Finding somewhere to live in Jakarta

Why a year, and what it buys you

Indonesian landlords have quoted and collected annual rent for decades, and it is why headline yearly rates look cheap next to the monthly equivalent elsewhere. It is also negotiable in a way most arrivals do not realise: six-monthly and quarterly terms exist, particularly in serviced buildings and with owners carrying vacancy, and the price of that flexibility is typically ten to twenty per cent on the rent. Deciding whether to pay the premium for shorter terms is a real choice, not a failure to fit in.

• Annual payment is the default and gets the best rate.
• Six-monthly, quarterly and monthly terms exist at a premium, most often in serviced apartments.
• A two-year commitment usually buys a further discount, and concentrates more risk.
• Negotiate the term and the rate together — owners trade one against the other.

Verify the owner before anything else

Ask for the certificate of ownership — commonly a Strata Title (SHMSRS) for an apartment or Hak Milik for a house — and the owner's KTP identity card, and check both names against the person you are paying. Where a company or an agent signs on an owner's behalf, ask for the written authority. This is not an unusual request and a legitimate owner will not be offended by it.

• Certificate of ownership and the owner's KTP, with the names matching the payee.
• Written authority where an agent or family member signs instead.
• Pay by transfer to a named account, keeping the record. Cash for a year's rent is indefensible.
• A short signed agreement in Bahasa Indonesia and English, with the Indonesian version usually controlling.

Brokers and the price you are quoted

Jakarta's listings pass along a chain: an owner tells a building broker, who tells an agency, who posts it to a Facebook group where a foreigner finds it. Each link wants a margin, and the advertised rent absorbs it. The way through is to price the same unit type in the same building through more than one route before you negotiate, so you know what the floor looks like.

• Rumah123, 99.co and Lamudi carry the visible market; a lot of stock moves through building brokers and WhatsApp only.
• Compare the same layout in the same tower from two sources before opening a negotiation.
• A broker paid by the owner should not also be charging you.

What the rent does not include

Apartment buildings charge a monthly service charge per square metre for common areas, security and maintenance, quoted separately and often omitted from an initial comparison. Electricity is usually prepaid by token and metered to the unit, water is generally billed through the building, and parking is charged per bay. Add all of it before deciding one building is cheaper than another.

• Service charge per square metre per month, on top of rent.
• Electricity prepaid by token in most towers; the PLN tariff depends on the connection rating.
• Parking per bay per month, and visitor parking separately.
• Ask whether the service charge has been raised in the last two years, and by how much.

In order

1. 1Fix your office first and search within a realistic traffic radius of it, not a map radius.
2. 2Shortlist by building, then by unit — the building decides the service charge, the lifts and the water.
3. 3Price the same layout through two sources before negotiating.
4. 4Ask for the ownership certificate and the KTP, and match them to the payee.
5. 5Agree the term and the rate together; ask what six months would cost.
6. 6Add the service charge, parking and electricity to the rent before comparing.
7. 7Photograph everything and attach an inventory to the agreement.
8. 8Pay by bank transfer to the named owner, and keep the receipt.