Is it possible!! The million dollar question...

be very careful , room rates are dropping except in ubud , on the south of the island there is an oversupply  of hotels and villas , many people try to do what you are thinking, it is a financial minefield , and as you said you have no financial reserves if it goes wrong,, which it has for many ,so be careful.

Depending on your needs and age , you might consider renting which can be really inexpensive if you have modest lifestyle, in the south of bali you can find a reasonable house with or without furniture for 2 to 3 thousand $ rent a year .

Anyway good luck

Many thx for the honesty i kind of expected this but am always a dreamer. i'm not out to make money but to enjoy the time i have young enough to  enjoy it and try not to loose what i've made so far...

thx for the speedy retort .

Personally I would not sell my house in the UK and invest $150,000 (Rp2 miliar) in a 25 year lease in Bali. Consider how much your UK property will be worth in 25 years from now. Consider also that in 25 years the house in Bali is going to be in very bad condition, and if it is already old, then probably well before then. Also, 25 years is a long time should things not work out. I don't know if you will recoup your initial investment, but with maintaining your property in Bali perhaps not. Also, even if you did, then 25 years later you will have $150,000 in hand whereas your current UK property might be worth double or triple it's current value. So I would consider it as a bad move.

I think you are right to consider leaving England, seems like ordinary folk are getting shot, stabbed, run over every day according to the news, but if you want to move to Bali or other parts of Indonesia or Asia then I would plan a backup such as getting a TEFL certificate such as the CELTA or think about doing business in Asia to make your fortune.

There are basically three ways to get rich, you run your own business, you invest in properties or someone snuffs it and leaves a fortune to you, but don't rely on this last one.

Economics being economics, as you might imagine those properties which will yield the greatest rental income are also those same properties which cost the most.

To be honest, $150K isn’t sufficient to lease a rental producing property of any significant income.  Moreover, foreigners using their leased property on Bali to produce rental income are required to register as a business, be licensed and pay taxes.

HI,
Thanks for your reply, i understand you say the UK residents might be worth more in the future, however, the profit made  would only be spent on the inflation  buying a place somewhere else, so how much would i really make? i'm sure i would always find some place cheaper to make the pound stretch but why should i wait 20 yrs or so to do it, its not the money i want but the life style and hopefully health benefits of living in such places. I had the idea originally because you always have to come back to your base to repair or fill in the gaps when you cant rent, i was hoping that the vacation rental would permit me to save enough so that at least when i had to return to the dwelling i would be returning to namely ,Bali, instead of sunny England hahahah.. I admit i can definitely agree on your point of England though...its shaping up to really not be a nice place to stay.. i admit its probably not the wisest of financially sound ideas that's for sure, but i had hoped that i could grab some info to see if its even possible to break even. I would even look at it as paying a premium to live in  a better place whilst saving enough for the return ticket some place else... i'll move to India when i'm 60...

thx for your reply i admit you have some very valid points and i think the idea is a bit crazy but then at 41 waiting 25 yrs to retire and do the same thing seems insane to ! hahahahahaha.....
Many thx

Clear and to the point thank you! i had considered the economics of it all but had every finger and toe crossed any how..

thx

Also bear in mind the property market here has fallen and I believe has a long way to go , so now would not be a good time to buy, further to this the rupiah is on the brink also ,waiting for us interest rate to rise , Think hard my friend before you do anything hasty

Don't give up on your ideas to leave the UK whatever you do. I left the UK when I was 21 yrs old, after graduating from University. I worked in various jobs overseas and studied some languages, then at 34 years old I set up a garment export company/buying office in Hong Kong and bought two apartments there. That was almost 25 years ago and I have bought lots of other properties in other places and done lots of other businesses since then.

My point being that it's good to travel and live or work overseas because opportunities come along that you would never get back home. But whatever you do, aim to work for yourself and invest carefully in property, that's my advice. Selling up in the UK to buy a 25 years lease in Bali I feel is too risky. I'd prefer to keep the UK property and try to get established in Asia. That way at least you get the lifestyle and you can move forward from there.

Anyway, seems many of us have different viewpoints, but one thing for sure is that most of us are living the lifestyle out here in Asia.

Okydoky I would like to offer contrarian advice, that might not be welcome in some quarters.

I'd say that you are a few years late with this plan, and that the real estate market in Bali has metastasized to a grotesque degree. Swindles and sharp practices are profuse, it's next to impossible to know whom to trust, and a crash is certainly coming.

In terms of leaving Olde Blighty and settling in this part of the world I can certainly understand and applaud your intention. The choice of south Bali tends to be problematic unless you like living in a choked, polluted, noisy and expensive environment, nature increasingly crowded out by tourist hucksterism, encountering roving bands of drunken Australians and sunburnt Germans.

Now the rush is on to Lombok. But that's a very different situation, keynoted by the fact that the local governing bodies are seriously considering implementing shariah tourism. Bali has energetically rejected this as both alien to its culture and off-putting to its core tourist trade. But there is a Muslim majority on Lombok, and some are quite radical.

Lombok is also being developed very rapidly and unless you are on the ground there and have your contacts it is probably too late to make a smart investment.

