Flat sharing in jakarta

Flat sharing in Jakarta

Flat sharing is the new trend in Jakarta now. As the living cost of Jakarta has increased, plus it is not really nice to live alone in a big city like Jakarta, many expats and Indonesians are opting for flat sharing when they move to Jakarta.
As the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta has many attractive factors that lure both Indonesians and foreigners to come and stay in the city. Playing big role in this country`s economic growth, Jakarta now has become the hub for many international companies. That`s why it is easy to find foreigner workers here. Plus, there are new trends among young professionals to stay in flat, than in their house, especially for those who come from the other cities.

Besides of that, there are many well-known and well-established national companies that put their headquarters in Jakarta, which means there are many vacancies available in this city. Hoping for a better life is the major reason why many people simultaneously and eagerly come to Jakarta and looking for a job especially, after Lebaran or Idul Fitri.

For expats or Indonesian, flat sharing is wise decision to survive in Jakarta as well as cutting the living cost and of course, makingnew friends. Whether you are an expat or Indonesian who are looking for flat to sharing, there are few things to consider before you make the decision.

1. 1. Find the best flat.  There are many flats available in Jakarta for rent. From the north to the south areas, you will be spoiled with numerous choices of flats. But, finding the best flat as your expectations in Jakarta is not easy. Here are some considerations before choosing a flat as your living space.
      • Location matters. For some people, especially young professionals and expats will look for flats near their office. As you know traffic in Jakarta is the last thing you would wish to encounter in your live. The congestion in Jakarta is getting worse every day and you have to off early if do not wish to stuck in the congestion and late to work. You can try to look for flats near your office, or at least the nearest place to your office. This way, you can save your time because you can reach the office by on foot and also cut your accommodation cost.
      • Think about your standard
        When you have some flats building in mind, take your time to do some surveys. See if the flat is the living space you are looking for. Pay attention to its space, furniture, security, cleanliness and hygiene. Good tips for expats, if you are not familiar with Azan (calling for Muslim to pray), you may consider choosing flat that is not directly facing a mosque because it will make you get up earlier in the morning. And if you are a hygiene freak, you may not want to stay in flat that faces the big street, because the dust is no joke.
      • Think about the city`s annual problem, too. Flood!
        Flood is just another social problems in Jakarta aside of pollution and bad traffic. During the rainy season, most of the areas in Jakarta will flood heavily and frequently. During the floods, the traffic will be getting worse.
   2. Deal with the landlord. Most of the flats in Jakarta are owned by local people, but there are holes in every regulation right? You may find flats that owned by foreigners too. Recent talk about housing systems in Indonesia indicates that Indonesia President Joko Widodo has agreed to let the foreigners to buy luxurious flats in Indonesia which means there will be more flats and landlord options to face. Talking about the landlord, expats will find it quite hard to deal with the landlord because of these reasons.
      • It is really typical Indonesian landlord to charge more rental fees for foreigners. It is based on the calculation of foreigner`s income in Jakarta which can be double, even triple times more than local workers.
      • Some of landlords will make difficult contract for foreigners, like asking for advance rental cost for 1-2 years, charging extra fees and many more.There is an idea that long has stayed in local Indonesian mind that all the foreigners are rich, so they can freely cost them higher.
      • Well, not all local landlords have bad or mislead stereotypes about foreigners. You are still able to meet lovely and reasonable landlord here. Thus, you need a comprehensive and extensive search of this. It is better to get reference from colleagues or friends about the flat, so you won`t spend many times just to find a right flat with reasonable landlords.
      • If you are Indonesian, talk with the landlord won`t be so hard. But still, you also need to find reasonable and kind landlords that won`t cost you higher that the average price.
   3. Rental cost matters.The rental cost for flat in Jakarta is varying, depend on your choice; low-end flat or luxurious and full furnished flat. Determine your budget first and then you can focus searching the flat within your budget range. According to Colliers International Indonesia`s report, here are some popular residence areas for expats living in Jakarta, plus its rent cost for 2 – 3 bedrooms per year.
      • Sudirman $ 2,200 – $ 6,800
      • Menteng $ 3,000 – $ 5,000
      • Kuningan $ 2,500 – $ 5,000
      • Pondok Indah $ 2,000 – $ 5,000
      • Kebayoran Baru $ 1,750 – $ 6,000
      • Permata Hijau, Simprug $ 2,700 – $ 4,000
      • Kemang $ 1,500 – $ 2,000
      • Cilandak $ 1,500 – $ 1,900
      • Cipete $ 3,500 – $ 5,000
      • Pejaten $ 3.500 – $ 7.000
        Please keep in your mind that many landlords will ask you to pay 1-2 years rent cost in advance. But, if you just stay in short period in Jakarta, you may have good talk and negotiate with the landlord in terms of the rental cost. This cost range is not a fix number, but, you can use this number as the guide.
   4. Your preference. If you are not really care whether your flat is near your office or not, you may consider few popular neighborhoods to choose. Especially if you are an expat that wants to feel Jakarta`s real vibe and meet local people.
      • Menteng
        Located in the middle of Jakarta, Menteng is convenient areas to be if you are working in international or national businesses and industries. It is easy to commute from Menteng to your office, because you can access public transportation, Transjakarta buses or taxi, to get to your office. You can easily find flats in Menteng, too but the cost won`t be cheap. And because Menteng is located in the center of the city, you have easy access to enjoy the modern features of Jakarta.
      • Kemang
        This is the most popular neighborhood for expats and young professionals to stay. Located in the northern side of Jakarta, Kemang offers various nightlife entertainments which is compel with foreigner`s culture. There are many international and national companies, too. But keep in mind that Menteng usually floods heavily during rainy seasons.
      • Kebayoran Baru
        It is a nice place to live with plenty choices of dinning places, drink, and entertainment. The area is accessible to public transportation, too. But, the traffic is the main issue in this area. Prepare to face long congestion!
      • Kebayoran Lama
        Located near Kemang, Kebayoran Lama offers more affordable living cost than Kemang. There are a lot of neighborhoods to choose in this area, for example, Cipete/Cilandak, Gandaria, Permata Hijau and Pondok Indah. But please expect long and boring congestion at the evening where everyone back from work.
      • Kelapa Gading
        This northern area of Jakarta is not favorite place for expats to stay, but it does have many flats and entertainment centers. But the area is quite far from the city center that makes you need to off early to office and it gets floods every year, too.
   5. Find the right roommate. In flat sharing, the existence of a roommate is essential. You are going to move into a flat with him or her and that`s the very reason why you have to find the right roommate, because you are going to spend your stay in the flat with him. Everyone doesn`t want to encounter awkward moment with their roommate, right? There is no perfection in this world and it is wise not to ask for perfect roommates. You just need to find right roommate. This is why looking for roommate is not easy.

