In Reply to: The Bali Advertiser posted by Colleen on Saturday, 17. July 2004 at 11:07 Bali Time:
The Bali Advertiser is a good a place as any to look. It's also on-line at (don't quote me on this, I'm going from memory):
www.thebaliadvertiser.biz
Anyway, you can find it easily enough in your favourite search engine. You can also place a free ad in it on-line. I've used it many times and the company seems to be quite efficient.
You could also consider advertising in the main local paper but it's web-site is less than helpful.
While there are lots of agents in Bali, I've found their web-sites next to useless. And remember that you'll be paying considerably more using their services.
One of the best ways of finding a place, although time-consuming, is to drive around the areas you're interested in looking for signs on telegraph poles. One problem there is that often the house on the sign has been rented long ago and nobody's bothered to take it down. I just spent two months looking for my current house. If you have any good friends in Bali, tell them what you're looking for and they may be able to help.
Make sure the place has enough electricty for your needs - 2200Watts or more is enough for most people unless they want to run lots of air-conditioning. Try to avoid houses next or very close to big temples, or you'll end up being sorry. Karaoke bars and live music venues can also cause you sleepless nights.
Just for interest, my new place has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a large garden, two garages, telephone, 2 ACs, kithcen and louge room. I managed to get it for Rp 26 million/year (approx AUD 80/week) and it's in Sanur, an area not particularly famous for its cheap rents.
So - figure out exactly what kind of place you need and try advertising. If you're not actually in Bali, I'm not sure how you can tell the relative merits of different properties. Again, a good Balinese friend might be helpful but also remember that many Balinese (and Indonesians in general) have odd ideas of what, for example, is a big bedroom - or what is "close" to Kuta. Looking for my house, I had one guy ring me from Lombok (the next island east of here!), another from Singaraja (in the north of Bali), even some from Ubud even though I expressly said I was looking in and around Sanur.
Good luck (and I hope this helps you a little).