After raising their family in Brisbane and decades of global adventures—from living in the UK to settling in Australia—this dynamic couple decided to embark on a new chapter: investing in a beautiful villa in Bali. Originally from South Africa and Zimbabwe, they’ve always had a passion for travel and discovery. What started as yearly holidays to Bali soon blossomed into a deep love for the island’s culture, people, and lifestyle. Now, as they edge closer to retirement, they’ve made Bali more than just a holiday destination—it’s become their home away from home. In this interview, they share their journey from dreaming to doing, and the exciting road to owning an off-the-plan villa in the heart of Bingin.
Would you mind sharing a bit about your background? Where did you grow up originally?
Dennis and I immigrated from South Africa to Australia in 1998. Dennis is originally from Zimbabwe. I’m South African. We had lived in the UK for three years from 1986-1989. So we are not averse to travelling and setting up home in new countries. In fact we find it pretty exciting. Australia has been good to us, and we brought three children up in Brisbane.
We enjoy travelling and have been to many countries. We first went to Bali in 1992. After the initial shock of landing in Bali with it’s horrendous traffic and pavement potholes and overpowering smells, we soon fell in love with the magic of Bali. The people, the pace and the spiritual essence of Bali. After that we returned every year, sometimes twice a year.
As a family we have all grown to love Bali and call it our second home. Last year we decided to invest in Bali. So began the journey of finding the right property.
What inspired you to invest in Bali, secure a leasehold, and establish a second home there?
One of the main reasons we decided to invest in a home in Bali was to continue to enjoy the lifestyle we love in a country we now call our second home. As we are nearing retirement, we thought it would be fun to have a home in Bali and spend 3- 6 months there (eventually) and 6 months in Australia with our children and grandchildren.
There’s so much to do in Bali and we want to enjoy it with family and friends. It’s a lot less expensive to purchase a villa and enjoy an above average lifestyle in Bali than it is in Australia.
While some of our friends are purchasing homes in retirement villages in Australia, we feel too young and feel the need to mix with young entrepreneurs, digital nomads and the like. Plus it makes economic sense investing in Bali with a much higher ROI.
Could you walk us through the process of purchasing an off-the-plan villa?
The journey began with Instagram and Facebook posts by developers in Bali. Scrolling through the most gorgeous villas with enticing prices we narrowed a dozen or so down and made appointments with developers and real estate agents alike to view properties last June. Initially we hadn’t decided on a particular area.
We like Canggu but ruled it out as the traffic is horrendous. Being in our 60’s we then thought Sanur might be the right area for us. We saw a few lovely villas, but decided the ROI would be better in Seminyak, Ubud or Uluwatu. Although we love Ubud, we wanted to be closer to the ocean.
Having done a huge amount of research we settled on Bingin. It’s a growing area, full of young influencers, surfers, health nuts and the beautiful people with lots of disposable income.
We’d love to hear about your stunning new villa! Could you describe the property and what makes it special?
We kept coming back to a development called Larente Villas, in Bingin. We first saw the development on the Baliest Instagram page. Karmo and Jurgen at Baliest real estate are honest and upfront and having that trust between developers and ourselves was essential.
It appealed to us because a) it was the right price point b) had style and was completely different to any other villa we’d seen. The curved walls, and windows, the tall ceilings, and stylish interiors, the plants and stunning pool area, all make it highly saleable. We fell in love with it and 15 months later have moved in.
Why did you choose Bingin specifically to invest in? What attracted you to this area?
I can’t say Bingin was our first choice. Mainly because one really needs to ride a scooter to get around easily. When we read in a real estate article that ‘Bingin is the new Bondi’ we decided to have a closer look. There is a different type of clientele here. From our observations we think the main demographic is 25-40 year old professionals, who are spending big. They are the ones going to fancy restaurants, joining gyms, playing padel, having spa treatments, doing ice baths, yoga retreats and surf schools. The area is growing, and developing and has a vibrancy to it. It’s easier to get around on a scooter here, than Seminyak, Canggu or ubud. One feels safer. The climate here is drier, as Uluwatu is higher and therefore it doesn’t rain as much as say in Ubud.
What factors led you to decide to invest in an off-the-plan development rather than an existing property?
We had looked at existing properties, but none of them seemed right. We felt this particular villa fitted our criteria.
How did you hear about Our Year in Bali, and what was your experience with Simone’s support throughout this journey?
I had been following Our Year in Bali on Facebook and Instagram. When we decided we too would like to have more of an exciting lifestyle in Bali, I reached out to Simone via Facebook message and we booked a discovery call. I immediately felt secure in her knowledge of Bali. It was a fantastic launching pad to our new life in Bali as Villa owners.
Communication with Simone was clear and concise and every question was thoroughly answered. She set us up with a few highly valuable contacts. One of which is our Lawyer, Michael Lenihan at Gateway Consultancy. Simone has stayed in touch with us throughout our journey, and we are very appreciative.
How do you see this new opportunity you’ve created in Bali working alongside your Australian lifestyle?
We see ourselves living between the two countries, once we retire. In the interim, we are letting out villa out on Airbnb and booking.com to get some return on our investment.
Once we retire, we will spend a few months each year in Bali, and the rest of the time in Brisbane with our children and grandchildren. We hope they too can join us over in Bali and enjoy the fun of the villa.
When you enjoy your time in Bali, what do you like to do? Any favourites spots or activities?
Having spent most of our holidays between Seminyak, Sanur and Ubud, we are now discovering Uluwatu and all this area has to offer.
We live next to a fabulous coffee shop called ‘Fleur’. We like to eat breakfast at The Cashew Tree or Gooseberries. We’ve enjoyed lunch at Milk and Madu. We love to watch the sunsets and are still discovering the best venues to watch from. Ulu Fish market is amazing. I’ve never seen so many beautiful people! And the food is amazing. We love the Melasti beach area, and the various beach clubs, one of our favourites is Tropical Temptation. We recently went to Savaya which is amazing.
What tips would you share with those who are looking to do the same kind of investment?
This is not for the faint hearted. Research a lot! Set up your support team. Engage Simone from Our Year in Bali for initial contacts.
From that pick your Team – lawyer, notary, accountant. Have a really good driver to drive your around to view villa after villa, site after site. Be clear on whether it’s an investment (choose with your head) or a home. (more of a heart choice) Make sure you are respectful of the local customs and people.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience living in Bali that we haven’t covered yet?
There’s a lot of admin and setting up of KITAS, Bank accounts, documents etc, so make sure you check and recheck and have someone employed to have your back. Also we engaged Bali Home Inspector who went through the villa with a fine tooth comb and compiled a detailed defects list with photos. It cost about $800 and was well worth it.
The biggest problem with villas in Bali is water leaks. This company were onto them, and thankfully our villa is water tight! Other than that, enjoy the experience. It’s fun, and exciting, and makes one feel alive. We love Bali, and are so excited that we can now call it our home away from home. And it all started with that one call to Simone.
