Real Estate Inspection

Today I am inspecting a small boutique hotel that's for sale for IDR 1,500,000,000 or less than AUS$200,000. It has an owner's residence and four guest villas. I've done some preliminary sums and figured out that it could show a 3% return on the guest villas while still giving us a free residence in Bali.

If you are thinking of buying real estate in Bali, be careful! There are almost as many house, land property and business share scams in Bali as there are money scams. Non-Indonesians can not own land or property in Bali. It must be held in the name of a local and that leaves the foreigner at the mercy of lawyers and courts. Not a bright prospect in this country. Land can be leased but the longest period (and very rare) is 50 years. At the end of the lease you own neither the land nor any improvements you have put on it, eg a house. Similarly your position is risky if you want to buy shares in a Bali business (which might or might not involve property). It can be very difficult to find out if the person offering you a share is really the owner, and great faith can not be put in any official-looking documents you might be shown.

At least get the services of a recommended notary and/or lawyer as noted above, but be sure that they are recommended as an INDEPENDENT person in the possible transaction, certainly not one recommended by the seller. A particular level of notary, known as a ‘PPAT’ must be used for property matters. Kurnia at the Bali Immigration and Advisory Service in Jl Batu Belig in Seminyak is a notary. There are many with street-front shops who are reliable but for overseas travellers finding one with your language skills might be a problem. One who has been recommended strongly and who has good English skills and an honest reputation, is Made Puryatama, home ph (0361) 422 948, office ph (+) 226 782, fax (+) 232 620.

A useful contact in Bali if you're thinking of business opportunities is 'Dadvet' at dowdvet@aol.com. He says he has learnt of all the pitfalls the hard way and is willing to share his experiences. For a fee, no doubt, in order to recover all the money he's lost trying to do business in Bali!

Lovely Lovina

This morning I'm getting onto the Perama bus which will take me to Lovina Beach where I've booked myself into the Villa Agung Beach Inn for the next three days. Their website isn't the most inspiring - and I've already told the owners Sandy and Gus that I'll give them a hand to get it "up to speed"! - but I heard lots of good things about the place.

P.S. at mid-morning

Have just found out that there is only ONE bus to Lovina and it's leaving at 10 o'clock.  Sorry, Harris Tuban and all your friendly staff but I can't take advantage of your liberal check-out time!  Instead, I am scrambling to pack my little bag (wet swimtrucks and all) and be ready when my taxi-driver friend Suyasa picks me up at 9 o'clock to take me to the bus-stop.  It's four hours to Lovina via Ubud.  Will try and report more from lovely Lovina! (internet connection permitting)

First morning in Bali

The Harris Hotel has a very generous check-out: 12 o'clock noon.  Plenty of time for a long and leisurely swim (or two) in the pool - temperature 32 degrees! - and a sumptous breakfast (it's all included in the one low price) - anybody for rice and spicey curry, followed by lots and lots of tropical fruit and French patisseries? - and a short taxi-ride to the Discovery Shopping Mall to pick up a book from Periplus which I had ordered before I left Australia.  An ever-keen real estate agent, Eugene from Lovina, phoned me last night as he's got lots to show me.  Will check out the transport to North Bali and leave around lunchtime.  Goodbye, Harris Tuban; hello Agung Villas Lovina!  I don't know what the internet connection will be like in Lovina but probably a lot, lot slower than here in Tuban.  I have already checked myself back into Harris Tuban for my last night in Bali from the 19th to the 20th, and also confirmed Padma's booking for the 14th of June.  Beats me why anybody would want to holiday in Australia when they can get so much more for so much less here!!!

P.S. Padma, at Darwin airport I bought a croc-hat for "The Professor" and a cute wine-red tee-short for "Miss Surabaya 2025" - see http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/timmy.html and http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/time.html .

After my first night in Bali...

First impression: everybody is smiling!  That bleak-looking and scruffy lot of Australians aboard the Airbus A320-200 (seating capacity 177 - and full up!) had already made me reflect on whether I would ever want to run a small hotel in Bali and have any of that lot as my guests.  I really delight in seeing all those smiling Indonesian faces!  Young Harry (everybody seems young here!), the driver from Harris Hotel, was right at the head of the queue, waiting for me at the airport after I'd been whisked through Immigration and Customs in record-time (it does pay to have an honest, if ageing, face!)  My 30-day visa cost me Rps 300,000 (or I would have paid $30 in US currency).  Walked along a whole string of currency exchange counters all offering the same rate of Rps 7,600 to the AUS$.  Changed AUS$200.  The drive from the airport was all over in a couple of minutes, that's how close the hotel is.  They had upgraded me to a poolside suite at no extra cost (which was sweet of them!) and it's lovely, too!  Went straight for a swim.  The water felt like velvet.  Did three laps before the girl who brought me my welcome-drink, apologetically and with a big smile, pointed to a sign that stated that the pool was closed for "chemical upgrade".  Nothing to die from but I did smell a bit like Chemical Charlie as I sat down for a spicey meal in the open-air restaurant before turning in for the day at 11 o'clock Bali Time (that's already 2 o'clock next morning Nelligen Time and I had been on the go since 5 o'clock that previous morning.)  Woke up, seemingly refreshed, five hours later at 4 o'clock, made myself a cup of black tea and sat down to write these notes.  An hour later, the nearby mosque started to call the faithful to prayer.  I' am praying for another beautiful day in Paradise as I head north to Lovina!  And top-marks to Harris Hotel in Tuban:  great place, great service, great people!