• • You have to find the roommate that has same expectation as yours; from the cost, the location, rules and preferences.
  • Your roommate may have habits that will bother you so much
  • Your roommate may not have same hygienic standards as yours
  • and many more, you name it

However, finding the best roommate is not impossible at all. Here are some tips of how to find the right roommate for you.

• For expats, there are some expats forums you can use to advertise yourself. You can create new thread there and write that you are looking for a roommate. You must state your rules clear there. For example, age between 19-25, male/female, looking for flat in Sudirman area (for example) and many more. This way, the other users from the forum that has same interest with you will be easily evaluating themselves if they are right person as your roommate.
• Or you can scroll down the thread and look for someone that is looking for a roommate in your preference area of living. You can read their rules and if you are okay with those, give them a call!
• For Indonesian, you also can also use forums or social media to find flat sharing roommate.
• Once you find the candidate, talk openly about your rules, your expectations, and of course the cost! Let your roommate knows every detail and let them say their preferences too, to see if you both have same need.
• Be honest and be kind to your roommate candidate even if she is a total stranger to you. Once you respect them, they will respect you back and you can live happily in your shared flat.

By taking these things into your consideration, hopefully you will find the right flat with the best roommate to live. Jakarta is a modern city with tons of good things to see. Feel free to explore the city and feel the vibe where modern lifestyle meets traditional and religious atmosphere. Despite of its awful traffic and flood, Jakarta is a nice city to live in, both for Indonesians and expats. It offers wide selections of entertainments, beautiful skyline, countless dining areas, international singers’ gigs, international shows, festivals, and many more. Expats may find that alcohol is quite expensive here and there are certain clothes restrictions especially for female. Aside of that, Jakarta is candy land with numerous high-end malls, outlets, cafes, restaurants and bars.

The post 5 things to consider before flat sharing in Jakarta appeared first on Serumah.

Let’s meet with Dio. He previously rented a room. But now, he decided to live and spare an apartment. He used Serumah to find flatmate. A friend of him recommend him to use serumah since it’s easy and effective.

