Before signing any Bali lease, inspect five systems that
photos never show: the roof and ceilings (rainy-season leaks), the water
source and pressure, the PLN electrical capacity, drainage and damp, and
the neighborhood at three different times of day. A villa that
passes those five is probably a home; a villa that fails two of them is
a renovation project with your deposit as the budget. This is the
working checklist we run at Bali Expat Housing on every
property we shortlist — built from nine leases of my own since 2015, two
of which I walked away from at exactly this stage, and refined across
hundreds of client inspections.
Bring this list, a phone charger (you’ll see why), a bluetooth
speaker, and patience. A proper inspection takes 60–90 minutes. Any
owner who rushes you through in fifteen is answering a question you
haven’t asked yet.
1. Roof, ceilings
and the rainy-season question
Bali’s monsoon (roughly November–March) will find every defect above
your head. Outside the rainy season, you must inspect for evidence
instead of drips:
- Ceiling stains and fresh paint patches. A single
repainted ceiling circle in an otherwise aged room is a leak with makeup
on. Ask directly: “Where has this roof leaked, and when was it last
repaired?” - Alang-alang (thatch) roofs look beautiful and need
replacing every 4–7 years. Ask the age. A grey, thinning thatch is a
Rp40–100 million job — make sure the contract puts it on the owner. - Flat concrete roofs and skylight seals are the
chronic offenders in modern minimalist builds. Check corners of upstairs
rooms for damp maps. - Gutters and downpipes: blocked or absent gutters
mean waterfall walls in January.
If you can inspect during rain, do. I once watched a “perfect” Berawa
villa develop an indoor stream in a ten-minute downpour — the listing
had been up, dry and gorgeous, all through August.
2. Water: source,
pressure, quality, heat
- Source: PDAM (municipal), well, or tanki delivery?
Each has different costs and failure modes — details in our utilities cost guide. - Pressure test: run the highest shower and the
kitchen tap simultaneously. Weak flow upstairs means an undersized pump
or failing toren (rooftop tank). - Quality: in dense coastal zones (parts of Canggu,
Berawa, Sanur), wells increasingly run brackish. Taste is a blunt test;
salt-crusted fittings and corroded shower heads are better witnesses.
Ask when the well was last tested and how deep it is. - Hot water: confirm every bathroom actually has a
heater connected, and turn each one on. “Hot water throughout” often
means one working unit and two decorative ones.
3. Electricity: capacity,
safety, reality
- Read the meter box: the VA capacity is printed on
it. A pool villa needs 4,400–7,700 VA to live normally; 2,200 VA means
the breaker trips when the kettle meets the AC. Upgrades are the owner’s
negotiation item, not yours. - Trip test: politely switch on all AC units, the
water pump and the kitchen at once. If the villa can’t hold it for ten
minutes, you have your answer. - Charger test: plug your phone into sockets in every
room — dead circuits hide behind furniture. - Look for safety basics: a proper breaker panel (not
a spaghetti of taped joints), grounded outlets in the kitchen, no
exposed junctions in damp areas. Indonesian residential wiring quality
varies enormously; a Rp500,000 electrician’s pre-check is cheap
insurance on a multi-year lease.
4. Damp, drainage
and the ground beneath you
- Smell the closed rooms. Mold announces itself.
Check wardrobe interiors, under-stair storage, and grout lines in
bathrooms. - Rising damp: bubbling paint in the bottom 50 cm of
walls, especially in older Sanur and Ubud houses. - Site drainage: is the villa below road level? Where
does the garden drain? Pererenan and Canggu’s building boom has paved
over rice-field drainage at speed, and yards that never flooded now do.
Ask neighbors — literally: “Banjir di sini waktu hujan besar?” (Does it
flood here in heavy rain?) - Pool health (if applicable): clear water, working
skimmer, pump age, and who pays for maintenance — get the pump into the
owner-repairs column of the contract, per our rental agreement
guide.
5. Noise, smell and the
three-visit rule
Visit at least twice, ideally three times: morning, evening, and —
decisive — Friday or Saturday night if anywhere near a
beach club corridor. Bring the bluetooth speaker on visit one and leave
it silent; you are there to listen. Standard Bali soundscape (roosters,
gamelan, dogs, the odd ceremony) is part of the deal. What you are
screening for: construction sites next door (ask how long the project
runs — “six more months” is Balinese for “years”), event venues, a
warung with karaoke ambitions, and the flight path effect in
Jimbaran/Kedonganan. Smells: check wind direction relative to rivers,
pig farms (rural Ubud), and burning sites.
6.
Legal and paperwork checks (the ones inspections forget)
- Match the owner’s name to the land certificate —
and if the landlord is themselves a leaseholder, verify their head-lease
allows subletting and outlasts your term. Full explanation in leasehold vs freehold in
Bali. - Building permit: ask whether the villa holds a PBG
(Persetujuan Bangunan Gedung — the building approval that replaced the
old IMB under Government Regulation No. 16/2021, per the Ministry of
Public Works, pu.go.id). An
unpermitted building can, in rare but real cases, face administrative
action — as a tenant you want to know the risk exists before you pay a
year up front. - Zoning reality check: villas built on land zoned
for agriculture (still common in the rice-field fringes) carry a quiet
risk premium. A notaris can verify status quickly — this is part of our
standard leasehold guidance
review.
7. Inventory and
handover documentation
On furnished villas, photograph everything at check-in: every
appliance serial, every stain, every cracked tile, meter readings (PLN
and water), and the key count. Attach the photo set to the lease as an
appendix and have both parties initial it. Ninety percent of deposit
disputes die instantly against a timestamped photo inventory.
The scoring system we use
We grade each section pass / conditional / fail. Any fail in
roof, water, or electrical capacity = renegotiate or walk. Two
conditionals = every remedial item goes into the contract with a
deadline (“owner installs second water pump before 1 August; if not
completed, tenant may deduct cost from rent”). Verbal promises about
repairs have the lifespan of a Canggu sunset.
Want the
inspection done by people who do it weekly?
Every property we present to clients has already been through this
checklist plus the title verification layer — so the villa you fall in
love with is one you can actually sign. Tell us your budget, area and
move-in month via the inquiry page, or WhatsApp
the team at wa.me/6281139414563. We reply
with real, pre-inspected options within 24 hours.
Disclaimer: informational only, not legal advice. Building-permit
(PBG/IMB) rules per PP No. 16/2021; verify permit and land status with a
licensed Indonesian notaris/PPAT.