Be aware that your "Indonesian partner" is both absolutely vital to any enterprise here and potentially the most perilous aspect as well. People fall out, lose interest, become involved with someone else or get sick and die. Families intervene to try and change the relationship. Enterprising civil servants are always dropping by to see whether there's some tiny rule you are not fulfilling so they can shake you down. Only a very astute and loyal Indonesian partner can handle all the situations you will encounter (maintenance, taxes, unwanted visitors, criminals, suppliers, community relations and so on). Many sad stories here of broken marriages where the aggrieved wife whisks off with everything, particularly land titles (since foreigners cannot own land).

My advice is to come and live here awhile with 50% of your money in a sound currency (the Norwegian krone is one of the few I'd trust - the US dollar will soon be toast), 25% available to invest in promising stocks (gold mining is going to be very hot before long - there are other good opportunities in the stock market as well), and 25% for running expenses, potential medical emergencies etc.

Be aware that the visa situation can be quite tricky - PARTICULARLY in Bali where Immigration sees folks like you as a gold mine. Most countries have competent, reliable immigration lawyers - Indonesia only has "agents" and they are often incompetent or crooked.

The longer you live here the smoother it will become. If you are set on Bali (and I love Bali as well, in part because I am officially a Hindu) I'd seriously consider the north coast. You do not have all the horrendous problems associated with the south: traffic, crime, pollution, exorbitant prices for everything etc. There is also the element of "foreigner fatigue" where too many tourists pass through, in Kuta, Sanur, Ubud etc.

I do hope a few of these notions will be useful for you in your planning. In any case I'd be extremely wary of jumping into any real estate investment at this point. Good luck.

That's right have to really carefully before. You jump to far .why only Bali I guess other places also have more cheaper and better

Yes I think so too. I prefer to live in Bandung than Bali, but Bali is nice for a quick getaway in the low season when it is less crowded but I wouldn't want to live there. It is too much a tourist hotspot.

“It is too much a tourist hotspot.”

For those who spend all their time in southern Bali…and miss the real Bali…I agree 100%.  There is no argument that most all of southern Bali has lost its Balinese identity.  In many of those southern areas one can easily imagine themselves being in any highly popular resort destination in the world.

But southern Bali is hardly representative of Bali as a whole.  In the western, northern and eastern parts of Bali there are plenty of areas which maintain the same purity and essence of Bali that first drew tourists to our island in the early 20th century. 

As for other areas of Indonesia having greater attraction than Bali for business development, or simply a wonderful place to live…Indonesia is abundant with these opportunities.  Lombok is still one of those places, but heading further east will yield even greater opportunities…the southern shore of Flores as just one example. 

However there are unique challenges and even more potential pitfalls to consider when taking the “pioneer” approach and thinking about investing in these more remote areas.  These challenges and potential pitfalls all involve one thing…the lack of experience dealing with foreigners in those areas.  While the investment will be considerably less, the risks are potentially much greater.

Byron, pursuant to your post, we are more in agreement than disagreement.

For the past 17 years that Bali has been my permanent home there have been calls of an imminent crash every two or three years.  And indeed, there have been periods of adjustments, stabilizing, and re-evaluation, but one simple fact remains…an are of land “purchased” or leased long term in virtually any part of Bali  some years ago is worth considerable multiples today over what it was worth some years ago.   

From the position of long term held assets, the simple fact is that real estate in Bali is blue chip…well proven by the numbers and past performance. 

The reason of course is simple economics, supply and demand.  Demand continues to increase, and this demand comes from all parts of the world.  Someone’s economic loss in one part of the world is someone else’s gain in another part of the world, thus we have seen interest in Bali investments go from one group (European/western) to other groups, (Asian) and within subsets of those larger entities. 

Of course this demand in the future is entirely contingent on Bali remaining an attractive and desired destination.  Thus far, Bali has not only been able to maintain its attractiveness, but clearly has increased it as evidenced by ever increasing numbers of tourists each year, as well as incoming expatriates. 

Your advice to anyone considering any part of Indonesia as a place to live or grow a business is excellent…come here and live here for a while and learn.  I’ve been saying the same thing for many years.  The lessons learned from an “apprenticeship” are invaluable and utterly essential.

As you well know, judging by your posts (current and past), Indonesia is an excellent environment for a fool to be parted from his money.  And, as you also note, behind those wonderful friendly smiles, nefarious intentions sometimes lurk. 

I think if you and I had to come up with one slogan to define our advice to newcomers it would be, “one step at a time” and keep your head clear.

Cheers, Roy

Good to hear your input, Roy. Yes indeed, the precipitous rise in Bali land prices is astonishing. One of my ex-bosses contracted a piece of land near Lake Bedegul for 20 years and laid out a billion for it.

Entrusting your investment with your Indonesian partner is, I continue to stress, the single greatest challenge an expat faces, and since we can only hold title to "Strata Title" units it is a major consideration. I have been considering taking up citizenship here for some time, having lived in the country since 1988, but the rise of fundamentalist fervor has dissuaded me somewhat. I also know westerners who have discovered how awkward and inconvenient it is to travel abroad with an Indonesian passport, against an Australian, European, Canadian or American one.

Hope you are doing well in Ubud. My friends in Candidasa complain that while the rest of the island seems to have gotten refreshing rains it is still quite dry in their region.

All of Bali is currently way short of the normal rainfall expected by this time.  We’ve had some, but not the normal (and well needed) amounts.  The weather gurus say it’s coming…so in the meantime we wait.

As for the “rise of fundamentalist fervor” that you mention, no doubt one’s opinion about that would be based on where in Indonesia they live.  Here where I live none of us give that much of a second thought.

Cheers, Roy