Renting a house - pay upfront ?

I have been renting for the last 3 years a different home each year because home owners here clearly do not want to upkeep their property. I just moved out of an otherwise nice house but it leaked continuously and the walls has moisture throughout. Then the water pump broke and that was the last straw for me. The owner would not fix it. He told us how to get it working again which was only a bandaid. It worked for a few days then broke again. Homeowner ship here defies logic. I would never sign a two year lease it just isn't worth it.
 
I feel your frustration. But just like with all these review and ombudsman sites, the danger is that you only hear frustrations here. People who rent and are relatively content don’t feel the need to write about that in forums.

Many people who rent are somewhat gullible and are often blinded by the very spacious layout, fresh paint job and nice first impression.

If we want to generalize some more; I think you can blame the building quality and technical expertise here at least as much as the willingness of the home owner to have something fixed. Also, if something is ‘fixed’, it’s just a matter of the time till the problem will reoccur.

And it’s not only the older dwellings; if you look at new projects in Serpong, PIK or KG, you can already see the dark water stains in the high ceilings of the demo houses, but nobody seems to look up 🙄
 
Also, if something is ‘fixed’, it’s just a matter of the time till the problem will reoccur.
Fixing something here means 3 tries minimum. Most of the time closer to 10, if it ever works right again.
 
I feel your frustration. But just like with all these review and ombudsman sites, the danger is that you only hear frustrations here. People who rent and are relatively content don’t feel the need to write about that in forums.

Many people who rent are somewhat gullible and are often blinded by the very spacious layout, fresh paint job and nice first impression.

If we want to generalize some more; I think you can blame the building quality and technical expertise here at least as much as the willingness of the home owner to have something fixed. Also, if something is ‘fixed’, it’s just a matter of the time till the problem will reoccur.

And it’s not only the older dwellings; if you look at new projects in Serpong, PIK or KG, you can already see the dark water stains in the high ceilings of the demo houses, but nobody seems to look up 🙄
I will pipe up here. The owner of our house has been more than great. I offered to pay for an upgrade from 2200W to 4400W electrical service. He did it and paid for it saying that it only made sense in today's electrical demands. I had a couple concerns that they addressed prior to our moving in. One we discovered a small roof leak on a flat roof portion. Reported it and the next day there were 2 people on that part of the roof sealing everything.

We have a 2 year lease. Saved 3 juta a year from the single year price. We just renewed and expecting a big jump since we are settled in, what we got was no increase and them telling us they wished everyone kept up their properties like we do. They also asked if there was anything we needed. We didn't need anything. Not bad for a now 3 year old 140m2 house on 240m2 lot in a never flood area.

So, yes there are good owners.
 
Just chiming in as well that I've been renting for the past couple years and have had a good experience with both landlords. Currently renting yearly.

I wonder if going through a service like cicil sewa would give you more leverage to enforce rental contracts. They basically pay your yearly or 2-yearly rent upfront to the owner and you pay them a monthly rent. Of course, as a "lender" they charge extra.

That said, as a company with seemingly larger resources than both renter and land lord, they are in a better position to enforce the rental contract and advocate for the wronged party if the other party defaults on its obligations.
 
Just chiming in as well that I've been renting for the past couple years and have had a good experience with both landlords. Currently renting yearly.

I wonder if going through a service like cicil sewa would give you more leverage to enforce rental contracts. They basically pay your yearly or 2-yearly rent upfront to the owner and you pay them a monthly rent. Of course, as a "lender" they charge extra.

That said, as a company with seemingly larger resources than both renter and land lord, they are in a better position to enforce the rental contract and advocate for the wronged party if the other party defaults on its obligations.
Never heard of anything like that before. It sounds good on paper. I'm not renting any longer but if I were, it might be something worth checking into. Maybe something the OP should consider?
 
Hi All

we're gonna live in Bandung and we're looking for a house to rent. There are many offers at rumah.com, some are from owners, some are agents and some are agents who copy from another add.
What concerns me a bit is the fact, that a lot of add's want to have the rent for 2 years paid upfront. This can be easy 150 million IDR, which I personally don't want to pay, because of missing trust.
What happens, if the landlord sells the house and then you're kicked out? Or the owner and his pals start to nagging on you, terrorising till you leave?
How did you WNA's handle the renting of a house?
Thanks for Input
Paying house rent in Indonesia for two years in advance through contract is not uncommon. AFAIK it is the default among local people anywhere in Indonesia. Also be aware like other people said, normally the landlord will not want to upkeep their property, fix it when there is a problem with this two years contracts. They might do that with monthly rental. But this is the things what need to be taken into consideration when negotiating the price and making decision.

