Indonesian Property Ownership Options for Foreigners

[macvert]

Lucky you... mine bathroom door is half way rotten (in Cikarang) and I could not persuade our landlord to replace the door. He is immediately asking for higher rent ....

of course your other option is to pay for a new door yourself & then take it with you when you leave ...... I'm half serious,

 

[scouser59]

Lucky you... mine bathroom door is half way rotten (in Cikarang) and I could not persuade our landlord to replace the door. He is immediately asking for higher rent .... since he didn't do that our rent stayed mostly unchanged. He did placed some metal sheet on top of the damaged door. But now the bottom part of the metal sheet is not only rusty but also is gone. Guess no one told him it is not stainless steel or maybe he followed the lower price.

As for the second sentence: Good luck with your search... so far I haven't found one. I would suggest if you have time.... buy some land.... get a descend working crew who will build your house... buy your own materials. From my observations the weakest point in most houses build in Indonesia is roof. I won't go into such extravagant things like ventilation shaft with proper air circulation in the house to keep it cool and as dry as possible especially if you have neighbours on the left, right and on the back of your house sometimes with their roof is one or more floor(s) higher than your house. It is simply suffocating your "Feng shui" hahahaha

I have to say we have a good landlord , even the house is poor quality .

ya finding a decent house is not easy , iv thought about the building route , still searching the location , no mosques in earshot , a view , good clean groundwater , quiet , etc etc , we have shortlisted a couple of areas .

 

[Smallworld]

of course your other option is to pay for a new door yourself & then take it with you when you leave ...... I'm half serious,

Or I buy the door and he lowers the rent but nahhhhh he didn't want to go for that option.

 

[Smallworld]

I have to say we have a good landlord , even the house is poor quality .

ya finding a decent house is not easy , iv thought about the building route , still searching the location , no mosques in earshot , a view , good clean groundwater , quiet , etc etc , we have shortlisted a couple of areas .

I don't see any working place, business, close to in-laws on your shortlist which means you have countless possibilities. Seems the noise pollution is on the top of your list as you mention it twice.

 

[scouser59]

yap Indonesia for me is a unique Moslem country with mosques on every corner not my previous experience in other countries , except yemen sanaa where the din starts around 5.45 which is a more civilised , its tough in indonesia to find a quiet area . We operate now online mainly so internet is necessary of course, the inlaws ,ya a hygienic distance ha ha .

 

[Smallworld]

yap Indonesia for me is a unique Moslem country with mosques on every corner not my previous experience in other countries , except yemen sanaa where the din starts around 5.45 which is a more civilised , its tough in indonesia to find a quiet area . We operate now online mainly so internet is necessary of course, the inlaws ,ya a hygienic distance ha ha .

Having a nice working internet with decent speed is a luxury in Indonesia especially if you are looking for areas which are quiet. I don't know where your inlaws live or how far.... mine are just 500m down the road but it can take 45 min by car to get to their house (10 min in the best empty road scenario 6 am)... walking will take max 10-15 min. Sound absurd and somehow insane but that it is the true!

 

[scouser59]

Having a nice working internet with decent speed is a luxury in Indonesia especially if you are looking for areas which are quiet. I don't know where your inlaws live or how far.... mine are just 500m down the road but it can take 45 min by car to get to their house (10 min in the best empty road scenario 6 am)... walking will take max 10-15 min. Sound absurd and somehow insane but that it is the true!

your brave living so close to your inlaws ha ha, we are 1 hour by plane which is fine by me .
I for sure dont want to be stick in traffic .

 

[Gasp2016]

Hi Everyone,

I’d like to ask about a quite specific situation.
I’m WNA, and my wife is Indonesian. We have a prenup agreement, and I want to buy a land, that we’ll put under my wife’s name (so officially she will buy the land) and my wife will make a lease to me. My wife has 2 daughters (I’m not the father), and we have 1 daughter together.
We plan to go to a notaris with my wife to sign an agreement on what will happen for all situations that might arise: if we divorce, if I die, if she dies etc….
I wonder
1. If the law is stronger than the notaris act?
2. If anything happens to her, but she leased the land to me, does the lease keep running or I have 1 year to sell or change the name on the hak milik?

