Advice on Bandung area

Bandung is cooler so a popular weekend getaway for Jakarta's people (in normal times). It's a medium size city with a lot of facilities, but not exactly the cheapest place in Indonesia. I'll expand when I'm on a computer later
Specifically Bandung, or are other places open to consideration?

Also. The getting married part. Any specific lady in mind or on the hunt?
The vast majority of ladies here are good news, but every country had gold diggers.

Happy to declare I am definitely "not on the hunt!"

I am starting to explore options. I have been to Jakarta several times, visited Ubud last year and Bandung earlier this year. I tend to lean toward Bandung become of the cooler climate and because of its proximity to Jakarta but noting at this point is cast in stone...

Hi there,

I have been living in Bandung for many years and wouldn't choose to live anywhere else in Indonesia. I also had the choice of living in other places but Bandung is definitely the nicest place. It's the 3rd or 4th biggest city in Indonesia but still has a sort of town rather than city feel to it. It's surrounded by beautiful scenery and the food and shopping here are great.

What kind of budget do you have? And have you decided on which part of Bandung you'd like to live in? Many of my expat friends here are living in Dago and Lembang although we choose to live more downtown.

We also rent out our houses so work with some good property agents in case you need contacts. Also, note that rents are more negotiable at the moment due to Coronavirus and that if you rent a place for longer terms then landlords often give a substantial discount. However, you probably know already that you usually need to pay the full term of the contract up front when renting long term places.

I would consider anything around Rp30 - 40 million per year as being fairly inexpensive and a little difficult to find much cheaper unless you are prepared to live far from the city where you can find larger and cheaper places. A nicer place in the city will cost around Rp50 - 70 million but of course you can always try to negotiate.

A couple of our houses have water wells so we don't pay water bills, but in anycase, water bills are never expensive. For cooking and drinking water we just buy Aqua gallons and gas replacement bottles and that is cheap. Electricity is kind of expensive for us, usually around Rp1.5 million per month, but if you only use fans or only use air-conditioners at night then your bill should be much cheaper.

Yes you are right about Bandung's close proximity to Jakarta. And that will become even more so when the fast rail project is completed. People already are preferring to travel by train to use the airport in Jakarta for domestic flights rather than the new airport here, and that will increase once the fast train is up and running. There also is not yet a fast way to get from Bandung City to the new domestic airport so people just don't use it much.

For Bandung's climate, yes it's really fantastic to open the front door in the morning and feel temperatures of around 60 - 63 deg F and to get a fresh breeze in the house.

Anyway, if you have any other queries then feel free to ask.

Rents in Bandung are pretty stupidly priced, the housing markets seemingly driven by greed and stupidity over the last few years to the point where many people simply can't afford either to rent or buy.
This is a problem all over Java, but anywhere even close to Jakarta generally suffers the worst, as does South Bali.
If budget is a greater consideration, you might want to consider other towns. My place is rented, but at roughly a quarter of what I would have paid for a similar house in Jakarta, Bogor, or Bandung.

This simple google search will give you an idea of what you're facing

LINK

The situation regarding property prices in Bandung doesn't differ all that much from other places. There are people living here from all walks of life and they all need somewhere to live, including the very poor to the very rich, and importantly, everything in between. So that is why you can find low priced houses for rent all the way to very expensive both here and in most other places. Afterall, Bandung is not a city where only the rich live. There are people who rent with budgets of Rp10 million, Rp20 million and all the way up to hundreds of millions per year.

Think about young couples with a combined income of Rp15 million or Rp20 million or Rp30 million, what would they be renting? So long as you are not seeking a very luxury property then you can probably always find somewhere within your budget. It's just a matter of searching. Doing that by car or on motorbike is a good way to search.

Certain areas are less expensive than others. Some might be further from the city and some might be in a very "local" area where few expats live. Searching on local websites such as rumah123.com can give you a good idea of what the prices are like, but they don't always list the less expensive properties. That's why it is good to search around yourself and look for the "Disewa" signs on the front of houses in areas that you prefer to live.

Another thing you could consider is to rent a "pavilion". This is a small place, often part of a house that has a separate entrance, a bit like a studio. It may have a bedroom, small kitchen and simple toilet/shower. These usually rent out monthly but for say a yearly contract you might get a better price. We rented one out for Rp2.3 million per month inclusive of free WiFi and water. Places like this could be useful if you need time to search around more for the ideal home since there is no obligation to sign a long term Agreement. However, pavilions tend to rent out quickly.