Look at the Property through the Eyes of an Engineer

Your first impulse when visiting land will be to look for the things that are important to you. It is human nature to admire the view, or perhaps enjoy the serenity of the neighborhood. However, before you get your heart set on buying this property, you must check some important details to see the parcel is worthy of your admiration. Two questions must be answered:

a)What kind of obstacles will I encounter when I try to build a house,

b)Are their any "fatal flaws" that make this land simply unbuildable?

A. Do you have clear access to the land?

Access is often a problem. Your partner, or whoever is helping you with the process, should be able to help you confirm these details. Remember, just because the access road to your land looks like a public road, it may be private land. This can be a very costly mistake. (Discussed furhter in detail in "Due Diligence"

B. Where are public facilities, such as electricity, phone, and possibly water?

Life is tough without these utilities. If water is from a well, is the water in your area plentiful and unpolluted? Don't expect drinking water from the tap, but well water can be salty or the well can go dry in the dry season. Also check on the availability and cost of utilities. Sometimes the only way you can obtain a connection to electricity is on the black market.

C. Does everything on the land belongs to you?

I had a coconut tree on my land that was owned by a family far away. This fact was revealed to me two years after I bought the property. It is not uncommon for someone else to own trees or even structures on your land! Make sure you know what you are buying.

D. Check the drainage of your land.

Try to determine how the water will drain away during a hard rainstorm. Some flat areas may drain easily to some defined drainage ditch. Other flat areas are prone to flooding. the drainage flow pattern may not be obvious, but the owner should be able to show you a drainage ditch that leads to a nearby creek. In some flat areas, a mearby stream may overflow its banks and cause occasional flooding. Normally, you can protect your property by bringing in fill dirt and/or building a high foundation so that your house never floods. Sometimes drainage is diverted to a rice field that can change or block normal the drainage patterns. Man-made roads can do the same thing.

F. Check the stability of your land.

If your land is located on, or adjacent to, a steep slope then then the possibility of landslides or mud-flows should be considered. Since all of Lombok was formed by volcanic activity, hillside slopes are generally quite steep. Evidence of past landslides can be easily seen if you know what to look for.

The picture shows a block of earth has slid downhill onto the road. At the top of the slide, where the dirt has moved downhill, a characteristic "stair-step" scarp can be seen. A depris pile can be seen at the toe of the slope.

Evidence of a smaller landslide can be seen about halfway up the hill. In this cases, both landslides are relatively small. However, this same stair-step shape with is characteristic of any landslide prone areas.

These are not soil conditions where you would want to build a house.

G. Double Check any Issues that Remain Unclear

Before any agreement to purchase can be reached, you will have time to research all aspects of the property during Due Diligence. While this time is primarily intended to research clear title, this period also allows you to double check any item listed above to make certain you wont have any other physical problems with the property.

I.Important Facts to Consider

A.Is ownership risky?

B.Lombok: A Different Culture

C.Living on Lombok

II.Summary Steps to Buying Land

A. Get familiar with Lombok

B. Choosing a Partner("Nominee")

C. Find a parcel of Land

D. When You Find a Parcel

E. Negotiate the Price

F. Comprehensive Due Diligence.

G. Initiate Title Transfer.

H. Issuance Land Certificate

III. Visit All Lombok First

A. From Tourist to Resident

B. Explore the Hidden Lombok

C. Starting a Checklist

IV. Legal Issues

A. The Issue of Ownership

B. Foreigners Solve the Problem

C. The Nominee Method

D. Foreign Direct Investment(PMA)

E. One Final Option

V. Choose Partner and Team

A. Start Looking Early

B. Wide Variety of Skills

C. Other Trustworthy People

D. Check if Trustworthy

VI. Places that Sell Land

A. General Warnings

B. Real Estate Companies and Websites

C. The Local Tour Guide

E. The Local Gossip Mill

F. Miscellaneous Sources

VII. When You Find a a Parcel

A. Initiate Early Discussions

B. The history of the land

C. Get to know the Players

D. Slowly Get to the Price

VIII. Through an Engineer's Eyes

A. Clear access

B. Public facilities

C. Everything Belongs to you?

D. Check the Drainage

E. Check the Stability

F. Double Check Everything

IX. Settle Price and Terms

A. Necessary Preparations

B. Establish Proper Atmosphere

C. Conduct the Negotiations

D. The Issue of Parcel Size

E. Money is Not the Only Issue

F. Giving a Deposit?

X. The Written Agreement

A. How do I Pay Money?

XI. Due Diligence and Research

A. Risk versus Benefit

B. Due Diligence

C. Checking Public Records

D. Digging for the Unwritten Truth

XII.The Notaris Office

A. Settling the Final Terms

B. Notaris - Initiate Title Transfer

C. Sign the Nominee Agreement

XIII. Finally a Certificate