1. Hi, would you like to introduce yourself?

 Hi, I’m Dio Faiz, 24 years old. I work in one of insurance company in Jakarta.

2. How long you have been renting your flat?

I have rent the flat for two months. I found it from Serumah.com.

3. Could you describe your apartment?

I live in apartment in Kalibata, Pancoran, South Jakarta, 12740. It has 2 bedrooms, one’s main bedroom and the other one’s children bedroom. I live in the children bedroom. We still need one more people to share the main room. That’s why I register to Serumah.com.

4. How do you end up sharing a flat together?

Well, a friend of mine is using Serumah.com. Then, he recommend it to me. At that time, I didn’t register by myself. I use my friend’s account then I found my flatmate, Jamal, 29 years old. He previously rent the apartment and wanted to find flatmate. He chatted me and I feel that he’s compatible with my personality. Now, we both use Serumah now to find one more flatmate.

5. What’s so fun about having a flatmate?

I got new acquitances, explore new place and able to access apartment facility which I didn’t get when I rented in boarding house (kost-kostan). I also have parking slot for my ride.

6. Any downside?

I need to adapt with new people because we live together. I also hardly to invite my friends often to stay overnight. We need to respect each other’s privacy.

7. What do you think about flatsharing trend in Jakarta nowadays?

Flatsharing now is trending in town. My flatmate and I got so many good respond from other users. I personally prefer sharing flat than renting a room.

8. Would roomsharing be something that you’d recommend?

Absolutely. I have recommended friends of mine. I can show them using Serumah is more effective than finding roommate by words of mouth. But, we should realize each people has different consideration when sharing a room with new people or not sharing.

The post Let’s share… with Dio appeared first on Serumah.

Living in Jakarta because of working or studying is such a common thing for people here. Sometimes you’ll feel so boring staying alone at your room rent. Boring or even lonely when you walk home and found no one to greet and talk to you is such a terrible feeling. You’ll often feel during the weekend. Serumah team has some ideas what things you can do at your room rent during weekend.

1. Watch K-Drama

For you who addicted from Korean wave,you can spend your weekend watching K-Drama and ordering meals for lunch using ojek online. You don’t need to worry starving while watching episode by episode. There are currently recommended by Serumah team like Reply 1988, Goblin and Age of Youth to accompany your free time at weekend.

2. Clean up the room

It’s time to redecorate your room. Clean up your room. Sweep the floor. Make up your bed. Put a big warm teddy bear on your bed. Don’t forget to put your favorite stuff like teddy bear, manga or even game console.

3. Find roommate

Together to be better. Sometimes we need friends to talk unnecessary or unimportant things, stupid conversation. You can start finding roommate. By having roommate will help to brighten up your day. Now, there’s a new website rolling in town, serumah.com. You can register yourself and fill all the required fields and start finding potential roommate. This website’s as easy as online dating website.

4. Do some exercise

Burn some fat for your productive weekend. You can jog for 30 minutes, yoga or zumba. To save more money, you can do yoga or zumba in your room. Play it on youtube and turn the speaker on.

5. Cook

If you like to cook or eat meals, you can practice your skill. Shopping groceries at traditional market in the morning and cooking for the lunch or dinner. You can start from your favorite dish. But to cook, you have to make sure your boarding house offers kitchen facility. There are some dishes that’s easy to cook like satay taichan, wagyu rice bowl or stir fried tofu with salted egg.

Those are some ideas you can do for weekend at your room. Create your own comfort living space since according to Wendy Wunder, “The magic thing about home is that it feels good to leave, and it feels even better to come back.”. Let’s share what you’ll do this weekend?

The post 5 things you can do at your room while enjoying your free time at weekend appeared first on Serumah.

Serumah team has some ideas to help you creating your comfort zone in your new place. There’s a quote said that “There’s no comfort in growth zone, there’s no growth in comfort zone.” Yes, why don’t we expand the comfort in growth zone. Here are things you can do to expand your comfort zone in your new living space.

1. Be friends with people.

Having so many friends will help you not only broadening your network but also upgrading your skills. You’ll spend a quality time by having so many friends especially participating in some clubs/organization.

2. New adventure.

While you’re live far from home, why don’t you try something new? There was a quote from senior. He said that, “You’re not a college student, if you haven’t tried three things: demonstration (peace demo, this is democracy country huh?), hiking or climbing up mountain and serving the community. Once you’re graduate, you’ll be hard to have those experiences. That’s the privilege being a college student.

