Questions
Frequently asked questions
What buyers, tenants and owners ask us most often about property in Bali, answered with what we actually know and, where the law is involved, with the regulation named so you can check it.
Ownership and title
Can a foreigner own property in Bali?
Not as Hak Milik (freehold): UUPA (Law 5/1960, art. 21(1) and art. 26(2)) reserves that title to Indonesian nationals. A foreign individual may hold Hak Pakai (right of use) on a home in their own name (PP 18/2021 art. 51), and a PT PMA, being an Indonesian company, may hold HGB (right to build). PP 18/2021 art. 186 sets the conditions for a foreign-owned house: it must fall in the luxury category, one plot per person or family, and a maximum of 2,000 sqm, which the minister can allow to be exceeded where the project brings a positive economic or social effect. The minimum purchase price is not in that regulation itself: PP 18/2021 leaves it to a ministerial decision, and the figure quoted for a landed house in Bali is IDR 5 billion. A KITAS is no longer required since a valid immigration document is enough (Permen ATR/BPN 18/2021). Ask your notary or PPAT to produce the ministerial decree currently in force and to confirm the limits for the property you are actually looking at.
What is the difference between Hak Milik, HGB, Hak Pakai and Hak Sewa?
Hak Milik (freehold) is the strongest title and only Indonesian nationals may hold it (UUPA, Law 5/1960, art. 21). HGB, Hak Guna Bangunan (right to build), is held by Indonesian citizens and by Indonesian legal entities, which includes a PT PMA with foreign shareholders (PP 18/2021 art. 37). Hak Pakai (right of use) is the one land right a foreign individual can hold personally, for a residence (PP 18/2021 art. 51). Hak Sewa (lease for building) is not a registered land title at all but a contractual right to use someone else's land against payment, and UUPA art. 44 and art. 45 make it open to foreigners. Which of the four is on the certificate, and which one fits your plan, is confirmed by the notary or PPAT for that property.
How long can a foreigner hold the land?
Hak Pakai and HGB both run for 30 years, extendable by 20, then renewable for 30 (PP 18/2021), which is a maximum reached in three steps and not one long grant. Extension and renewal are two different applications with different deadlines: an extension is filed while the right is still running, a renewal after it has ended, so the dates matter. For Hak Sewa the honest answer is different: UUPA (Law 5/1960) sets no maximum term at all, so the 25 or 30 years quoted as a legal limit everywhere in Bali is market practice, not law. Have your notary or PPAT read the dates and deadlines written on the actual certificate or lease before you sign.
Can a foreigner buy an apartment?
Yes. A foreigner may hold strata title (Hak Milik Sarusun) on an apartment in the commercial category, built on land held under HGB or Hak Pakai (PP 18/2021 and Permen ATR/BPN 18/2021). A minimum price is set per province by ministerial decision, but the published figures for the Bali strata threshold do not agree with each other, so we do not quote one and it has to be confirmed for the specific building. The notary or PPAT checks the category of the building and the land right underneath it before anything is signed.
What is a PT PMA and when does it make sense?
A PT PMA is an Indonesian company with foreign shareholding. Because it is an Indonesian legal entity it may hold HGB (PP 18/2021), which is why it is used when the plan is to build or to run a business rather than simply to live in a house. It has to be a genuine licensed business under the risk-based licensing regime, not a dormant company parking a villa, The current framework is Permeninves/BKPM 5/2025, in force since October 2025, which replaced the 2021 rules. Investment and capital thresholds depend on the KBLI class of the activity, so there is no single figure we can quote you: have a licensing adviser and your notary confirm the amounts for the business you actually intend to run.
What about buying through an Indonesian nominee?
A nominee arrangement, where an Indonesian holds Hak Milik on paper for a foreigner, is void from the outset because it circumvents UUPA (Law 5/1960, art. 21(1) and art. 26(2)), and the Supreme Court has ruled this way. Paying for the property creates no right of its own: Indonesian land law recognises only the person named on the certificate, so there is nothing behind the name to fall back on. The practical consequence is that the arrangement cannot be enforced in an Indonesian court. We do not broker nominee structures, and a notary or PPAT will tell you the same about any property offered on that basis.
