Thanks for the replies. Makes me wonder how much difference in price one would expect within the same area of Lovina. If the things mentioned as being important, water availability, views, proximity to roadways, social life and shopping are important, how much impact do they have on price?
For example, PSW mentioned a steep road in Kayuputih. For sure, the road in Kayuputih is eventually very steep and must be annoying using it every day. On the other hand the road up until Hotel Damai and for over a kilometre past is not steep and has great ocean views along it. I’ve walked this a few times to the coast and back taking not much more than thirty minutes of easy walking (five minutes on motor bike) – some guys jogged it one morning. Also had the chance to speak with a foreigner who had a villa along there and had put a bore down for water. I did mention that I’ heard water was an issue in the North - he seemed amused by this, although he had to outlay money for the bore was surprised that anyone would think this is an issue compared to what land prices were in the South!
Am I missing something here? Sure, if an average block of land was 100 juta/are but then another with water, on a flat block, good views and not far from shops/restaurants was, say 120juta/are, then this sounds like people don't know the value of their land!
Mangga, I have some more info for you and hope it's not 'overload'.
You seem to favour Jl. Damai and you have in fact walked it, ridden it and spoken to a resident. The man with the bore was a clear thinker as the cost of one is relatively cheap (it is so much a metre to dig the hole - maybe Rp150K per metre of depth - not a lot of money) then you add the pump (I paid 2jt 500rts for my new one 2.5 years ago and it's really good, a riser with a one-way valve and connect it to power. Then, depending on your land size, get the right flexible hose. I use 2 * 50 metre hoses coupled with a piece of PVC that the gardener can just pull apart to then only work with 1 * 50 metre hose. I'd be going back to the bore guy later to talk more about his bore and the things I just mentioned. Also, a bore pump will need routine cleaning because it really is sucking water out of a big hole in the dirt and it slowly clogs up with mud. After a while that hole settles down and the pumped water becomes more clear. I would not put it in a sw/pool but I know a developer who does and he says he has zero problems with that. But he is quite savvy with all these things.
You wrote "water availability, views, proximity to roadways, social life and shopping are important, how much impact do they have on price".
Yes these things will all impact price to a certain extent or, at least, they should. Water is a biggie. All you have to do is remember the last time you were at home and the mains were off and how did that feel. Views always command prices. You can get valley views up in the hills with probably a water glimpse in the distance. Or you can be right on the beach and get a flat view of the water all the time. There is a place called Mayong out to the south of Seririt. Good access roads. Valley views. And not 100jt per are. Proximity to roadways would be lower on the totem pole because it's not far anyway. It's the quality of the access that I'd be looking at. Whether it's 1km or 2.5km or 4km is really not a biggie, IMO. Social life I wouldn't think would come into the price of the land. But the safety of getting from your social life to your house is important and also for others to get to your house to have social life there. Shopping. This is important. Let's say you set up on Jl Damai with your views and access to Lovina, which is not a bad idea if you want that type of thing. But, you will be pretty much equidistant from the 2 * Hardy's stores in the North. You'd go down Jl. Damai to the traffic light. Turn left to Hardy's in Seririt. Turn right to Hardy's in Singaraja, which also has Carrefours. Pretty much the same distance either way. There are the Lovina markets but boy do they stink. The markets at Banjar (on the way to Seririt) are more nice. Both Seririt and Singaraja sell tools and machinery with Singaraja have a whole lot more choices over Seririt. One thing about 'shopping' in the North is knowing where to get what you want. That was the most difficult part about shopping here. Now I am OK and can speak the language for directions so you go to where you think they have what you want and if they don't they will direct you to where they think has it. Some things are impossible to get here such as the correct size lawnmower blades, believe it or not. I went through the whole hassle. You go to a store, some guy stands there, doesn't want to know you, you say lawn mower blades and nuts/bolts, he thuds some packs on the counter, you measure the length of the blade and how far from the middle of the bolt hole to the attachment end, realise it's all wrong and say wrong size. I even phoned around in the South but they don't want to sell spare parts, they want to sell you a whole new mower for 4jt. The blades I could get were really expensive (700K-plus) so I phoned a mower repair store in Darwin and she said 4 blades for your size incl nuts, washers and bolts, $17.50 - Rp175K. And they are perfect. This is just one of the things you go through here. You need to be a step ahead and you need exact specs because they will just sell you what they have and not give a rats.
I highly recommend you spend a lot of time looking at as many lands as you can and noticing all the things about them, such as the things you have mentioned. Make a list and tick off the attributes when you see them. Eventually,
you will be the expert on all this and then can make a valued decision/purchase. But if you ask can you get government water put on they will probably say yes. So you must ask where in the street is the water already, and go and look at the meter. If no meter(s) then no water so you might be waiting for years for water. The PDAM (water authority) meter needs to be outside and something to do with 6 metres, I was told.
One other important thing is to develop a set of useful contacts. Whilst they might not know everything you need to know they will have useful information. If you are socialising you will come across people who live here who will have useful info for you. Contacts are invaluable, even after several years.
If you ever want to come and see my set-up then that's quite OK. I know all about my property now (touch wood) and can explain in detail about things. For example, the electricity supply from PLN. Here, you pay a minimum per month for a normal metered supply whether you use it all or not. If you are running at, say, 7700VAC that attracts a certain minimum cost per month. 11000VAC is more expensive. Once you go over that minimum you start paying more and the price is higher for the KwH. So, if you use 10KwH at the beginning of the month it will be cheaper than the 10KwH at the end of the month, if you go over the minimum. Now, if you're not here all the time, you can get 'PraBayar' which translates to pre-paid. You buy a credit by way of a voucher and you use it. It does not expire every 30 days like some phone credits or pre-paid internet does. It depends on your situation. There's a lot to all this and it depends on how keen you are on 'cost management' as to how fine a point you will put on everything. Sw/pool management. Garden lighting power management. Staff management. The list goes on.
Best luck. Walk the walk. Talk the talk. Gather information.