What do you think of this deal?

Advice – don't.

Frankly, if you 'need' advice you do not know enough about the subject to put your money into it.

Totally agree with Joe.

If you don't know a whole lot about real estate then it's probably not a good idea to start off with investing in a resort in Bali…..

Cheers

Jamie

Specifically for Bali, heard some nasty horror stories, here and on other forums. They're very far from being a regulated investing environment. Buyer Beware seems to hold doubly there.

why not start with investing in Australia first, and build your skills here, then branch out internationally but only after you've mastered investing in australia

I would suggest this is a pure time share opportunity. Every where you go in BALI they are flouting these schemes. I think all the advice here is Solid. Stay away from it.

hmm .I think the deal is good but you have to look for other options as wel.

And by the way is this is cash dealing ??

Its very dangerous investing in other countries and even more so considering it is Indonesia.

On the general investment side:

1. How will you fund this? Can you borrow in Indonesia? Unlikely to be able to borrow from a bank.

2. How about the tax aspects? Very complex when dealing with cross border tax issues. You will need to lodge a tax return in Indonesia and Australia – taking into account the Indonesian property too. So you have exchange rate calculations to deal with as well as the general tax issues such as is there a tax agreement between Australia and Indonesia? Finding a tax agent with knowledge of this will be difficult too. Expect to pay much more for your tax return.

3. Estate planning issues – you will need to look into doing a will in Indonesia as well as Australia. Will an Indonesian court accept a will drawn in Australia? Maybe, but it would have to confirm to the laws in Indonesia. Maybe they won't. What if you die intestate – with an invalid will maybe. What are the intestacy laws there? Who will benefit? What if you want to leave the asset to someone else and there is a statutory requirement that means spouse inherits automatically etc.

4. Getting legal advice there is difficult. You will get contradictory advice from the same lawyer on different days of the week.

5. You will pay stamp duty or tax to the lawyer only to find out a year later that the lawyer spent the money and needs payment again because the tax wasn't paid!

Then you have the general cultural and other issues:

1. How well can you read Indonesian? Can you understand legal contracts written in Indonesia?

2. Are you aware of how widespread corruption is there? Are you prepared for the bribes you will need to pay.

3. Are you ready for the "shakedown"? As a foreigner you will pay more for everything. Amounts will be added to everybill. Repairs will cost more, electricity more.

4. Are you aware that the legal system doesn't work the same as in Australia. Even if you have a court order it may be unenforceable. To get the court order you will have to bribe at every step along the way. The bureaucracy there is crazy. Even if there is no issues the process for any transaction is long and drawn out. You may have to provide incentives just to get the paperwork processed in a slow manner.

5. Different concepts of time. "jam carot' or rubber time means that if you organise a meeting at 3pm no one will come until 5 to 6 pm. They will blame the traffic, even if there is none. So you will have days and days wasted just waiting around.

I went to Indonesia a few years ago to assist an Australian man who had his property stolen – title transferred. He has a supreme court order to that he is the legal owner but the title still isn't in his control more than 3 years later.