Thread: Do you pay a full years rent up front?

Hi

I am new to this forum - well have done a lot of reading around but this is my first post...

My husband and I are moving to Bali at the start of next year for a change of scene and better quality of life. We've visited Bali several times, got engaged and married on gili trawangan and all up spent around 6 months in indonesia so have a little idea of what it could be like to live there.

Ever since I first visited over 10 years ago it has been a dream of mine to one day live there and finally, we're going to do it! :D

We're currently doing our budget and my question is regarding renting a property for the long term ie a year. Are you required to pay the full amount up front, or do you pay it monthly?

thanks

Becky

yep, most require you to pay up front

scroll through the archives to read the ups and downs asociated with this.

handing over 10g or more up front in a country where you as a visitor have no legal rights leaves you open to manipulation by those who know how to work the system, so get everything you are unsure of in writing.

Hi

Thanks for all your advice - will be sure to have all the paperwork sorted!

Out of curiosity, I know in Bali the price of most things is open to negotiation - so regarding the asking price on the rent for a property, how flexible is the price? Is there a general % the price is inflated because the owner expects you to try and negotiate it down?

Also I was wondering how the rental market was in Bali given the current economic climate?

After looking on this forum I found a number of cafe noticeboards recc for checking for rental properties - Globe Cafe, Global Xtreme, Cafe Moka, Krakatoa Cafe. Are there any others I should know about?

Aslo recc was to drive around the area you want to stay and look for contract signs up on houses then call the numbers and get the information and prices. Also ask in any warung or kiosk as they often know places locally available for rent - any other house hunting tips?

Thanks again

Becky

bintang supermarket also has a noticeboard out the front, usually isnt as good as the rest but ok. Warung Italia also does.

Be careful of agents and hangers on who merely go around checking these boards and the Bali advertiser and offer things you can usually find yourself. You will find when things go wrong with your rental place, they are nowhere in sight.

Unfortunately in my 6 years living in Bali, I experienced the grey area of of few of these things.

If i had Gilberts immense wisdom and thorough working knowledge of the Indonesian legal system, and his knowledge of how and easy and clear cut all things legal here are, i might have avoided this and many other of the ups and downs ive experienced here. :)

:lol: just to make clear, I have no great knowledge of the legal-system. Immense wisdom... and Immense is a relative term, so what for you might be considered immense, for me is just common sense. :)

yes, but you are a lot smarter than most, so what us mere mortals struggle with is pretty easy for you.

However and this is just personal experience from the short time I live here on Bali...it's not that important WHAT one knows, but WHO one knows.

Well im not a firearms expert giving lessons to Kopassus or TNI in my spare time, so probably dont have the friends you do. One minute you blab about how you have plenty of rights here, the next you come up with this pearl. And only days earlier how you had to bribe (oops, pay an expediting fee!) PLN to have power connected to your house.

btw, that's the same in the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, USA, so probably all around the world it's like that.
Back to Bali... There are so many expats who don't interact with the local people ( don't know if you're one of those), that they hardly have friends amongst them, and therefor stay a visitor who might be taking advantage of.

OK Gilbert, no, in my years working from Sumatra, Java, and Maluku, and West Papua , ive never had to interact with local people. Nor in my travels to far flung isles where they dont even speak Bahasa.

Having friends like I do, sure helps me in getting what I want, either for myself (for example local rates on a golfcourse :wink: )or helping another friend getting what he/she needs.

Arent we giving advice to someone who is new to Bali looking for a place to live. Theyre not gonna be a wise or connected as you are here.....
By the way, arent you on a Kitas? This automatically gets you discount at the golf course , you dont need "connnections" for that if your a Kitas holder.

Anyways, It is sad you have went through some downs, but hey you also had some ups, so I hope that balanced it out.

Thanks for the compassion buddy, but this thread was about giving someone advice on finding a new place, not buffing ego.

Friendly greetings......Gilbert.

Ram it up your khyber GI- Joe, go teach the TNI how to shoot (in your spare time of course), so they can continue their great work. Ill be sure and ask my old friends and once time personal security (Balinese, who were Brimob stationed in Ambon/Seram to protect us during the 2 years i worked there) about what training they or TNI recieve from Bules. This doesnt include hanging out down at the nearest barracks and buying the bintangs.

ps: still would like to hear from you how someone can be manipulated, or why a visitor has no rights?

go through the old threads on renting places.

one example of manipulation includes having to wait for weeks and weeks on end in order to get power hooked up to your new premises, until you are forced to pull nearly a grand out of your back pocket to get the job done.? another might be not being told about possible tax implications before handing over your 2 years up front, and then being sprung with it later. (i know i know, its all my fault, it would never have happened to you).

A visitor might have no rights when driving a car down the street and having a local come out of a side street and smash into you on a bike, ending up in hospital and asking you to pay the bill. Your refusal could create some issues for you, talk to your TNI buddies about how they can make money in their spare time.

theres just a few.

and yes Gilbert, the ups outweigh the downs. If they didnt I wouldnt be here.