Looking forward to any useful information.
Thx

 

[dafluff]

Hi Everyone,

I’d like to ask about a quite specific situation.
I’m WNA, and my wife is Indonesian. We have a prenup agreement, and I want to buy a land, that we’ll put under my wife’s name (so officially she will buy the land) and my wife will make a lease to me. My wife has 2 daughters (I’m not the father), and we have 1 daughter together.
We plan to go to a notaris with my wife to sign an agreement on what will happen for all situations that might arise: if we divorce, if I die, if she dies etc….
I wonder
1. If the law is stronger than the notaris act?
2. If anything happens to her, but she leased the land to me, does the lease keep running or I have 1 year to sell or change the name on the hak milik?

Looking forward to any useful information.
Thx

1) You can't make agreements that are against the law, with or without Notary. Of course the law is "stronger".
2) If you inherit the land from her (in case she passes away for example), you have 1 year to sell the hak milik. You can keep the lease.

 

[Ruserious]

Sorry to jump into this thread but i posted a while back on the prenup / postnup thread and there has been no reply. If anyone has any update to the situation can you please revive that thread as I would really like to know (as did Anglian). No need to further highjack this thread - post on the other one - and sorry for intruding

 

[Anglian]

Sorry to jump into this thread but i posted a while back on the prenup / postnup thread and there has been no reply. If anyone has any update to the situation can you please revive that thread as I would really like to know (as did Anglian). No need to further highjack this thread - post on the other one - and sorry for intruding

I wondered too

 

[Gasp2016]

1) You can't make agreements that are against the law, with or without Notary. Of course the law is "stronger".
2) If you inherit the land from her (in case she passes away for example), you have 1 year to sell the hak milik. You can keep the lease.

Thank you Dafluff for your answer. I have 2 more questions.
So in the case my wife passes away:
1.and if I sell the hak milik within a year, does the buyer has to wait the end of the lease before he can benefit the land?
2. If I can’t sell the land within a year (which is very likely if the buyer must wait the end of the lease), what will happen? Will the land automatically go to the older daughter of the deceased?

 

[Davita]

Thank you Dafluff for your answer. I have 2 more questions.
So in the case my wife passes away:
1.and if I sell the hak milik within a year, does the buyer has to wait the end of the lease before he can benefit the land?
2. If I can’t sell the land within a year (which is very likely if the buyer must wait the end of the lease), what will happen? Will the land automatically go to the older daughter of the deceased?

It isn't mandated you have to 'sell' the Hak Milik title within a year ...you have to 'dispose' of it either to an WNI or the government...you can always gift it to a relative.

Brit friend of mine did that when he inherited from his WNI wife...he gifted to her sister with the proviso he can always stay in it when visiting Indonesia...so far he has only ever stayed in our place.
I think I'll charge him rent next visit...

 

[Burungkecil]

The recent update and stand from BPN (land agency) are that the decision of the MK for them is valid only for new cases. The old ones, who obtained "illegally" hak milik without prenup still have no legal ownership as they were under obligation to dispose it one year after getting the ownership, subject to seizing the property and putting it to a government auction if they did not do that.

Hi Centurion, where did you hear this? I'm curious to know how things are progressing.

 

[Gasp2016]

Thank you Davita for your answer (and sorry for the long inactivity).
If my wife by the land, make a lease to me, and if something happens to her: their heir will inherit the land?
What if their daughters are still minor (I heard you must be over 18 to own land)? they can't inherit the land? Who will then?
Also if you do as Davita mentioned (gift the land to a relative), this relative have every rights on it? Right to kick you out, and retrieve the land + house built on it right?

