Bali Expat Forum - Bali Travel Forum

We are in the negotiation process of designing and building on land near Caangu, and have received concept plans from a Balinese architect. All very exciting. Our build budget is between $100-150,000Aus, which we have been assured by various people should make for a mighty fine house. We showed the plans to an Australian architect who offered the opinion that to build that in Perth you'd need $1.5mill. "That pool would be $120,000." A bit of an eye opener really.

Ahh yes, I remember those carefree days before I plunged myself into the dark machiavellian world of contract house construction in a foreign land (not Bali). Be very careful, inspect everything twice, don't make any assumptions and never ever rely on unsubstantiated written assurances from your builder. If I had to do it again, I would make sure I was on site every single day to check what was going on. There are undoubtedly people on this forum more qualified to give you advice on the vagaries of building in Bali than I. But one thing I am fairly sure of, you won't be getting a $1.5m house for $150,000.

Good luck.....

Very difficult to tell whether the cost being proposed is economic or not. I would suggest you retain a trusted local architect to act independently of your contractor and also act as your project manager if you cannot be here to monitor construction. This individual can then study the proposed costing and indicate whether it reflects local pricing. While there are good contractors here in bali - there are many tricks that can be played to cut corners which could lead to significant problems later on especially if u havent provided detailed and specific specifications to the contractor. If you need more information please pm me - and i can give u additional advice based upon my hands on experience building 2 villas,

Cheers Sam and canubee. We are taking everything very slowly, and definitely checking it twice. Expect to make some mistakes and get a few unexpected surprises, and have had them here in Australia too where we have managed sub-contractors in "owner built" houses. Nothing wrong with measuring and inspecting everything.

“Our build budget is between $100-150,000Aus, which we have been assured by various people should make for a mighty fine house.”

Without knowing more specifics....square meters of the building(s), number of baths, and materials just as a start, it is hard to comment, but, I can say that our current project, which was started five years ago in the end will be about double what I had initially planned. Everything now is about double what it was just a few years ago....viz...rebar, cement, roof tile, floor tile, plumbing fixtures, wood, alang alang....you name it. About the only thing that has remained relatively constant is the cost of labor.

Your budget is a healthy amount, but for a “mighty fine house” and with a pool? Well, that depends on how one defines a “mighty fine house” I guess.

The best advice I can give you is to not cut corners or skimp on materials. Always go for the best quality you can find. In Bali it is always best to over-build than to under-build. Good luck with your project.

Roy
WELCOME BACK we have all missed you

Canubee and Roy make good points, I finished a house 2 yrs ago. I believe the approx. cost was around 3.0 jta m2 after all was done. Again good management is a must!! Do your homework....Welcome back Roy!!

Nice to see you back, Roy!

Even though I'm basically lurking here (nothing much to add until the day I actually show up) I like seeing your posts and knowing that you're particpating.

Hope you manage to stay on....

It's not quite the same without your presence....


Cheers and bon courage,


Jonathan
Paris, Frogistan

Merci Jonathan....and all this time I thought Frogistan was in Texas!

I laughed out loud when I read your comment that everything is double now Roy. That has been a bit of a general experience with building that we've done anyway. Work out a budget and add 50%, then be prepared for surprises is a bit of a philosophy that we work on. But we are aware that with the booming economies of China and India resource prices have driven lots of things up.

be prepared for a lot of suprises and of course a fluxuation in emotions. Compared to most our building experience was amazing, very little hassle. Yet remember that we were very often on sight twice a day for hrs at a time and we were very concious of quality. the work that our two master carpenters completed really blew my m ind.. The two Kadaks(sp) have an amzing talent for finish carpentry.. Where I currently reside these two guys could make a fortune as opposed to there 6 dollars a day in Bali. Mind you I wouldnt envy there capitalist crazed, over starbucked way of life.. The hardest thing for my father and myself was wiring funds to Bali, safely and securely... My father is now building a barn to raise some cows, pigs, m aybe ducks..... I am returning to Bali in three weeks and have recently bought some more land adjacent to our current residence, rice pattie... Hope you have a happy building experience and always keep your guard up and proceed with the utmost caution and trepidation... cheers from British columbia Canada...

Thanks for your thoughts Mosaic. Will definitely take your advice, echoed by several others, and be on-site as much as possible. Why not? It will be very interesting to see the project happening, and we have the time.

being on site for us was a joy, yet opressively hot at times.. when building a home which you intend on calling your own for yrs to come , seeing the step by step processes is fascinating as well as satisfying. You mentioned you would spend 100 to 150 k aussie dollars.. I believe that is close to par with our Canadian dolllar.. I think you should be able to build a sprawling adobe... You are building in the south which may be more than in the north where we built. Wre spent a total of just over 50 k canadian. We were very pleased with this budget as where I live (west coast Canada) this would probbly get you a nice made over kitchen.... We built a two car garage with staff quarters/ storage in the rear. A stone parking area adjacent to a traditional gate. Maybe 200 metre of rock retaining wall. Our home came in at around 1800 sq ft, on two levels, two slash three bdrm, with two outdoor bathrooms. Exellent quality materials including loads of teak wood, coconut wood, tile, etc. A truly wonderful home for 50k, really exellent value and solid construction... cheers and happy building...

Got any pics mosaic?

I'm buying about 6 are in June and would to know what kind of house you've built for 50k Can.

mosaic wrote:where I live (west coast Canada) this would probbly get you a nice made over kitchen...

Hi mosaic - I'm in downtown YVR - just moving from Yaletown (sold) to Coal Harbour (to rent until we move to Bali) - you're right - $50k doesn't get much here - actually would only get us 2 parking spots... no wait... that would be $50k + GST

Cyrus

Yes Mosaic some photos would be great. In a previous post you set out the costs of building based on a house 6 x 7 meters. It seems to have quadrupled in size!