°µÍø½ûÇø

Hi there,
I’m posting on behalf of my Indonesian wife who has a two-bedroom townhouse 1km from the Rancamaya
Golf Club clubhouse.
Has been listed with agents and on Rumah123 for quite some time and despite a refurbishment last October and price reductions, she has had no substantial interest, let alone offers, which are very welcome.

I am keen to know of any suggestions others may have in how to advertise and/or sell this well-kept and well-located property.

cheers
Pete. - @Pistol37

First things first

°µÍø½ûÇøs should know they can't buy this legally, and it could be subject to being seized with no compensation.

Indonesian citizens can buy it.

The housing market, so I'm assured by a couple of bank managers I know, is flat.

In my most humble of opinions, this is mostly down to a mix of greed and stupidity.

House prices are far too high for most Indonesians to buy, so houses sit empty.

My estate starts at 2.5 billion, a stupid price that nobody with a brain will pay. Prices are going up, but buying power is dropping.

I recommend choosing only one good agent and leave it with them. Ask the agent for a price that will sell the property. If they are given exclusivity usually they will work harder. Sorry, not sure exactly what you have done to date.

@Fred

Thanks for your feedback Fred.

I’m aware that only Indonesian nationals can buy property, hence my ad on here hoping to attract an °µÍø½ûÇø golfer in similar situation to mine ie married to an Indonesian woman.

Also aware that the market is flat, perhaps even in a downturn, going by our recent experience.

I’ve also thought of auctioning but am told by agents that doesn’t happen here, although on a recent visit to Malang, we did see quite a few ads for auctions by BRI which may be ok for them but not for smaller players.

I’d be interested to know if you have any thoughts on auctions here.

cheers

Pete.

@wyngrove60

Thanks mate for your reply.

We did list it solely with one agent following the refurbishment last October, and despite reducing the price, had no interest in six months.

Since then, we have relisted with several agents but still no responses.

As I replied to Fred above, I’d be keen to try an auction which are very popular in Australia but am told by agents they don’t work here.

I’d be interested to know if you have any thoughts on auctions here.

cheers

Pete.

although on a recent visit to Malang, we did see quite a few ads for auctions by BRI which may be ok for them but not for smaller players. - @Pistol37

I have also seen such ads, but they have always been repossentions due to defaults.

The buyer may or may not have to evict the people living there, and I'm told that can be hard work.

@Fred

Yeah I thought they would likely be from repos.

Yeah I thought they would likely be from repos. - @Pistol37

That can be a good way of finding a cheap house. The bank sells them off to cover its loss, so they tend to be well below market value.

However, kicking people out can, I'm assured, be a problem.

@Pistol37

I’m aware that only Indonesian nationals can buy property, hence my ad on here hoping to attract an °µÍø½ûÇø golfer in similar situation to mine ie married to an Indonesian woman.

Well from an Aussie or Brits perspective the exchange rate is certainly favourable for a large scale purchase in Indonesia. Of course the flip side of that is if the funds are going to be repatriated to your domiciled country especially if you made the purchase a few years back when the IDR was somewhat stronger.

@Lotus Eater

Thanks but I’m not concerned re the exchange rates as the funds will go into my Indonesian wife’s bank account to pick up some interest initially whereas currently the property is just sitting idle, in fact costing us money to hold.

@Lotus Eater
Thanks but I’m not concerned re the exchange rates as the funds will go into my Indonesian wife’s bank account to pick up some interest initially whereas currently the property is just sitting idle, in fact costing us money to hold. - @Pistol37

Sinarmas bank have a nice and safe deposit account. They pay the interest upfront on part of it. It's not as good as BRI's rencana, but it's safer in these troubled times.

@Fred

Thanks for that advice, but first we have to dispose of this property to be able to take advantage of that offering.

Not nice having property that loses money. I've been in that position in the past. Last time that happened was during Covid. I dropped my asking price by about 10% below the market rate and the property sold quickly. It was always easy to find tenants for that property but due to Covid the rents had dropped a lot.

