What are the actual steps to buy property in Bali?

Most buyers meet this process in the wrong order — they fall for a property, pay a deposit to hold it, and start due diligence afterwards with money already committed.

Reverse it.

The five stages

1. Due diligence — before any money moves

Verify the seller's or developer's legal right to the land, and the permits. No notary is needed yet. This is checking, not committing.

Nothing that follows is safe if this stage is skipped, and a deposit paid before it is a deposit paid against an unknown.

2. Commitment — LOI or reservation

A letter of intent or reservation form fixes the price and takes the unit off the market. A refundable deposit, commonly 10%, is placed — and where it sits matters more than its size.

Ask one question: if due diligence fails, who returns this money, from which account, and by when? Get the answer in the document, not in a message.

3. Construction, for off-plan

A project management construction agreement or sale and purchase agreement governs specification, timeline, payment schedule and handover. Payments should be staged against verified construction milestones, not calendar dates.

4. Management, if you are letting it

Usually signed before handover. The clauses that matter are not the fee percentage.

5. Completion

The formal leasehold, transfer or sublease agreement. The notary is involved here — and it should be your notary, not the one the seller brought.

The due diligence window

Good practice is a defined window — commonly 14 days — during which the buyer's legal review runs and the deposit is refundable if a deal-stopper is found.

The mechanics that make it real:

• The window and the refund trigger are written into the booking agreement before you pay
• A deal-stopper inside the window is an automatic refund, not a negotiation
• After the window closes and due diligence has cleared, withdrawal is usually no longer refundable — refund terms then follow whatever the agreement says
• If the developer fails a condition — the PBG never arrives, for instance — that is a developer-side failure and should trigger a refund on its own terms

Fourteen days is tight for Bali due diligence. Certificate verification at BPN, zoning confirmation at the regency, and permit checks each depend on offices responding. If you can negotiate longer, do — and consider the visa that gives you time to do it properly.

Two rules at completion

No handover without a valid SLF on a completed property. The certificate of functionality is what makes the building legally usable.

No final payment release without notarial transfer confirmation. Not a promise it is being processed — confirmation it is done.

What to hold at the end

• The notarised agreement, registered where registration is available
• Permit status for everything on the plot: PBG, SLF, and any outstanding condition
• Tax position: PBB and PPh, with proof of payment
• Warranty period and how to claim on it
• A written note of what triggers going back to your lawyer — developer default, permit revocation, an heir dispute

One thing about leasehold that surprises people

On a lease, the owner generally remains responsible for land and property tax. That is normal, and it means the tax bill is not yours — but it also means an owner who stops paying creates a problem attached to land you are using.

Confirm who pays what, in writing, and confirm the PBB receipts are current before you sign.