Villa Size
Villa size is obviously an important consideration in terms of what kind of
property one wants to own in Bali. There  are various impacts and aspects
of a villa’s size that should be considered. Larger properties are by
their very nature more complex and because of this, can at times be
problematic. They require more staff and more machinery, which means they
have more things that need to be attended to. Also, it is easier to
rent smaller villas than larger villas. Subsequently, if one wants a large
house, one is sometimes better off buying two villas adjacent to one another
because one can stay in one house and rent out the other, and allows flexibility
in the size of the groups of renters. Having this sort of flexibility from
a property is oftentimes quite useful. One should talk to rental agents to
get the agent’s observation on the market in terms of what is going to provide
the best yields.
Accessibility
The accessibility of a villa should be seriously examined. The first
consideration should be access to the nearest public road. If a one-lane street
leads to the property this could lead to accessibility complications. If
there are cars on it, it can easily become blocked. This problem is
eliminated on a road with two lanes. Also check to see if there are any
major roads in the area nearby which experience heavy car and motorbike
flow. For instance, villas located in downtown Seminyak can sometimes be
difficult to get to because traffic can be quite considerable.
If a villa is not in the immediate vicinity of a public road, i.e., is
located behind other properties or buildings, immediate access to the property
can come in two forms. Oftentimes one can either own one’s own access to
the nearest public road, or one has rights of access provided over adjacent
blocks of land. One must make sure that all aspects regarding access have
been carefully legally reviewed. Nobody likes to purchase a villa and
suddenly discover it is impossible to get to by means of motor
transportation.
Take note if a villa is close in vicinity to a temple. The Balinese are
predominantly Hindu, and ceremonies are a part of day-to-day living. On
ceremony days, which occur frequently, the surrounding roads can get congested
due to religious processions. This translates to the potential of roads
being totally shut down for periods of time.
Access to Water
There is town water in Bali, i.e., water provided by the municipality, but
it’s availability is restricted and not available in many areas. The
majority of villas are dependent upon bore water, i.e., private wells. In
this case, one should consider how deep the well is in the house, and whether
the water supply is adequate for the house’s needs. Another important
aspect not to overlook is that only villas with back-up generators or water
towers have the capability to provide water pressure during power failures,
which are relatively common in Bali. This obviously has an impact on
lifestyle and rentablity.
Age of the Villa
If one is planning on buying an existing villa, one should inquire as to the
date all of the buildings were built and when any major renovations were carried
out. Older buildings tend to not be of as high construction standards as
newer buildings.
Banjar
One very important aspect in respects to selecting a villa to purchase is
which Banjar the villa is located in. As one quickly discovers in Bali,
all roads lead to the Banjar, or the community organization in each area.
Having good relations with the local Banjar is a key to harmonious living in
Bali. Certain Banjars are known as being easy-going, while others have
reputations for being difficult to deal with, and these sorts of relations will
vary tremendously from area to area. Finding out the reputation of a
Banjar in a given area is a very good idea before making a purchase there.
Beaches
If you are searching for land near the beach, closely consider why you want
to be near the beach and compare and contrast these priorities with the nature
of the beach near the villa you are looking at. One should carefully consider if
one wants to be near the beach for the scenery, for walking or jogging, for
swimming, for surfing, or for some other purpose. Although some beaches
are picturesque, activities on certain beaches can be limited. For
example, some beaches are great for surfing, but dangerous for swimming, and
some beaches have tides so high that walking on the beach can be near
impossible.
Building materials
Another strong aspect to consider when purchasing or building a villa is the
quality of the construction and the type of materials that are being used in the
house.
Alang-alang (thatched) roofs are picturesque and Bali is renowned for thier
usage, however, being made of grass, they do require changing every few years,
and they can cause damage to things in the house in the places where they have
leaks. There are maintenance impacts to having alang-alang roofs versus
other ones. One must find a balance between style and practicality, but no
matter which route you choose to go, be aware there will be varying maintenance
costs.
Another commonly used material in Bali is polished concrete, normally
referred to as terrazzo. Terrazzo is popular in Bali because it is easy to
clean and cheap to pour, but it is also very difficult to change. If terrazzo
has been used for sinks in bathrooms, changing the sink requires the entire sink
area to be completely rebuilt from scratch. An unfortunate mistake that is
repeated in many villas that use terrazzo, is that terrazzo can become
incredibly slippery when wet. Floors made of terrazzo, when located next
to swimming pools or corridors that will become wet during the rainy season,
turn into small skating rinks. Terrazzo also looks nice when new but it cracks
when it ages, giving a Petina charm to houses, but also means that it needs to
be replaced.
Drainage
One should carefully inspect the drainage aspects of land and the
villa. Bali has two seasons: dry and wet. During rainy season, a
considerable amount of water falls on the island. There are areas that are known
to be prone to flooding, and others that are not. Asking how well the land
is drained and studying where irrigation ditches and such are located is very
important to do when buying a house.
Electricity
The reliability of power in Bali is below par with first world
standards. Electricity dropouts and surges are extremely common, and come
hand in had with living on the island. These can damage sensitive
electronic equipment as well as normal day-to-day appliances such as
refrigerators. Also, certain districts are known to have a lower voltage
than normal standard of 220 volts. This will have an impact on all the
electrical systems in the house. This can be compensated for with various
machines, such as voltage stabilizers, but this adds to the costs of equipment
one must have in a villa. You should check to see if the villa has this
option. In the past people had small voltage regulators protecting key
appliances such as televisions, refrigerators, and such. Now the tendency
tends to be to install one large voltage regulator to protect all the electrical
equipment in the house.
