Investing in Bali, with the numbers from 200 real villas.
Almost everything written about investing in Bali comes from a report or a sales brochure. This comes from our own booking calendar. We are the developer: we build, rent and manage villas in Uluwatu for more than 100 investors, and these are the numbers those villas are doing today.
last 90 days
depending on villa and area
buying from the developer
and running today
What each villa earns, against its own market.
Anyone can tell you Bali is doing well. We can show you the occupancy of our villas next to the average of comparable listings on the same street. It is the only comparison that means anything, and only whoever owns the villas can publish it.
Moraira Villas
Arrecife Villas
Kembali Villas
Santanyi Villas
If you want the area-by-area breakdown of the Bukit, with the upside and the downside of each one, it is on the investing in Uluwatu page.
How a foreigner buys a villa in Bali.
The legal side scares people more than it should, because almost nobody explains it in full. This is it, in five steps.
You pick the villa
We show you what is available, which area it sits in and what a similar villa of ours earns today. With the real booking calendar in front of you, not a projection.
The leasehold is signed
A long-term, renewable right of use, legal and in your name. The exact term and the renewal conditions are given to you in writing before you pay anything.
We build or hand over
We are the developer. There is no middleman taking a commission for introducing you to someone else.
We rent it out
Dynamic pricing, all three booking channels at once, cleaning, maintenance and guest care. You touch nothing.
You get paid
Regular statements with the books open. You see what came in, what it cost and what is left for you.
The difference in buying from the developer is the entry price. The same villas we sell from €110,000 were being sold at €150,000 to €160,000 once a middleman was involved. That margin is the one you keep.
The full process, with the papers the villa must have and the twelve checks to run before you pay, is in the guide on how to buy a villa in Bali.
What someone who only wants to sell to you will not tell you.
We live here and we operate here. These four things are true and it is better to know them before, not after.
The real downsides
- Traffic to the airport is a real problem, especially at certain hours of the day.
- Clifftop building permits have tightened. What got approved three years ago does not get approved today.
- There is a lot of generic villa competing. In Bingin alone there are 183 one-bedroom listings. Without serious management, the calendar stays empty.
- Full land ownership is for Indonesian citizens only. A foreigner buys through one of two legal routes, and it is worth understanding both before signing.
None of the four has stopped us buying here. But an investor who arrives knowing them makes better decisions than one who is kept in the dark until signing day.
What people ask us before investing in Bali.
Is it safe to invest in Bali?
It depends entirely on how you buy. What is not safe is the nominee structure, putting the property in the name of a trusted Indonesian: that has been causing problems for years and today thousands of foreigners are exposed. What is safe is a properly signed leasehold, a long-term right of use, legal and in your name, with the term and the renewal conditions in writing before you pay. That is the only way we operate, and we explain it in full in our tax and structure guide.
Can I own the land outright?
Full ownership, Hak Milik, is for Indonesian citizens only. A foreigner has two legal routes: a leasehold, a right of use in your own name, and HGB through an Indonesian company you own, which is what usually gets called freehold. We operate on leasehold because it does not oblige the investor to set up or maintain anything there. Both routes, with terms and costs, in the leasehold and freehold guide.
How much do I need to start?
From €110,000 buying directly from the developer, which is us. Through a middleman that same villa was selling between €150,000 and €160,000. There is no agency fee because there is no agency in the middle.
What return do you actually get?
Our target is 10 to 14% a year depending on the villa and the area, and we give it as a range on purpose: a villa in Balangan and one in Melasti do not perform the same. What we can show you is the starting point: the real occupancy of our villas over the last 90 days runs from 75% to 90%, against a market in the same areas running from 56% to 83%. These are targets based on the portfolio under management, not a guarantee.
Bali or Lombok?
Lombok is cheaper to get into and that is where the advantage ends. It has far fewer international flights, far less year-round demand and a much thinner rental market. Bali has the airport, the brand and demand 365 days a year. We operate where there are guests all year, and right now that is the Bukit.
What about tax?
There is Indonesian tax on the rental activity, and there are obligations in your home country for holding an asset abroad. They are two separate things and both can be planned for. It is worked through, with the numbers, in the tax and structure guide you can request on resources.
Who looks after the villa when I am not there?
We do, and that is the reason the numbers work. Dynamic pricing, all three booking channels at once, cleaning, maintenance and guest care. In Bingin there are 183 listings of one-bedroom villas alone: with the same product, the one next door can bill half. You can see how we work on property management.
Can I sell before the term ends?
Yes. A leasehold can be transferred, and it is an active market because entry prices in the Bukit have risen steadily. What you sell is the right of use for the years remaining plus whatever is built on it.
The guides, with the numbers and the sources.
Everything investors ask before deciding, written out in full with the source of every figure beside it. No sign-up and no email required.
Do the numbers work for you?
We show you the villas available, what each one earns today and what would be left for you, with our real figures in front of you. You talk to the developer, not to a salesperson.