What's up with renting here?

[Tex Avery]

Why does every landlord want a year's rent upfront? Or 6 months and a deposit.

I dont even know anyone with that kind of cash lying around.

And these arent usually cheap places either 7jt++ a month for a studio or 1 bedroom.

Is it just the culture here or is it greed?

 

[nd_eric_77]

It is partly because without a system of credit checks, they need to know that the tenant is trustworthy to pay the full lease amount. I used to live in a rented house that required two full years rent in advance (plus 10 jt deposit). My school at the time would only pay one year at a time, so I ended up fronting the whole second year myself. The only reason I agreed to it was because it was a fully furnished beautiful house in a location that was a 12 minute bike ride from school and right in the middle of Puri Indah (West Jakarta), and the rent was way below market rate for the area.
Now that we have moved to Tangerang, there are houses in our neighborhood that rent for only 30 jt per year for 3 (very small) br / 1.5 bath.

 

[Tex Avery]

That makes a lot of sense about the credit checks. 2 full years is quite excessive though.

I managed to bypass all that with my current place and got it month to month with a 1 month deposit.

That sounds great but the landlord INSISTS on taking the rent a few days early and gets mad and threatens to evict if I'm 'late' (aka on time) haha.

It's one of these fancy condo towers in Jakarta so maybe that's why.

I'm only putting up with it because Jakarta has such good nightlife and friendly girls and my IT contract isnt up yet.

But as far as I'm concerned renting in America or even neighboring SEA countries is easier.

 

[snpark]

Refuse to pay then or ask for 10% discount

It's a renters market
Most blocks / towers are half empty these days

A smart landlord would be happy to have any tenant right now
Just walk away. I can assure you there are dozens more beautiful bigger cheaper apartments
My ex neighbour used to have to pay annually for a smaller dirtier never refurbished apartment and he was even paying 3jt a month for it than me

He couldn't believe mine was 50% bigger and 18months just fully refurbished and I was paying monthly and paying less also! No wonder he moved to Bali

 

[R Cameron]

Paying a whole year up front is very normal here, and totally acceptable to me, although I'm not in Jakarta and only considering houses well under 100jt per year. If you are likely to stay longer, it puts them in a better negotiating position for extensions, so they may ask for a 10, 20 or even 50% increase for a second year. If you have negotiated to a price you're happy with (I agree with @snpark, it's a renters market), you can lock that price in for as many years as you are willing to prepay.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

I've paid 3 years up front in the past, because then they cannot increase the rent annually, which otherwise they will try to do.

 

[Hawk256]

Paying 1 to 2 years rent up front seemed odd to me when I first came here. I have lived in several different countries and this is only one where this seems to be the standard. I currently pay 2 years in advance on my current house to keep the negotiating edge so to say. The last renewal they wanted to increase the rate and I refused. Told them I would just move. They decided they would rather have the money. It seems counter-intuitive at first but I have come to like the arrangement more than month to month. Granted, I don't have any plans to go anywhere soon. Otherwise I might want a quicker out. Best of luck to you.

 

[Puspawarna]

It used to be much worse, at least for the Jakarta expat market. Between 1993 and 2016, I moved among six addresses in Menteng, Kebayoran Baru, Pondok Indah, and Pejaten Barat. I don't know that I've seen it all, but I've seen an awful lot. There were times when landlords were asking for five years payment in advance on houses renting for $3500/month - nice places, to be sure, but not absurdly palatial. Landlords just shrugged when we said "no way!" as they were confident some well-heeled expat from one of the oil & gas companies would gladly acquiesce.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

Yes - when the oil company expats largely left the country a few years ago some of those landlords suddenly had a lot of empty property on their hands. Even more than 200 properties in some cases. I notice one of them now advertises on this site .. so I guess the situation is not in any way improving for them.

 

[Tex Avery]

Yeah I can't wait until the market crashes and all these fat cat landlords are eating dog food. This guy is still throwing a fit. I might just put up 3 months rent to shut him up or go to Bali.

I think outside of the women and nightlife, I dont really like this country. The food is ok but the people are so fake and it's very expensive to live here (Jakarta). And immigration is a byzantine maze to navigate.