Another aspect to consider about the villa you are purchasing, is if it has a
generator or is part of a complex that has a back-up electricity generator which
can provide power in times of electricity drop-outs.
One must also inquire as to the actual installed capacity of electrical
wattage in the villa. What is unusual about Indonesia as compared to other
countries is that Indonesia charges different rates for electricity depending on
the size of the potential usage. Essentially electricity is subsidized for
smaller providers. The more installed capacity there is in a house the
more expensive per unit electricity is, which means that if you own a large
western house with many air-conditioners, you are charged at a much higher rate
per watt of electricity than in a smaller house. One thing one should ask
for when purchasing a villa is to see the electricity bills for previous three
months. Changes to an existing electrical system can be quite expensive.
Electricity is now one of the major costs for operating a villa in Bali.
Internet
Internet access is obviously of growing importance in this day and age.
The options for internet access on the island are either through the use of land
lines, through some mobile telephones that provide access at slow speeds, and
wireless broadband access, which is now increasingly common on the island but is
not a particularly cheap option. One should carefully evaluate what the
house can provide, and the costs of doing so.
Landscaping
Being a tropical island with rich volcanic soil, plants and vegetation grow
quite easily. One thing that is quite cheap and easy to do in Bali is to
re-landscape houses. To be able to grow a tropical garden or completely
re-change a garden within a year is a very easy thing to do.
Natural Orientation
Another key consideration is a villa’s natural orientation in respects to
north, south, east, and west. For example, if a villa has been built on
top of a hill, the house will be very well aired a lot of the time if it is
north to where to prevalent winds are. In addition, a lot of people like
west-facing beachfront villas because it means they are going to have fantastic
sunsets.
In regards to geographic location, one should be aware that there has been a
great deal of investment in building in Bali over the last few years. One
should entertain the thought that the rice-fields, which potentially are located
around a house, could be developed later on. The natural topography of the
land on which a villa is built can have dramatic influences on the enjoyment of
a villa’s location and surroundings. If an existing house is on the top of
a hill, this will ensure that the view will always be maintained. This is
also one of the large arguments for buying beachfront land; nobody is going to
build in front of you.
One should also carefully consider the size of the land upon which the villa
is built. If the purchase of a villa includes a 10-area block of land in
the middle of rice fields, it may be great initially but if the surrounding land
is built up in the future, one may not have much distance from one’s
neighbors. One may therefore want to acquire a villa located on a much
larger block of land to ensure that there is significant distance from all
surrounding lands so that whatever is built will have minimal impact on the
villa’s atmosphere.
Another way to protect the neighboring landscape around a villa is a local
custom known as “renting the view”. This refers to striking an agreement
(in contractual form) with adjacent landlords in which they promise not to sell
or develop their land and continue to farm. This arrangement is normally
very similar to a lease structure, however it’s purpose is more of a
non-development agreement. It is a good balance because it allows the
locals to continue managing doing what they were doing previously, i.e., growing
rice and maintaining their land to supplement their income, and the purchasers
get to enjoy the atmosphere and scenery for years to come.
When purchasing a house or a block of land, it is important to find out what
the situation is with the neighboring blocks of land. It is very useful to
obtain information about who owns these blocks of land (foreigners or locals),
and if there any plans to develop them in the near future. If you purchase
a house and have a construction site next to it for the next one or two years it
will obviously have an impact on your lifestyle and the potential for rental
yield, amongst other issues.
Noise
One should consider the proximity of a villa to noise, which can be
tremendous if located near a main road, chicken or pig farms, or if particularly
close to temples. Considering the Balinese are predominantly Hindu, and
religious ceremonies are a part of day-to-day living, on ceremony days, which
can be frequent, the areas around temples can get noisy from processions and
gamelan music. Roads can get congested due to human traffic from ceremonies,
which translates to the potential of roads being totally shut down for periods
of time.
Also consider how close a property is to it’s neighbors. If you or your
potential neighbors are interested in frequently throwing large parties, or
practising loud musical instruments, this could possibly lead to disagreements
if your neighbors are very close in proximity to you.
Pests
One should insist on having one’s potential villa checked for pest
infestation, especially termites. Termite prevention and termite curing is
quite an expensive process, and is quite common in houses in Bali because so
much wood is used.
Swimming Pools
One should carefully check and see what type of swimming pool is within a
villa compound. Swimming pools essentially cannot be modified. What
you see is what you get. If the pool leaks it is going to have to be re-poured,
and changes cannot be made in regards to the shape of the swimming pool.
About the only change you can make is to redo the interior, i.e. re-tile or
repaint. Pool machinery is quite expensive, so you should evaluate the
state of maintenance of any pre-existing pool machinery.
Telephone lines
Many areas in Bali as of yet do not have landlines, and are instead reliant
on the use of either mobile phones or what is commonly referred to as radio
phones, otherwise known as ultra phones. These are telephones provided by
the local telephone provider, i.e., Telkom, and they work on a radio frequency
and they have the local prefix. They act just like a normal telephone but
they are subject to atmospheric conditions and other interferences that
landlines are not. Oftentimes these telephones are not able to provide
internet access, which is pertinent to many people in this day and age.
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