As for interest rates, I get 4.25% at HSBC on one month rollover, minimum deposit of Rp10 million. I know it's not the best but some banks are only giving a bit over 2%. Maybe it's time for me to look at other banks for better rates.

@wyngrove60

With Indonesian inflation currently at about 1.6% at least you are not losing purchasing power. That’s a real return of 2.6 %

@wyngrove60

Finding the accurate market rate seems to be the issue as whatever we suggest, the agent/s just agree with.

We have dropped the advertised price and included that it is negotiable but still no bites.

That real return on bank investment is comparable with what I’m getting in Australia after taking inflation into account.

If you want to sell the place and you are desperate then make the price so attractive that people will not want the chance to miss out on buying it. The agents were telling me what the market rate was, so I dropped 10% below that price and they found a buyer very quickly afterwards. With my new very reduced price I did not allow any negotiation but the buyer signed quickly. So the drop has to be impressive to make buyers not miss out on the chance to grab it. But anyway, it all depends on location and I do not know where you bought except its a mile from a golf course, which I am not sure makes a big difference to most people. I have always bought downtown, near universities, near train stations, above malls and so on. Actually I would never consider to buy near a golf course.

Yeah I don't actually follow inflation and stuff like that. I know what comes in and what I spend.

Again, I believe it's much better to work with just one good, dynamic property agent. Agents everywhere are tricky so find the good one. Try to offer them an incentive to sell within 3 months with exclusivity. Don't play off agents against each other. If the agent is good then they should tell you the market rate, not you telling them and them agreeing. We've always used one agent for all transactions - both sales and rentals. I think it's just a matter of lowering the price to make it very attractive.

I'm sure you are doing your best, but in my opinion if you are desperate then look less at making profit from the sale and more to stop losing money.

@wyngrove60

Thanks again mate.

I agree with everything you’ve said and after refurbishing in October last year, we did try the option of leaving it with the most responsive agent we had from the several we’d listed with previously, as well as offering him a greater commission than the standard contract rate.

I’ve done exactly as you suggest when selling property in Australia, however the auction method is probably the most popular nowadays down under. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to work here.

I should add this townhouse is in the Rancamaya Golf Estate, outside Bogor, and just past the turnoff to Puncak.  I am told by golfing friends of mine who lived and worked here about 10 years ago that it is a fairly popular course with °µÍø½ûÇøs. I agree that location is the most important aspect of purchasing, and as I’m not a golfer I would never have purchased there either.

My wife’s now deceased former °µÍø½ûÇø husband purchased it as a holiday home given he was a very keen golfer.

I also agree about reducing the price to a price which is almost too good to be true, however she still feels that she shouldn’t sell it close to the price they purchased it for, Rp600.000.000 about 10 years ago. But now it’s just costing money every month to hold so I am of the opinion we need to get whatever we can for it.

I’m here for another couple of weeks before heading back to Australia so will go up there next week and try to source a more enthusiastic agent.

In that vein, I’d be happy to receive any suggestions of agents/agencies that may produce better results. FYI, the guy we gave sole agency to was with ERA, however as I said, we now have it listed with several others, as well as advertising privately on Rumah 123.

Assuming she has the hak milik for the house?

I guess if she gets desperate enough then she'll agree to drop the price lower. Hopefully the houses isn't losing too much at the moment.

Good luck with selling it.

This is strange. As the OP reports, housing is getting harder and harder to move - sales and rentals.

However, we are looking at moving and prices are shooting up.

Now to the crunch - Different agents are offering the same properties at staggeringly price differences.

One house makes the perfect example as one agent wanted 60 million, but another wanted 100 million. The latter lost a potential customer immediately.

As for the OP, my theory suggests and inverse curve between the ease of selling/renting against the number of bent agents out for a quick buck. The harder the sell, the more stupid they get with prices.

The OP might do well to get someone who they trust to ring their agent and check the selling price of their house. It's not impossible that the agent is playing silly buggers.