Short answer is lots! With so many options close to home for shopping, eating, drinking and just plain old chillaxing.
Most importantly it’s a great choice for those property ROI’s.
That’s a big statement and here’s why.
Some history first. The southern west coast of Bali is the most popular destination for visitors to Bali. This began in the once sleepy fishing village of Kuta and the surfers who discovered paradise. Numbers grew and the word got out and it didn’t take long for development to spread to neighbouring Legian.
Now, the area is still incredibly popular for visitors looking to indulge in surf-fuelled hedonistic beer soaked neon nights and if you’re lucky enough to find anything for sale here, you’re likely to be looking at price tags as serious as a New York heart attack ranging between IDR 2 - 3 billion per are. Yes, you heard that right! Billion, with a big capital “B”. At today’s exchange rates that’s about USD 225,000 for 100 square meters! Ouch!
The Kuta-Legian contagion spread to the sleepy village of Seminyak and while this was a more upmarket and sophisticated destination just a few short years ago, attracting a ‘different sort of tourist’, it has in recent times become as popular and as busy as the areas it tried to be different from. And with that popularity comes ‘popular’ prices ranging between IDR 1.2 - 1.4 billion per are and small land plots.
Moving up the west coast and next on the list to succumb to this inevitable development has been Petitenget and Batu Belig. Both areas offering more of the same options and facilities as Seminyak and to a lesser degree Legian and Kuta. Prices in these areas are also on the rise but they’re less and range between IDR 800 - 900 million per are.
And then we have Berawa, where average prices range between IDR 700 - 800 million per are.
It’s true that Berawa borders Batu Belig and is just 20 minutes from Seminyak, which is all well and good, but the real draw about Berawa are property options, land sizes, what’s on it's doorstep and who lives there.
Berawa is very much a self-sustainable community of full-time expatriates from around the world. This diversity is reflected in an eye-watering variety of places to eat as well as world-class facilities close at hand, which include Finns Beach Club, The Canggu Club (now called Finns Recreational Center), international schools, shops, banks, medical clinics and a top surfer’s beach. This is a big draw, especially for families.
The down side to this growing popularity is that property prices are on the rise. However, it’s still a very attractive place to get a healthy return if you’ve got the right strategy and mindset and of course a good real estate agent who's more interested in helping you get the best deal than clocking you down as another commission.
It’s very possible to lease a nice three-bedroom villa for 25 years and rent it out for USD 30,000 + per year, thereby recouping your initial investment in 10 years. If long-term rentals aren’t your bag, it’s good to know that the demand for short-term holiday rentals is also on the rise and more than a few people are tapping into this lucrative market too, making their ROIs just as attractive and certainly better than anything they could get from a bank, short of daylight robbery!
The truth is we’d invest in Berawa. And we’d do it for three primary reasons:
1. Value of money. What you get is more affordable than Seminyak and Batu Belig. Land sizes also tend to be larger.
2. Proximity to fantastic facilities, including the beach, restaurants, Finns Recreational Center and the Canggu Station (a great place to shop for groceries and daily essentials) are all real close.
3. ROIs. There are a lot of two and three-bedroom options, which are in demand for both short term and yearly rentals and a perfect way to start a healthy revenue stream.
This article was written by Andrzej Barski from Seven Stones Indonesia
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