In Reply to: Helping Bali friends to get a house .... posted by sting ray on Wednesday, 11. February 2009 at 14:00 Bali Time:
for $10K, hope they are really good friends. Don't want to sound negative, but I live in Bali and my Balinese friends just built a gorgeous house for their son and I lent them some money (know them well and live here so could see the house being built etc) and they borrowed from me 25 million rupiah, they already had the land. It is a really nice house and it cost them in total 50 million to build, it is a 2 bedroom, they have built it to a standard that they can rent it out to Westerners and then pay me back with rental monies. So $10k seems like a lot of money for a Balinese house, especially when the main expense is the Western fittings such as shower, hot water, toilet etc. Going through the process with them I learnt a lot about how cheap the Balinese can build a house compared to building it for a Westerner, for example the Hot Water (shower), toilet and basin and kitchen sink and some kitchen cupboards cost 7.5 million but the magnificent Balinese garden cost them only 700,000. The Balinese do not put in Hot water, toilet or shower and they use a different type of sink.
For example a relative of mine gave a Balinese worker of his 800 euros to build her house, it's not to Western standards but she loves it(she had the land already).
Then there are the sad stories that I continually hear, where Westerners lend money for homes that is not actually used for the home, it is usually because a Westerner cannot believe how cheap it is to actually build a home so believes that $10k is not much.
Just wanted to let you know as I have done the same thing but not that much money was involved, I am very happy with my decision, but I just wonder if your friends actually need $10K for a house, I know my Balinese landlord paid about US$15K 2 years ago for the house I live in, it isn't a palace but it is a Western home and that included the land.
I know its none of my business how you spend your money but just wanted to let you know that Balinese housing is very cheap to build.