What happens to my lease if the landowner dies or sells the land?
Hak Sewa is a contractual right and not a registered land title (UUPA, Law 5/1960, art. 44 and art. 45), so the answer is written in your lease rather than in a general rule. We could not find a statutory default that settles it, which is precisely why the clauses on succession, on a sale of the land and on how the lease is recorded matter more than anything else in the document. Ask the notary to read those clauses, and to read them before you pay rather than after.
Can I resell a property or assign a lease before it ends?
A registered title is sold like any other property, through a deed drawn by a PPAT. A lease is different: because Hak Sewa is contractual (UUPA, Law 5/1960, art. 44), whether you may transfer it, and whether the landowner has to consent, is set by the lease itself, and the remaining term is what a buyer is really paying for. There is no general rule we can quote you here, so have the notary read the transfer and consent clauses of that specific lease.
Can a foreigner buy the property I am looking at?
That depends on the specific property, its title and your own situation. We do not give a blanket answer, because it would be wrong for some listings. Tell us which property interests you and we will lay out the options for it with a notary or lawyer before you commit to anything.
Do you list freehold and leasehold properties?
Yes. Listings carry a tenure field and both freehold and leasehold appear in our catalogue. What a given tenure means for you depends on the property and on your situation, so we go through it with a notary or lawyer rather than giving a general rule here.
Money and taxes
What taxes apply when I buy or sell?
There are two different taxes on the same sale, one on each side, and mixing them up is the commonest error in agency material. The seller pays a final income tax on the transfer, PPh PHTB, at 2.5% of the gross transfer value for ordinary land and buildings (PP 34/2016), and it has to be paid before the deed is signed. The buyer pays BPHTB, the acquisition duty, at a rate of up to 5% (UU 1/2022 and PP 35/2023), and the base is not the price itself: it is the acquisition value less NPOPTKP, a non-taxable allowance set by the regency, so the amount payable in Badung, Gianyar or Denpasar has to be checked where the property sits. Your notary or PPAT computes both on the actual deed value.
Is there an annual property tax?
Yes, PBB-P2, the annual land and building tax. UU 1/2022 caps it at 0.5% nationally and each regency sets by by-law the rate that actually applies, so the Bali figure depends on where the property is. It is charged on NJOP, the government assessed value, and not on the market price, which is why a Bali tax bill looks small next to a sale price. The notary or the regency tax office gives you the assessment for the specific parcel.
How is rental income taxed?
Rental income from land and buildings carries a final tax of 10% on the gross rent (PP 34/2017), and gross is broad: service, maintenance and facility charges tied to the lease are counted in. Depending on who the tenant is, the tenant may be the party who withholds and pays it rather than the landlord. You will see a shorthand of 10% for residents and 20% for non-residents repeated across Bali marketing; what it actually turns on is tax residency, and a tax treaty can change the outcome, so the mechanism is what matters and not those two numbers. Have a notary or a tax adviser confirm which treatment applies to you before you sign a lease.
What do notary and PPAT fees cost?
The PPAT fee is capped at 1% of the transaction value stated in the deed (PP 37/1998 as amended by PP 24/2016). That is a ceiling and not a fixed price, so it is negotiable. That cap covers the PPAT honorarium, witnesses included, and not every cost of a transaction: notarial acts, administrative and registration charges, taxes and due diligence sit outside it. It is why quotes differ so much, since a percentage quoted for a transaction usually bundles several of these together. Ask the notary or PPAT for an itemised quote showing which items fall under the 1% cap and which do not.
How does a deposit work and is it refundable?
A deposit takes a property off the market while the checks are run, and whether it comes back to you depends on the conditions written down when you pay it. Ask for those conditions in writing first: what the deposit covers, what has to be true for it to be refunded, and by when. The deposit is paid to the notary, not to us, and the notary keeps the wording of the condition with the rest of the file.
