For anyone considering starting and running a Bali villas business whereby you rent their use of the villa to tourists, there is a huge fly in the ointment which you may not yet be aware of. We say fly, but in truth, it is more like a giant eagle in the ointment such as is the problems it creates. We are talking about Indonesian law, which states that no foreigner can own property in Bali.
When entrepreneurs hoping to start a Bali villas business discover this huge legal roadblock, it is often enough for them to ditch their plans and seek another business model. However, as with any law, there are ways, not to break it, but to swerve it. In the case of owning property in Bali, some entrepreneurs use a nominee to purchase a villa for their business.
A nominee is an Indonesian citizen who agrees to have the property ownership registered in their name, however, it is you that finances the purchase, and then has use of the villa for your holiday rental business. We should point out using a nominee carries huge risks, and so we thought it best to point out some of the pros and cons of buying property in Bali with the help of a nominee.