They promised 15% returns. They lied.
Warning
If you are considering investing in or selling property in Bali or Indonesia, please read this page and heed my warning before risking your life savings.
I want to be perfectly clear: I am not a competitor, and I'm not angry for the sake of it.
Like you, I believed the promises made by these developers. I reviewed the math, did my own independent checks, and put $500,000 of my own money into three separate Bali properties. This site is what I found once the dust settled.
Over the past few years, I bought into three separate Bali developments, drawn in by the same pitch everyone hears: guaranteed returns, glossy renders, a booming market. At first, the illusion held up. I earned interest during construction, the builds progressed, and everyone was happy.
But then, the buildings were supposed to complete. The truth was revealed.
Guaranteed returns printed on glossy brochures.
That's across the two properties that even finished. The third isn't earning anything at all.
Here's what it's bought me: three separate off-the-plan properties in Bali, all sold on the same promises you're reading right now. Like most of these developments, each one paid a fixed "interest" during construction — enough to make everything look like it was working. Once that scheme ended and the properties went operational, actual returns collapsed to almost nothing. The property that's still stalled never even made it that far — it's just sitting stagnant.
If this is what happened to me going in with my eyes open, what do you think will happen to you?
Property One
Completed some time ago
Finished well below the quality advertised, with reviews far worse than what was promised.
Property Two
Completed, running well
Finished to a genuinely high standard, with excellent reviews. Even so, the return isn't close to what was promised.
Property Three
6-10 months overdue, still not half-built
Due to finish 6-10 months ago. Still nowhere near complete. The developer has gone completely dark — no calls, no emails, no updates, even to the sales channel I bought through, who are themselves unpaid and still chasing answers.
Why Are Names Redacted?
I would prefer to publicly name this business to protect future buyers directly. However, under Indonesia's strict defamation and electronic information laws (UU ITE), naming a developer directly — even truthfully — creates real legal exposure for me. I am forced to censor their identity to protect myself, but the outcomes described on this page remain exactly the same.
I thought I'd found a safe, well-run developer to buy into. I purchased three properties from [REDACTED], led by what appeared to be a confidence-inspiring, trustworthy management team of Indonesians and other international partners.
They have been operating on the island for years, boast a flashy website, and feature what I now know to be heavily sanitized online reviews. Their Sales Director came from a well known Australian real estate agency, and they continue to outsource Australian sales agents to aggressively push their operations today. I believed them to be completely trustworthy.
I was wrong. For two years, the facade held. Then, the mask slipped.
Property Three was due to finish 6-10 months ago. It is still nowhere near complete, and [REDACTED] has stopped responding entirely — not to me, and not to the sales channel I bought through, who are themselves owed money and left just as in the dark as I am.
This business has burned me, and the reviews suggest I'm not the only one.
And if you sign on the dotted line, they will burn you too.
This isn't an isolated incident with one bad developer. The Indonesian property market is currently a playground for scam artists targeting Australian investors.
Look no further than the recent A Current Affair exposé on the notorious Jamie McIntyre and his alleged scamming escapades over in Lombok. It is the exact same playbook: big promises, shiny brochures, and devastated Australian investors and small businesses left with nothing.
New to the terminology? Check my property glossary.
Bali and wider Indonesian off-the-plan property carries risks that go well beyond a typical real estate purchase: foreign buyers cannot hold freehold title, marketing to overseas investors is largely unregulated, and contracts are often informal by Australian or Western standards. It can be done safely, but only with independent legal review and realistic expectations about returns — see my red flags checklist before you sign anything.
Not in the way most Western buyers assume. Indonesian law generally prevents foreigners from holding freehold (Hak Milik) land title. What's usually sold to foreign investors is a leasehold interest, a Hak Pakai right, or a stake structured through a PT PMA (foreign-owned company). Each carries very different risk and renewal terms. Read my full breakdown on leasehold vs. freehold in Bali.
In my direct experience, across three properties marketed with guaranteed returns of 8-15% p.a., the two that were even completed delivered 0.8-2% p.a. once occupancy and market saturation caught up with the brochures — and the third isn't earning anything, since it still isn't built. Every project is different, but treat any guaranteed, fixed return on an inherently variable asset class like short-term rental with serious skepticism.
Verify the company registration, the land certificate, and the building permit independently — not through documents supplied by the developer's own lawyer. My developer due-diligence checklist walks through exactly what to check before you transfer any money.
Guaranteed high fixed returns, pressure to decide quickly, payment requested to a personal rather than corporate/escrow account, an unwillingness to show land certificates or permits, and a lack of independent (non-developer) legal advice are among the biggest warning signs. See my full red flags checklist.
Sellers face a different set of risks to buyers: agents charging upfront "marketing fees" then disappearing, developers who make an exit as difficult as the entry, and Power of Attorney arrangements that are a common vector for fraud if handed to the wrong person. See my guide for sellers before you list.