How To Find A Long Term Villa in Ubud

You decided to come to Ubud for more than just a few weeks. Where should you stay? Booking through the usual sites is going to cost you a fortune. In this blog post, I will tell you exactly how to find a long-term villa in Ubud which is beautiful and convenient. You will also find more information about the contract types and what to mention when looking for your new home.

Ready let’s dive in!

What’s Available For Long-Term Stays in Ubud?

There is quite a wide range depending on your budget and needs but this is what’s generally available:

Room and bathroom

This is the most affordable option and they are quite spacious rooms! Most of the time they would come with a shared kitchen or swimming pool. Depending on the location and amenities provided, these rooms hover around $200 per month. If you find something 15 minutes away from Ubud and without a pool, you might get a cheaper price!

One-bedroom villa

This is the most popular search. A one-bedroom villa would give you the privacy you wanted and more space. They come with a private kitchen and sometimes a pool. Generally, the price here is around $500, again, depending on the distance from the centre and amenities.

When it comes to villas there are 2 options. You could either get your house within a local family compound or be on your own completely. The local family compound is an area owned by the family. It includes a few houses and the family temple. If you are staying in Bali for the first time and are on your own, I recommend staying within a family compound. The reason is that you have someone to support you at any time. For example, do you know how to change the gas in the kitchen? And the water tank is 19 litres, can you change it yourself? You will be able to eventually learn everything yourself but in the beginning, you need to learn many things! There is also the social aspect of course which is lovely to experience.

Two bedroom villa

You can get a 2, 3 bedroom villa and so on. There is no cap here! I noticed it’s quite rare to have a bit of garden when it comes to a 2 bedroom house, so if that’s what you are looking for you might need to spend more time house-viewing. This is because they are getting rid of the garden to add an extra room nowadays! Anyway the price for a 2 bedroom house hovers around $900 per month. As usual, it depends on the number of rooms and location.

Could I get my accommodation for cheaper?

The answer is yes! If you get into a 1-year contract or even longer, you will get a better deal for sure. The contract details are normally advertised on the advert but you can always ask and negotiate.

What to Ask Before Viewing The House

Are bills included in the price? Bills are included most of the time but it’s better to ask, you never know!

How often is the cleaning? The majority of contracts would include house cleaning at least once a week. If you have a pool, there should be someone who would be able to manage the cleaning and technical side of it too!

Is there any mould? Unfortunately, old houses will come with mould. So make sure you clarify this before even viewing the villa.

Is the villa part of a family compound? As explained before this might mean good or bad news based on what you’re looking for.

What to Ask During the House Viewing

1. Discuss the contract further: note down how long the contract is and if there is any way to maybe make it longer so that you can bring the price down. Remember you can always sublet it (most of the time). This might mean you will have to pay everything in advance. For example, if you are renting for a year you might need to pay the year’s worth of rent in advance. If you have to leave earlier for any reason, you can still rent the remaining time to someone else – asking for the entire sum in advance again. Make sure you clarify this with the owner!

2. Negotiate the price: you can generally take the price down a few million, it’s always worth trying!

3. Ask if bills, cooking gas and water tanks are included: Some owners would only provide gas/water tanks for the first month. This is also fine.

4. Enquire about the trash collection: Is there a recycling collection? Recycling is still not really a thing in Ubud, however, some villa managers started providing collection services for different materials.

Where To Look For A Long-Term Villa in Ubud

Option 1: Start from Facebook Groups!

I know it sounds strange but this is the best way to find a long-term villa or room in Ubud. Head to Facebook and make sure to follow these three FB pages below:

• Ubud House Rentals
• Ubud Long Term Villa Rentals
• Ubud – Housing & Rental

Right, now that you’re on the right place, follow these steps:

#1 Make sure you are looking at fresh posts

As soon as you land on these pages, make sure you go straight to the “Top listings” dropdown and select “New listings”. This way you will see the new posts first. To find your place in Ubud you have to be quick and on the ball!

#2 Publish your post with detailed requirements

You can either just scroll through the offers, or you could go straight to the point and write your own post with your requirements. This is what I wrote last month:

From this moment you will get bombarded with PMs! Be patient and go through all the messages. Make sure you go see the houses quickly as they will be gone in no time!

#3 Leave a note on the Community Facebook group too

If you didn’t get the results that you wanted within a couple of days, leave a note on the community group too. There are quite a few if you type “community group Ubud”. Although they are not a group specialised in house search, there will always be someone who knows someone who is renting their property!

Option 2: Trusted Housesitters

Not sure if you know of this site but it’s pretty good. Pet parents advertise their properties when they go on holiday. You can stay at their villa for free and in exchange you look after their pets. There aren’t many adverts in Bali, I’ve probably come across 3 within a week. You have to pay a small fee ($129) per year but it’s totally worth it considering you can stay in free accommodations all year round. The dates range would vary a lot, some hosts would need help for a weekend, others for months!

Similarly to Facebook, you will need to be quick, so make sure to activate the email notifications, this way you’re on top of all the free properties available in Bali.

Option 3: Ask Everyone!

Starting a conversation in Ubud is the easiest thing ever. Whoever you talk to, make sure you ask if they know of someone who is renting a house. Yesterday I went to the temple, and on my way, I met a lovely lady. After 1 minute she pitched me 3 houses on rent on her land! ahah So ask your driver, host, waiter at the cafe, anyone!

Where To Stay In The Meantime I Search The Villa?

Good question! You have to start searching when you’re already in Ubud because you would need to go back and forth to messages and start viewing straight away. I would recommend staying somewhere near the centre. Check out the best places in Ubud to book and if you are opting for a homestay make sure you read this blog post about 15 things that homestays in Ubud don’t include (little spoiler – no hand soap!).

Conclusion

If I were you, I would do a combination of Facebook posts and ask around. Whilst Trusted Housesitters would mean free accommodation, it’s not something you can rely on considering there aren’t many posts advertised in Bali. The whole process of finding a villa in Ubud shouldn’t take more than a couple of weeks. You’ve got this! Happy search!

Ciao for now,

Silvia x

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