Rent long term, best advice

Penelope Corbett

Myself and my husband will be relocating from China to Bali in June. We will be there for a bare min of one year, more likely 5 years. We want at least three bedrooms and a pool and a well fenced section in Sanur / Denpasar. We are surfing online, but not sure of best way to rental shop. In Phuket we cruised the streets; way better than going online. In China totally opposite. We also want to know if we negotiate. Phuket wriggle room was pretty much non exisitent. even though they bartered on everything else!! China opposite again.... So any clues please!

Mark

Hi Penelope, welcome to the forum. The best way to rent a place is to be here on ground and look around. The online options tend to be overpriced and don't represent all that is available in the market. Prices for rentals tend to be negotiable. One piece of advice, make sure you have a proper, written rental agreement in Indonesian (with English translation), clearly delineating who is responsible for upkeep and repairs, and also make sure that the landlord is the actual owner of the property before you hand over any money. I know this sounds basic but you'd be surprised how dumb some people can become once they move to Indonesia, in terms of forgetting all the common sense they had before they arrived...

Penelope Corbett

Mark wroteHi Penelope, welcome to the forum. The best way to rent a place is to be here on ground and look around. The online options tend to be overpriced and don't represent all that is available in the market. Prices for rentals tend to be negotiable. One piece of advice, make sure you have a proper, written rental agreement in Indonesian (with English translation), clearly delineating who is responsible for upkeep and repairs, and also make sure that the landlord is the actual owner of the property before you hand over any money. I know this sounds basic but you'd be surprised how dumb some people can become once they move to Indonesia, in terms of forgetting all the common sense they had before they arrived...

Thank you. As per Phuket then! We shall feel very at home. We are like kids excited about Christmas right now, so keen to get out of China and back to island life.

ronb

Let me share an experience. We have an Ubud property - 3 bedroom and pool - and we prefer longer term rentals. We have found locally focussed Facebook groups work well. One such group is https://www.facebook.com/groups/1523008504577896/ . Also, rumah123.com is worth mastering.

Metter

We have recently rented a 3 bedroom house in Sanur. We don't actually move in till January but loved the place and rented with our hearts rather than head - just means we are paying for a year not being used, yep stupid I know. We have rented for 6 years to fix a price and have some security. The down side is we paid for the 6 years up front. We also paid for the notary to ensure the rental agreement was legitimate - As Mark suggests there are some scams (renting properties you don't actually own) and the notary checked all the IDs and arranged a translated agreement for me. As for negotiation - The owner cut he price whilst we were looking and then we offered a little less. The outcome was about 33% cheaper than advertised. It was a mid range price compared to others to start. Hope that's helpful. We decided to self furnish so we get what we want. We considered a few Au $ to furnish was worth it for 5 plus years. Our homestay owner recommended and took us to a furniture store which has hand made beds. We also looked independently and couldn't negotiate close to the price our Balinese friend achieved - The lesson here I think is to have a local negotiate for you if possible.

Balifrog

Metter, Not sure signing and paying in advance for 6 years is the best choice.... I am installed (retired) in Bali since october, 1 year contract fully paid, and actually living in it now, will allow me to see if my decision (Bali, Sanur, house..) is the right one. Personnally I can't see myself committing for 6 years in the same place. Specially not being 65 now.....

ronb

No problem with the 6 year lease. If you decide to move on after 3 years, you re-sell the remaining 3.

Metter

Balifrog wroteMetter, Not sure signing and paying in advance for 6 years is the best choice.... 1 year contract fully paid, and actually living in it now, will allow me to see if my decision (Bali, Sanur, house..) is the right one. Personnally I can't see myself committing for 6 years in the same place. Specially not being 65 now.....

Hi Balifrog, As I said, we went with our hearts rather than head. I am very familiar with the area but of course not the house. I will only be 50 and will lilley be spending 50% of my time away (either touring or working back in Australia). If I don't like it then I will look for someone else to take over the lease. Renting for a year would have been much more sensible, I agree.

Penelope Corbett

Penelope Corbett wrote

odd... my reply went straight under your message, i have no idea how i managed that!

Penelope Corbett

Metter wroteWe have recently rented a 3 bedroom house in Sanur. We don't actually move in till January but loved the place and rented with our hearts rather than head - just means we are paying for a year not being used, yep stupid I know. We have rented for 6 years to fix a price and have some security. The down side is we paid for the 6 years up front. We also paid for the notary to ensure the rental agreement was legitimate - As Mark suggests there are some scams (renting properties you don't actually own) and the notary checked all the IDs and arranged a translated agreement for me. As for negotiation - The owner cut he price whilst we were looking and then we offered a little less. The outcome was about 33% cheaper than advertised. It was a mid range price compared to others to start. Hope that's helpful. We decided to self furnish so we get what we want. We considered a few Au $ to furnish was worth it for 5 plus years. Our homestay owner recommended and took us to a furniture store which has hand made beds. We also looked independently and couldn't negotiate close to the price our Balinese friend achieved - The lesson here I think is to have a local negotiate for you if possible.[/Q Thanks! 6 years is bold; but good to hear there is negotiation space.