How are payments made, and can I pay from abroad?
We never hold your money. Payments go through the notary, and our fee is paid to us by the notary once the transaction completes, so nothing you transfer passes through our hands. Prices are in Indonesian rupiah and the payment steps are written into the agreement you sign, whether that is a deed of sale, a lease or a PPJB. Currency conversion and international transfers are between you and your bank, so ask them, and ask the notary how and when each instalment has to reach the seller.
Can a foreigner get a mortgage in Indonesia?
In the transactions we see, foreign buyers are generally not financed locally and settle with their own funds. We say that as an observation of our own market rather than as a rule, since lending decisions belong to banks and can differ case by case. If financing is part of your plan, ask a bank directly and get the answer in writing before you commit to a property.
What taxes, notary fees and closing costs should I expect?
Costs depend on the property, the structure of the transaction and the parties involved, so we do not publish figures that could be wrong for your case. We ask a notary or lawyer to confirm the full cost picture for the property you choose before any money moves.
In which currency are your prices shown?
Every price on the site is in Indonesian rupiah (IDR). Some listings are marked price on request, usually because the owner prefers the figure discussed directly. Ask us on WhatsApp and we will give you the number for that specific property.
Process, permits and off-plan
What should be checked before buying?
Three checks, and all of them are verifiable. The certificate is verified at the land office: that it is genuine, that the holder named on it matches the seller's identity document, and that no mortgage or caveat is registered against it. Zoning conformity is checked as KKPR, the confirmation that the use you intend matches the spatial plan, and note that the colour shorthand used locally in Bali is not the legal instrument. Then the building approvals, meaning whether what stands on the land is actually approved and certified. The notary or PPAT runs these checks on the property before the deed is drawn.
What are PBG and SLF?
PBG, Persetujuan Bangunan Gedung (building approval), replaced the old IMB in 2021 (PP 16/2021): it approves a building against technical standards instead of granting a one-off permit. SLF, Sertifikat Laik Fungsi, certifies that a finished building may actually be used. Both are filed through SIMBG, the national system. A lot of Bali material still refers to IMB, and an older property may indeed still hold one; whether that remains sufficient is a transition question to settle property by property with the notary or PPAT.
What protects me when buying off-plan?
Off-plan sales run on a PPJB, Perjanjian Pengikatan Jual Beli (preliminary sale and purchase agreement), and PP 12/2021 regulates it rather than leaving it to the developer. A developer may only enter into one once the land status is certain, the building approval is in place, utilities and infrastructure are available and construction has reached at least 20% progress, and the PPJB is signed before a notary. Those are facts you can verify rather than trust: ask for the land right, the PBG and evidence of the construction stage. Your notary reads the PPJB with you before you sign it.
What are the steps from first contact to the keys?
You tell us what you are looking for, we send the properties that match with their tenure and their documents, and you view them in person or remotely. When one works, the offer and its conditions go in writing. The notary or PPAT then runs the checks on the certificate, the zoning and the building approvals, and only once those come back do you sign the deed, the lease or the PPJB and pay on the schedule written into it. Registration and handover close the file, and we stay on it until the keys and the documents are in your hands.
How long does buying take?
It depends on things you can watch rather than on a standard duration: how quickly the seller produces the certificate and the permits, whether the land office checks and the zoning confirmation come back clean, and whether the property is finished or off-plan. We will not quote you an average, because for your property it would be a guess. Once we have seen the documents for a specific property, we and the notary can give you a realistic sequence and tell you which step is driving the timing.
What happens once my offer is accepted?
It depends on the property and on what the seller agrees to. Where an offer is accepted in writing, the terms and any conditions are recorded and the file moves to the notary or PPAT for the checks. Whatever you want your purchase to depend on, a clean certificate, a valid building approval, a zoning confirmation, belongs in that agreement as a condition before money moves. We follow the file through to signature and the notary confirms each condition as it is satisfied.
