone is on the lease so you maintain some control.Never use a nominee to buy so called "freehold" land.It will only end in tears (yours)somewhere down the track.
Assuming you only get mildly screwed by your builder you will then have many ongoing costs constantly coming out of your rental income (taxes,management fees,banjar fees,staff costs etc) but the big ongoing expense is maintenance.Building here is around 30% of the cost compared to Australia but everything only lasts about 30% as long as Australia.The big percentage of villas are pretty shoddily built by western standards so you will constantly be replacing fairly big ticket items like air conditioners,water pumps,pool pumps and anything else electrical.Water penetration is a big probem because most villas have at least part of their roofs made fom flat concrete with inadequate or no waterproofing.
I suggest if your so called friends are pushing you to invest in Bali offer to take them in as partners.You will be looking for them under rocks within a matter of minutes.If they already own property here pick their brains before the Bintang kicks in.