The other option is to do monthly rental which are is typical arrangement for apartments, condos, rooms, etc. but for this you will need to pay the price for monthly rental, which are typically much higher than 2 years contract.

Put yourself on their shoes. A person has a contract for two year but he only pays, say six months. After six months he finds a better accommodation and he just leaves quietly, or even worse, he moves to other cities, goes back his own countries, so hard to trace. In the meanwhile they have given you a special price for paying two years contract.

But I agree with other opinion, it could happen both ways, but the tenant imo is in the better position than the owner as he is currently occupying the house. The landlord will be crazy to sell the house without letting to know, the person who is currently occupying the house. The exception is they are so desperate, need the money.
 
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We had no problems with upkeep on our old rental house. Might take a few days, but not too difficult. Some leaks, and I think some cats were living in the crawl space, and died, perhaps a batch of kittens?

Our first very small apartment in Jakarta (22sm), was rented through a friend of my wife. We only stayed for a year, but again, no problems except for the electrical breaker going off if we used microwave, and having to call management to reset it.
 
This is an example from globalpropertyguide.
Lease periods typically vary from 1 to 3 years. The terms depend upon the bargaining skills of the tenant and the landlord. Tenants typically have an option to renew.
Typically the two years tenancy will be cheaper than one year tenancy. The longer the tenancy the cheaper they will be. Typically for local Indonesian people, when renting a house (not room or apartment) they will need to pay in advance for the whole duration of the contract. I do not know about contract with expats. Probably other expats would want to shed the light ?
 
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I would never pay more than 1 year ahead , and I have a good landlord who fixs problems quickly ,which as I understand with indonesian friends is quite rare .

The problem here is the junk construction standards , houses are in a constant state of reconstruction ,its unique in my experience, although I heard the Philippines is just as bad .

The housing issues here are tedious and boring , jeez if they can build decent cars and scoots ,what happened to the builders ?
 
I have been on both sides, both as a renter and landlord. So a few observations:

1. I would always opt for a 1-year lease if possible unless the 2-year price is significantly better, but maybe not even then.
2. I have never heard of a landlord "evicting" tenants by being difficult to them. However, fights between neighbors could become intolerable, or maybe a nightclub opens down the road from you and makes sleeping impossible. Then you will be glad you are only stuck with a 1-year contract.
3. Also tied to no 2: Noise issues are very common in Indonesia, and there is zero understanding of what is a reasonable noise level for a given time of day. So before you commit to a property visit it at multiple times of the day/week, including early hours of the morning if possible.
4. Most landlords do not do any maintenance. When I was renting, I pretty much accept that most maintenance will be done by me, and figure this in the price. The one time you can negotiate for maintenance is before signing the lease or extension.
5. That said, there are good, conscientious landlords too. You should get a feel from previous renters if possible, and inspect the property to check if maintenance is being done.
 
We negotiated a 5 year lease for a house in Jimbaran. The original owner died and the son had no interest whatsoever in maintenance. We agreed that minor issues we would fix and the period of our lease would be extended by the cost of those repairs. Meanwhile with, it would seem, no undercoat and perhaps just one slap over of paint the place is looking rather shabby. The underside of the roof has fallen out and we are now having to leave as the owner wants to renovate. We have agreed with an owner on a twin house just around the corner for a two year lease, payable in advance, with the price being about double what we paid in 2018. Owner has given us 3 months guarantee for maintenance and thereafter general maintenance up to us. Waiting for him to arrive from Jakarta.

As for quality of construction standards in Australia have declined especially with tower units. I suspect with so many cheap parts imported from China. Also perhaps greed is on the rise and contractors are more on the lookout these days for cutting corners.
 
I will pipe up here. The owner of our house has been more than great. I offered to pay for an upgrade from 2200W to 4400W electrical service. He did it and paid for it saying that it only made sense in today's electrical demands. I had a couple concerns that they addressed prior to our moving in. One we discovered a small roof leak on a flat roof portion. Reported it and the next day there were 2 people on that part of the roof sealing everything.

