Papayas and property in Seminyak Bali

The combination of strong sunlight and a decent amount of rainfall lately has given my papayas a shot in the arm. The tree is loaded with future candidates and today I picked a couple that were ripe.

This tree is still young so the branches are low and the fruit small. Still the yield is high and I have to keep an eye on Wayan, the pembantu (helper) who takes them to make rujak, the spicy / sweet fruit salad everyone likes over here.

To pick a papaya simply twist the fruit a couple of times and the stalk snaps.

Ika cut me a very nice slice of the tender juicy fruit and actually she is looking like a ripe papaya herself these days.

My house has the garden right up to the porch and its like living in the garden. That is okay with me except for the fact that pollen affects people. Ika has terrible allergies and sneezes non-stop, the same as myself last year. The awful air quality on the roads out here does not help, though I am much better now that I use my pollution mask on every trip.

One of the things we have to deal with is the effects of having a semi-natural roof. Our roof is tile with a bamboo underside and that means when the wind blows there is always a tiny amount of bamboo that is blown onto the floor. Just one of the things about living in the tropics.

A local magazine I have been browsing though is called Tropical Living and is designed for the up-market expat crowd. Very interesting to listen to peoples experiences and points of view.

This latest edition, Mar- Apr 2005, contains examples of fine villas and interviews with their owners as well as advertisements for some of the new luxury apartments around the south of Bali.

I looked at the apartments and my first thought was, You have got to be kidding, after seeing the prices. Who would chuck around that sort of cash when you can build cheaply and do it all your own way? I thought.

One of the advertisements was for a project called Asmara on the south coast of the Bukit Peninsula. This development consists of 8 villas in close proximity, that are built into the cliff. A mixture of 3 and 4 bedroom villas each villa private pool, gym, yoga room, catering facilities on-site and 24-hour services and security. This place is managed and your annual cost, even after buying one of these is $5,000.

A 3-bedroom villa ( 500 sqm built area, 525–670 sqm land area) goes for $725,000, a 4-bedroom villa ( 640 sqm built area, 980 sqm land area ) for $1,250,000, both Freehold Title.

Who has got that type of cash? For the management fee alone ($5,000) you could rent a place for a year.

I also read about a development called Sentosa in Seminyak, close to where I live. This development is located 400 meters from the beach and consists of 36 self-contained villas, 1,2 & 3 bedroom design, all with private pools, contemporary design, 24-hour security and services, spa, gym, restaurant and club house.

These babies are on a 40 year lease (so you do not even own the land ) with a 30 extension available.

The 2 bedroom villas ( 180 sqm built area, 450 sqm land ) go for $355,000 and one type of 3 - bedroom villa ( 214 sqm built, 450 sqm land) goes for $400,000. Annual maintenance fees are $4,500 and $5,000 respectively.

Browsing further through the magazine I read an article about an American man named Darrell Smith who bought a house up near Ubud and renovated it, transforming a run down place into a dream villa. His describes his experiences in detail and some of the points I like are when he goes looking for property. Darrell says he learned 2 things, people come to Bali to build their dream house and second, when people come to Bali they suddenly think they are qualified architects. Darrell says he saw some terrible designs by people who had hired contractors and told them what to do. The designs looked sexy, but were totally impractical to live in. Remember your needs for a vacation villa (open plan, easy access to the pool, lots of sexy lighting etc.) may not be any good for someone who is trying to raise a family or simply live and work in the place. Dream houses are okay, but put some reality into the dreaming.

Darrell likes lush gardens over coastal property and said that options for gardens are better in the Ubud area and prices for professional contractors are one third the cost of that in Kuta / Seminyak.

Regarding building contractors he used a high-end company and was very happy with their workmanship and schedule / price control. He does however say that for large items like air conditioners it pays to get a quote and then shop yourself in Denpasar to see if you can get it cheaper.

One of the most interesting parts of the interview was his thoughts on roofs. Every tourist that comes to Bali loves the bamboo / alang alang (grass) roofs. They are so different to what we are used to and look tropical, almost a must have for a dream house right? No, so says Darrell. In fact he would never use alang alang again. How many Balinese people do you know who still use alang alang roofs? he asks. Good question. Alang alang roofs have geckos and other small creatures living in them. As I know at my house the geckos poop anywhere they like, which can ruin expensive clothes and curtains.

You have to spray alang alang to keep insects out which can leave a smell for a while. Alang alang is a torch waiting to burn, being dry grass, insurance will be higher, sometimes they can leak, in the wet season they do not dry out properly and start to rot, needing to be fixed. The whole roof will need to be replaced after 7 years.

Darell also points out another thing with the alang alang roofs, the lighting. These ceilings are not flat, they go up in a tall pyramid and will seem like a dark cave if not well lit. It is hard to run wires through the stuff as it will leak in the wet season so your options are using upward lighting at the top of the walls. To create the effect he wanted Darrell says he had to place one light every 50 centimeters, meaning a chunky electric bill.

One solution for people wanting a natural look but not having the hassle and cost of an alang alang roof is wooden shingle called shirap which is made from iron-wood. Darrell says a shirap roof will cost 3 times as much, but last 3 times as long without the maintenance necessary.

In his experience glazed ceramic tiles are the cheapest and most resilient to the humid atmosphere. Too bad they are ugly.

Another key point made is about maintenance of the entire house. Living in Bali is not like living in Europe or the US. The atmosphere rots everything from clothes, to fabrics, to leather, to tiles, grout and wood. In order to maintain his place, which is called Montana ( as in, My name is Tony Montana) and is a guest house, he employs 9 staff, working as pool maintenance, gardeners, housekeeper, cook, security, driver, etc. He says his costs to keep the place going in the high standard he has set cost 20m rp a month! Part of that is the 150 lights he has, to afford guests a no-expenses spared romantic environment.

Owning an open-plan place in the boonies you have to have round-the-clock security otherwise the place will be stripped bare.

A night in Villa Montana will cost you $395 until July.

Darrel says that for the above reasons owning a place as part of a complex is highly attractive to some people. I can see why now. By buying part of a complex through a reputable company like Churchill Prestige Properties, the developer of the Sentosa, you are assured of having your asset to sell at later date, something you do not have by going out into the provinces and negotiating with some farmer. The structure will be well designed, well made and managed so you can maximize your time and enjoyment instead of worrying that your roof will fall in.

Fortunately for me I am not in a position to buy a villa or build my own so I do not have the stress of making decisions. For people like me maybe we have it the easiest of all, just rent and let some other schmuck deal with all the problems.