Which documents should I ask the seller for?
The certificate of title showing the holder's name, the seller's identity documents and any spousal or co-owner consent, the receipts for the annual land and building tax, the building approval and the certificate that the building may be used, and the zoning confirmation for the use you have in mind. For a leasehold, ask for the original lease as well as the landowner's own certificate. The notary or PPAT verifies all of it against the land office records instead of taking copies at face value, so hand them the whole set early.
Is buying from a developer different from buying from a private owner?
Yes, mainly in what you are checking. From a private owner you check an existing certificate, the approvals for what already stands on the land, and the deed the PPAT will draw. From a developer, especially before completion, you check the developer's own land right, the building approval, and the PPJB, which PP 12/2021 regulates: it may only be entered into once the land status, the building approval, the utilities and at least 20% construction progress are in place. Different documents, same principle, and your notary verifies them rather than you trusting a brochure.
Do you have off-plan projects?
Yes, off-plan projects are part of the catalogue alongside completed properties. For an off-plan listing the delivery timing and the payment schedule are set by the developer, so we confirm them with the developer for that project rather than quoting a standard.
Renting
Can I rent out my villa?
Renting out is a business activity, so it needs business licensing. Under the risk-based regime the operative licence is an NIB obtained through OSS, plus a standard certificate where the risk level requires one; TDUP is no longer the operative licence, which dates a good deal of the advice still circulating. Villa accommodation is covered by Permenpar 6/2025, in force since October 2025, which replaced the 2021 tourism standards, and the route depends on the KBLI class the activity falls under. Pondok wisata is a separate small-scale homestay category (Permenpar 18/2016) designed for owner-run Indonesian homestays, and whether your structure is eligible for it has to be confirmed rather than assumed. A licensing adviser together with your notary can tell you which route fits the property and the entity that will hold it.
Can I rent instead of buying?
Yes. Listings are marked for sale or for rent, and the rent filter on the search page shows only rentals. Rental prices are shown in IDR per year or per month depending on how the property is offered.
Working with FIRST
What does FIRST do?
FIRST is a Bali real estate agency. We publish villas, land, apartments, townhouses and commercial property for sale and for rent, and we take you from the first question through to the viewing and the paperwork with your notary or lawyer.
What do you check before publishing a listing?
We ask every owner for the certificate or the lease, for what the tenure actually says, and for the building documents. When the owner provides them we check that the description matches, and the tenure is published on the listing because it changes what a buyer can do with the property. Where a document has not been provided we do not present the listing as verified, and in every case the notary or PPAT re-checks the certificate at the land office for the buyer on the specific transaction.
Which areas of Bali do you cover?
The areas we currently list are the ones shown on our areas map, including Canggu, Seminyak, Uluwatu, Ubud, Nusa Dua, Seseh and their neighbours. Each area page shows the properties we have there right now, so the map is the accurate answer at any moment.
How do I arrange a viewing?
Viewings are arranged on request. WhatsApp is the fastest way to reach us: send the reference of the property, tell us when you are in Bali, and we organise the visit. If you are not on the island yet we can walk you through the property remotely.
Which languages do you speak?
We work in English, Indonesian, French and Russian. Write to us in whichever of those you are most comfortable with, and the site itself is available in all four.
Why is a property's position on the map approximate?
Some owners ask us not to publish an exact address, so those listings appear at an approximate position on the map. The precise location is shared with you when we arrange the viewing.
I want to sell or rent out my property. Can you list it?
Yes, we take on new listings. Send us the location, the tenure shown on your documents and a few photos on WhatsApp, and we will tell you what we can do with it and what we would need from you.
A word on all of this. Indonesian regulations change, and what you read here reflects the texts in force at the verification date shown under each answer, so they may have been amended since. None of it is legal or tax advice. For a specific property and your own situation, the notary or PPAT confirms what applies, and where tax is involved, a tax adviser does. We re-check these answers at least once a year.