We have a 2 year lease. Saved 3 juta a year from the single year price. We just renewed and expecting a big jump since we are settled in, what we got was no increase and them telling us they wished everyone kept up their properties like we do. They also asked if there was anything we needed. We didn't need anything. Not bad for a now 3 year old 140m2 house on 240m2 lot in a never flood area.

So, yes there are good owners.
Any CCTV in place?
 
I feel your frustration. But just like with all these review and ombudsman sites, the danger is that you only hear frustrations here. People who rent and are relatively content don’t feel the need to write about that in forums.

Many people who rent are somewhat gullible and are often blinded by the very spacious layout, fresh paint job and nice first impression.

If we want to generalize some more; I think you can blame the building quality and technical expertise here at least as much as the willingness of the home owner to have something fixed. Also, if something is ‘fixed’, it’s just a matter of the time till the problem will reoccur.

And it’s not only the older dwellings; if you look at new projects in Serpong, PIK or KG, you can already see the dark water stains in the high ceilings of the demo houses, but nobody seems to look up 🙄
Yes, I agree .. I also just heard that so called "kanope's" are installed not just for shade, but for keeping the rain off the walls ..
 
Yes, I agree .. I also just heard that so called "kanope's" are installed not just for shade, but for keeping the rain off the walls ..
Those kanopi which are semi transparant and are made from PVC or acrylic will have to be replaced very fast, normally between 5 and 8 years they start cracking and will heavily leak.

They might keep the terrace and car dry but of course they don’t help with torrential and driving rain (slagregen). And that is often the problem; walls are only one brick thick and not really waterproof.

The biggest problem we have had btw, was with adjourning dwellings. Esp. if the house of the neighbors is empty for some time, the chances are very high that water will come in via that house. So check that when looking at houses.

And related to that; if the house next door is empty, they will probably renovate at some moment in time. And then you’re really screwed with a huge amount of noise for a year starting at 6 AM. Empty land can be even worse.
 
Those kanopi which are semi transparant and are made from PVC or acrylic will have to be replaced very fast, normally between 5 and 8 years they start cracking and will heavily leak.

They might keep the terrace and car dry but of course they don’t help with torrential and driving rain (slagregen). And that is often the problem; walls are only one brick thick and not really waterproof.

The biggest problem we have had btw, was with adjourning dwellings. Esp. if the house of the neighbors is empty for some time, the chances are very high that water will come in via that house. So check that when looking at houses.

And related to that; if the house next door is empty, they will probably renovate at some moment in time. And then you’re really screwed with a huge amount of noise for a year starting at 6 AM. Empty land can be even worse.
True, we bought a house in a so called perumahan. New homes, but almost everyone, renovates (that's the local termimology here: renovasi) immediately. And installing kanopi's around the homes. Talking about Cost of Ownership or ROI ...

Lot of noise all day, all year. And also neighbours who just like to be up all night outside on the street. Not to mention their dogs. That is why we rent now a appartement in the South of Jakarta. Advice to the OP. Look for appartment buildings not(!) saying "pet friendly".
 
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Never heard of anything like that before. It sounds good on paper. I'm not renting any longer but if I were, it might be something worth checking into. Maybe something the OP should consider?
The caveat is that since it is essentially a lending service, it might be restricted to foreigners.
 
Any CCTV in place?
Only the one I had installed. Owner installed gates at each end of the gang that are closed from sundown to sun up. Each neighbor has a key. Our home owner owns all the houses on the gang except 2. One was here when it was just farm land and an abandoned old mansion that has been empty except for the ghost for 10 or so years. Asking price, 2.5billion Rupiah. Takes up all but one house on that side of the gang. Maybe 1400 M2 with 2 story house that must be at least 800 to 900 M2. It's my view in front.
 
Only the one I had installed. Owner installed gates at each end of the gang that are closed from sundown to sun up. Each neighbor has a key. Our home owner owns all the houses on the gang except 2. One was here when it was just farm land and an abandoned old mansion that has been empty except for the ghost for 10 or so years. Asking price, 2.5billion Rupiah. Takes up all but one house on that side of the gang. Maybe 1400 M2 with 2 story house that must be at least 800 to 900 M2. It's my view in front.
Sounds like a nice place! Any recommendation for a CCTV: brand and type? Not Chinese.
 

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