 

[Davita]

Thank you Davita for your answer (and sorry for the long inactivity).
1. If my wife by the land, make a lease to me, and if something happens to her: their heir will inherit the land?
2. What if their daughters are still minor (I heard you must be over 18 to own land)? they can't inherit the land? Who will then?
3. Also if you do as Davita mentioned (gift the land to a relative), this relative have every rights on it? Right to kick you out, and retrieve the land + house built on it right?

1. Correct.
2. A guardian will be appointed.
3. Correct, But this might be ameliorated by the wife drawing up a contract to decide how the property will be used.

btw The Prime Minister of Singapore is having this issue with his siblings as he wishes to honor his father Lee Kuan Yew...but the descendants disagree what to do with the property.

 

[Annet]

Nearly half a year in my new place and I've had mine patched twice already. Just never ends, does it?[/QUOTE

Hi! I'm new here!
I'm a Jakartan who just got back from living in Paris and now trying to settle down in Bali (bought land in 2011 Under niece's name).
I brought over a small Javanese house to Bali 2 years back and this year after 3 months in Bali I've had my repaired 4 times!!
Until ONE DAY a bamboo architect gave me a simple solution : Use PLASTIK TERPAL!

Done. No more leaks!

By the way I was shocked when I was told I couldn't buy land, my husband being French. Well I could have, but I would have to sell the land
within one year. Crazy. So I ended up buying the land Under my niece's name.
I didn't know of this postnup option. Interesting!
I was thinking of a 'hibah' (my niece gives me the land for free) but changed my mind when the notary asked for 27 million.
So for the time being I'm contenting myself to my niece's Lease, signed on Rp 6000 duty stamp. It's just a fake though, as there will be no transactions between myself and my niece.

Bu the way 2: the banjar, the head of my village wants to rent his land situated in Subilang, 25 minutes form Central Ubud. He took me there and it's magical. If anyone's interested in visiting the land, just holla.

 

[Davita]

Hi Annet and welcome to the forum and back to Bali...from La Belle Francais. You will appeal to our esteemed moderator Atlantis...he is also French.
My own recollection of Paris is it is so French that.... what in the world would an Indonesian girl feel like returning to Bali.
Please tell us your thoughts.

 

[Jaime C]

Firstly, don't rush into things. Rent for a year or two, make sure you like the area, the people and such.

We rented for almost 4 years, really liked the neighborhood, and luckily found a house for sale that we could afford. We spent about 6 months remodeling it.

Noise concerns (Mosques, traffic, dogs and kids) and annoying neighbors, are some of the things I'd be most concerned about.

A new mosque was built in our neighborhood a year or so after we moved in. When we lived in the middle of the block, the sound was moderate. When we moved to the almost corner, the sound was considerably louder, as not as many houses were blocking/absorbing the sound.

We had a more soundproof window installed for our bedroom, and incorporated a balcony into the bedroom, to keep the sound levels tolerable.

 

[Annet]

Hi and thanks Davita!

My thoughts as an Indonesian returning to Bali?

Well I'm not returning as I spent most of my time in Jakarta. Bali is like another country.

I dreaded leaving Paris but since I've been in Bali, I am surprised that I don't even think of Paris!

I think it's because even if I enjoyed Paris so much, I felt I was a mere Spectator: just constantly watching. Exhibitions, people, shops, parks, architecture. I watched but I didn't really DO.
Things are so complicated in Paris, even volunteering to cook for the poor at Christmas is complicated.

In Bali, everything is SO EASY (except the paperwork of course). You want a bamboo roof in the morning, you find a bamboo roof artisan in the afternoon. You want to find a singer, you find one in the street in Ubud and you're performing with him in a jam session the next day.

Because everything is so easy, plans to plant vegetables with the village people, plans to light the village with solar pannel lights and bamboo poles, plans to build clay temples instead of the ready-to-use concrete temples, , plans to shoot a documentary film bout my village, do not seem utopic but feasable.

All this, I find, is worth leaving Paris.