Flatshare in Jakarta
Flatshare is popular among expats staying or working in Jakarta, especially when they are in budget constraint. However, with the increasing average rent in Jakarta, this concept is getting more and more familiar to the natives as well. In the past days, expats prefer tp share the cost of renting a house or a room with the friends they have known long enough. Nowadays, it is common for them to share flat with a new person.
In Jakarta, the flatshare applies either for apartments or houses. Though less frequent, expats also share rooms of a house, either with live-out or live-in landlords. Each has their advantages and disadvantages.
In-house or apartment flat-sharing, you can choose anyone you want to share the flat with, but the replacement can be a bit challenging when a flatmate decides to leave before the others. Meanwhile, in renting the rooms of a house, either with a live-out or live-in landlord, the new tenant is determined by the owners. Sometimes owners even don’t involve other flatmates, which means that compatibility is not taken into account. However, with this way, you will need to rent a room only, without having to bother much if the other flatmate decides to leave. With a live-in landlord, the property you live in is probably looked after, which can be another plus point. The disadvantage is that you will be less relaxed and free as the landlord is there in the same house with you. You can choose each flat sharing type based on your needs and preferences.
Opting to share apartments or houses with other people can help expats make considerable savings, especially for those who plan to have a long-term stay in Jakarta. This flatshare approach will give you the chances to live in a good-quality apartment or house without having to pay too much.
The flatshare trend is commonly found in all of the places in the Special Capital Region of Jakarta. However, there is still no statistical data which shows the exact number of flat sharing in each of the municipalities. Looking at the number of expats we can see around Central Jakarta, as Jakarta’s administrative and political centre, it is quite reasonable to assume that the flat sharing number will be higher in this area.
Unfortunately, in Jakarta, there is still no certain website or service provider that provides detail information about flatshare. While people need to know everything about the flat-sharing, from the available shared flats, who needs flat sharing, to the cost of flat sharing, and many more. Since flatshare will mostly bring you to an entirely new stranger, it can be a bit risky if you don’t know much about with who you will share the flat.
Luckily, some forums for expats have long discussed this flat sharing concept. Members of the forums are required to introduce themselves, countries they come from, the location of the house or apartment they want to share, the location of their office, the length of stay in Jakarta, and the preferred payment method . Moreover, it is also recommended to share personal preferences. For example, if you want to cook or if you want cable TV and the internet, as well as any additional facilities. It would also better if you inform about your character as it helps people to know if you are an ideal flatmate for them. On the other hand, this kind of information will also help you find the right roommates for you. You can have a private conversation with that new stranger about this and that before deciding that both of you will share flats together.
What must be taken into account are the term of payments and other obligations of the contract. In-house or apartment flat sharing can be a bit complicated when one flatmate decides to leave before the others, in which you have to make new replacement contract for the new stranger who will replace him or her. Each landlord has different rules. Therefore, it is better to discuss any possibility in advance. Despite an unwritten code that says a leaving flatmate has to do their best to find someone for replacement, you need to prepare for backups and warn anyone to have prior notice long before they decide to leave. Discussing this with landlords will sometimes give you much of help.
Living in Jakarta
In fact, looking a place to live in Jakarta is not that difficult as there is a mushrooming development of apartments in some areas in Jakarta. However, finding the one that can fit the budget, is near with the workplace, and can suit your taste, as well, can be a problem. Some places that offer low prices might not be as clean as what you expect. The location might also be far away from your workplace that can put you into other problems like traffic. The apartments and houses located at the strategic places might be offered at the higher price, and those with limited budget might think twice to rent it by themselves. In this case, flat sharing helps a lot. But, again, finding the one to share the flat with can be tricky.
For those who plan to go to Jakarta, it is better to have a prior searching via online media to avoid any problems and hassles to find the right living place when they arrive in Jakarta. Some expat forums can be the best alternative to find out about the flat-sharing information in Jakarta. Also, some other offline efforts can also be done, like asking people around the areas you want, go from one place to another to find the place that you desire, and many more.
Last but not least, what to notice when flatshare a house in Jakarta is that probably the landlords have some local rules that are different from other countries. For instance, some landlords don’t allow people with different sexes to live under the same roof. While other owners tend to be flexible about the rule, but you need to make sure about that before deciding to rent a particular house, to avoid any possible dispute in the future.