|
Hottest Bali real estate picks for 2004 Bali Sun Newspaper Reprint Bali 24/12/2003 For those of you visiting us for the first time we hope you enjoy our paradise. You
may not be aware that although we had a tragic bombing last year the sophisticated readers of Travel and Leisure  magazine voted us the number one island in the world followed a few months later by time magazine readers who voted us the most sought after tourist designation in Asia. Although we were not yet back to pre-bombing tourist levels many five star hotels are close to capacity and luxury villas complexes are turning away potential guests.
"villas complexes are turning away potential guests". There are many things we are unsure about for the coming New Year but we are 100 % positive that most of you will leave Bali realizing that “Bali is still paradise and no act of terrorism can ever change that”. Also, many of you will be day dreaming this next week or so and into the future about “what it would be like to live on a paradise Island such as Bali”. 
Well, take it from me who has traveled for three years through most of the Pacific on my yacht “Bali is about as good as it gets”. “Bali is about as good as it gets”. When you factor in the cost of living such
 as $5.00 massages and $5.00 Steak and prawn dinners coupled with $ 2.00 haircuts and home rentals starting at $200 per month it is pretty easy to forget the small things we miss from back home. After a while you learn to smile like the Balinese and laugh at minor problems. You start to loose weight and discover simple pleasures in life like walking on the beach in the morning and watching the sun rise. You don’t miss your fancy heath clubs and $200 dollar meals. And most important you do not have to risk your life savings on the stock and mutual fund markets since all you have to do is buy a good piece of land for as little as $5,000 and just sit on it and watch it grow. "exceeded my wildest expectations".
Speaking about land this has truly been a year that even exceeded my wildest expectations. Just a year ago following the October bombing everyone except myself expected real estate prices to plummet. I received daily e-mails from foreign investors asking to send them info on depressed properties.
My response was that there were only a few and those came from foreigners who got sacred out of the market. Those that stayed in the market are now very pleased with their decision. Especially those that purchased beachfront land and luxury villas. On an average beachfront land has increased 30 % in the past year.
Luxury villa developers such as ourselves have sold their entire inventory in the past twelve months leading us to initiate new developments that are being purchased before the ink is dry on the plans.  One of the largest villa developers stated to me last week “we are sold out” and he “couldn’t believe how much quality villa properties have appreciated in this year”.
“couldn’t believe how much quality villa properties have appreciated in this year”. In fact one property he purchased netted him a 40% profit in 14 months. The big question is “what is ahead"? Well as the old saying goes “you haven’t seen anything yet” When Kong Chinese came in my hometown of Vancouver, Canada 300 % increases occurred in three years. Unless there is another major terrorist attack in Bali 2004
will be banner year. The number one choice for investment has to be luxury investment villas with large swimming pools. Try going on the internet and find a 2 or 3 bedroom villa close to the beach and you will find they are very scarce. The ones that are available are renting for $250 to $350 per day, which if occupied only 50 % of the time will provide a 30%
to 40 % net return per year including appreciation. It cost very little to purchase many of the villas for sale. A nice 2 bedroom villa with private pool can start as low as $129,000. 
Our second best choice for investment is to buy beachfront land and simply sit on it. With oceanfront properties disappearing fast, those that purchase 500 m2 to 1,000 m2 for as little as $18,000 can expect to see the same returns as we have seen in the past several years of 30% per year or more. The worse case scenario is that property does not increase this year in which case you still have the pride of saying you own a beachfront property or villa in Bali which is guaranteed to impress your friends and relatives.
Return to Bali-News-1-04 |