 

[snpark]

Bye then.

Food is amazing, people are wonderful, 98% of my friends here are local, and immigration perfectly simple if you are here working legally, even with the Corona situation, no problem renewing KITAS or B211

 

[Tex Avery]

Bye then.

Food is amazing, people are wonderful, 98% of my friends here are local, and immigration perfectly simple if you are here working legally, even with the Corona situation, no problem renewing KITAS or B211

It's just my opinion man. No need to be upset about it. I'll give it some time and see what happens.

 

[Balifrog]

Bye then.

Food is amazing, people are wonderful, 98% of my friends here are local, and immigration perfectly simple if you are here working legally, even with the Corona situation, no problem renewing KITAS or B211

Mmmm, I wouldn't call the local food "amazing" (except in the humoristic way..)

People are nice, at least the 2 parts I know, Bali and some jungle village South of Banyuwangi.
I can't see why anybody would like to live in Jakarta, except if obliged for professional reasons ?
People are fake ? Well, this is Asia...... It's all about appearance, so don't always believe / trust what you see. Same in all Asia.
Imigration is pretty efficient from my experience, and visa requirements sure less a hassle than in Thailand for example !
Women and nightlife ? Let me laugh .... Way better places in Asia for that. Bangkok, HCMC, HKG....

But all in I am pretty happy with my (pensioners) life here. Now if I was 35 or 40, I would probably be bored with it already ....

 

[dafluff]

Why does every landlord want a year's rent upfront? Or 6 months and a deposit.

I dont even know anyone with that kind of cash lying around.

And these arent usually cheap places either 7jt++ a month for a studio or 1 bedroom.

Is it just the culture here or is it greed?

Whatever you do, make sure you are given the correct change!

Why dont Indos give back change?

Not sure if they cant count or they're trying to rip me off. But it's usually at family mart or indomaret or my laundromat and so on. Always skimming and then shrugging shoulders when I mention it. If it were once or twice then maybe. But it happens quite a bit and I have to stand firm before...

www.expatindo.org

 

[Hawk256]

Not to ruffle anyone's feathers but if you think the women and nightlife are great in Indonesia, you must not have traveled much. Might I suggest Thailand, Vietnam or even Cambodia if you are adventurous.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

Well currently the nightlife is non-existent everywhere. But we can remember how things were, and hope they return one day.

 

[Tex Avery]

Well currently the nightlife is non-existent everywhere. But we can remember how things were, and hope they return one day.

Yeah the psbb thing halted most of the action.

 

[waarmstrong]

A people with fake demeanors, coupled with a high cost of living and byzantine civil servant class -- for a minute there I thought you were describing Texas.

 

[nd_eric_77]

Cost of living is highly dependent on location. Where I live, a cozy neighborhood complex in Tangerang near the DKI Jakarta border is quite reasonable. It is a 40 minute bicycle ride to my school in West Jakarta, and our complex has a lively WhatsApp group where people sell tasty food at cheap prices with free delivery. In my experience, the immigration process ebbs and flows, with more or less complexity depending on the combination of the local kanIm and the national one. As for nightlife, I have been married for 17 years, so it is sort of a non-issue.

 

[Liang Luar]

Why does every landlord want a year's rent upfront? Or 6 months and a deposit.

I dont even know anyone with that kind of cash lying around.

And these arent usually cheap places either 7jt++ a month for a studio or 1 bedroom.

Is it just the culture here or is it greed?

Everyone seems to be in places like Jakarta or Bali. I am on Flores. I think the explanation is that many years ago a basic house was just dirt cheap. In 2009 I rented a substantial home for 8 juta per year, and paying 16 juta for two years was no burden for the security of knowing we had that place for at least two years. Rent has gone up in recent years, as one would expect. Landlords are slow in changing the yearly payment to shorter terms. In a sense it is fair. You get a house to yourself for a year, they get an amount that they can do something with. Had we been paying monthly on the property mentioned, the owner would be getting 666 ribu a month, and he lived in another town before bank transfers made things potentially easier. 70-odd dollars soon goes. Then "kost" became more common, pokey little places charging per month.