From the first viewing to the certificate in your name, a Bali purchase runs through seven steps. Two of them are where deals go wrong, and both happen before any money should move. This is the sequence as a notary would run it, with the timing we actually see.
1. Pick the structure before the property
Leasehold, Hak Pakai, or HGB through a company — each has different requirements of you personally, and one of them depends on holding a stay permit. Choosing the villa first and the structure second is how people end up with a property they cannot hold in the form they wanted. The freehold-versus-leasehold guide covers the choice; ten minutes there saves a month here.
2. Viewing, and the document pack
Ask for the documents before the viewing, not after. A seller or agent who will not send the title number, the zoning and the permit status in advance is telling you something. On our listings the pack is free and pre-viewing by policy: title certificate, term and renewal wording, PBG, SLF, zoning.
At the viewing, the questions that matter are boring: where does the water come from, how many watts is the connection, who owns the access road, what is behind the back wall and is that strip zoned green or buildable. A rice-field view is a feature until someone gets a permit.
3. Due diligence — the step people skip
Independent of the notary and independent of the agent. Budget $800–2,000 and one to two weeks. What it establishes:
- Title — that the certificate is genuine, current, matches the plot on the ground, and is not pledged as collateral.
- Seller’s authority — that the person signing can sign. Inherited plots with several heirs are the classic trap: one absent heir can undo the deal years later.
- Zoning (ITR / RDTR) — whether short-stay guests are lawful on that plot at all.
- PBG and SLF — whether the building is legal and certified fit.
- Boundaries — a physical check against the certificate. Bali plots are frequently a few metres off.
If you take one thing from this guide: do not let the notary’s check substitute for your own. The PPAT verifies what is required of them, not everything that matters to you.
4. Offer, deposit and the conditional agreement
An offer is normally followed by a deposit of 5–10% and a PPJB — a conditional sale and purchase agreement — or, for a lease, a signed lease agreement. Two clauses to insist on:
- What happens to the deposit if due diligence fails. It should come back. Say so in writing.
- A deadline. Open-ended conditional agreements have a way of becoming the seller’s free option.
Pay into an account in the seller’s or the notary’s name, never into an agent’s personal account, and never in cash.
5. The deed, at the PPAT
The PPAT — Pejabat Pembuat Akta Tanah, the land-deed official — executes the transfer. For a transfer of ownership this is the AJB, the sale and purchase deed; for a lease it is the notarised lease agreement.
Before signing, taxes are settled: BPHTB at 5% from the buyer, final PPh at 2.5% from the seller. The PPAT will not execute until both are paid. On a lease there is no BPHTB, but a 10% final tax on the lease amount applies, normally to the landowner.
The deed is in Indonesian. If you do not read Indonesian, pay for a sworn translation and read it. The English summary an agent hands you is a courtesy, not a document.
6. Registration at the land office
The PPAT registers the transfer at the BPN, the national land agency, and a certificate is issued in the new holder’s name. For Hak Pakai and HGB this is where your name lands on the certificate. Four to eight weeks is normal. A lease is not registered as a title — its strength is the notarised contract, which is why the contract wording carries the whole weight.
7. After closing
- Register for PBB, the annual land and building tax, in your name.
- Transfer the electricity and water accounts.
- If the property will take guest income, confirm the zoning permits it and get the tax treatment right — 10% if you are an Indonesian tax resident, 20% withheld under PPh 26 if you are not.
- If SLF was missing, decide whether to pursue it. It becomes a resale question later.
Realistic timing
| Leasehold, clean documents | 2–4 weeks from offer to signed lease |
|---|---|
| Hak Pakai | 4–8 weeks, most of it land office registration |
| Through a new PT PMA | Add 4–6 weeks to incorporate — and check current availability first, Bali restricted several KBLI codes in 2026 |
| Inherited plot, multiple heirs | Add a month, or walk away |
None of this replaces professional advice. The structure and the deed are confirmed by a PPAT or a konsultan hukum on your specific plot. What an agency should do is put the documents in front of you early and tell you plainly which ones are missing — and that is what the fields on every listing here are for.
Common questions
Can I buy without visiting Bali?
Legally yes — by power of attorney, with a sworn translation of the deed. In practice we advise a video viewing at minimum, and an independent inspector on site. The things that go wrong are the access road, the water and the neighbour’s building plans, and none of those show up in photographs.
How large a deposit is normal?
Five to ten per cent, into the seller’s or the notary’s account. Never into an agent’s personal account, never in cash. And never without a written clause returning it if due diligence fails.
Who chooses the notary?
Whoever is paying should have a say, and the notary should be independent of the agent. If a seller insists on one specific PPAT and will accept no alternative, ask why.
What if the villa has no SLF?
It is common on Bali, including on good properties. It is not automatically fatal, but it is a price conversation and a resale issue, and in a few cases it signals the building diverges from its approved PBG plans. Get it checked rather than waved away.
Do I need an Indonesian bank account?
Not necessarily for the purchase, which can be funded by transfer from abroad. You will want one for PBB, utilities and any income, and a PT PMA route requires one for the paid-up capital.