3. Redecorate your room.

If you’re typical introvert person that loves tranquility, you should redecorate your room to be look like your in your home. So you’ll not often feel homesick. Here some tips that you should try to redecorate your room rent.

a. Hang your best pictures of some best moments.

b. Create clipboard to post to do list. You can also create a clipboard where you can hang your accecories like necklace and earrings.

c. Collect pennies and put them in a small cute jar. It will help you a lot at the end of month when you’re broke.

d. Bring your favorite stuff like dolls, ipod, novels or even your favorite blanket. Create your room as comfort as you can.

4. Find right roommate.

Having roommate(s) will help you a lot. They will remind you to study when having exam or even waking you up for praying. When you see them studying hard for exam, you’ll be motivated to do so. The best reason having a right roommate is that you both can share anything like food, rent bills or even clean your room. Or, you can rent a house and share it with some housemates. What a nice idea right? You’ll be have more fun. Interested having roommate?

After reading 4 tips above, which tips that you have tried? Comment below

The post 4 tips for college student survive living far from home appeared first on Serumah.

Being a college student is a phase to be an adult where you need to take an attitude. One of the things is when you start confuse whether to rent a room, rent a house or commute from home to office/campus. The options star limited for people who have to work or study out of his hometown. They need to choose between renting a room or renting a house.

Rent a room

Rent a room is a best choice for people who are bother to buy furniture. Renting room in Indonesia mostly offers furnished room like bed, wardrobe and desk or even in some exclusive rent rooms, they offer water heater, TV and aircon.

But renting a room has a downside. You have obstacles to cooking or even having interaction with your neighborhood. Not all room rent offer cooking facility/kitchen. Some of the room tenant are individualist since they take a rest on the night and have no time to interact with people around.

Rent a house

Rent a house is usually annual payment. It is different from rent a room that is mostly monthly payment. Renting a house also offers no facility like renting a room offers. You still need  Kadang kamu perlu mengisi barang seperti meja belajar, televisi bahkan kasur dan lemari.

But don’t be dissapointed. If you rent a house, you can share renting with your friends. You’ll be able to cook freely, do laundry to save money or laugh together watching TV show.

One of hot trend nowadays is renting an apartment/flat. You’ll get facility like gym and pool. But if you think that rent a flat isn’t affordable, you can share renting the flat with roommates. Finding roommates now is easy right?

Daily Commute

One of the challenge commute from office to home is struggling in traffic. You’ll be got stuck in traffic although you use public transportation like Commuter Line or Busway. It is even worse when you drive your car. One of the downside of commuting is how tired when you arrive at office or when you come home. It’s really exhausted just thinking jostling in CL right? Or got stuck in crowded Busway.

But those sweat and fatigue will be paid off at the end of month. When you see your bank account, see how much many you save by commuting everyday. You don’t need to spend your money on meals and living cost. How about having a Eurotrip once your piggy bank got fat?

Those are all pro and contras by renting a room, renting a house and also commute. Which one do you prefer?

The post Dilemma between rent a room, a house or commute appeared first on Serumah.

Another story goes to Sasya a young woman who now walk in her career path. Having a family near to you is such a blessing for most of people. But Sasya has another opinion about it. What’s her story? Let’s find out!

1. Hi, would you like to introduce yourself?

I’m Sasya. I’m 27 and work in consultant agency.

2. How long have you been renting your room and where is it?

Well, I’ve rent my room in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta for about 2 years.

3. Could you describe your room rent?

The room is large for two. It has a queen size bed and two large wardrobes.

4. How do you end up roomsharing together?

She’s my younger sister who’s still a college student.

5. What’s so fun about having roommate?

My sister doesn’t need to spend on living expense. What’s better having a family live with you?

6. Any downside?

Ugh, she’s such a mess. She never tidy up bed and never do all the chores.

7. What do you think about roomsharing trend in Indonesia nowadays?

Roomsharing trend? Hmm, it’s one of coping strategy for people who are far from home. Having someone to talk is a nice idea for workers’ life.

8. Do you think Serumah website would be useful for people in Indonesia?

Definitely. It will help people like me who want to find the right roommate. I can find roommate who’s a neat freak in cleanliness.

9. Would roomsharing be something that you’d recommend?

Hmm only if you get the right roommate. If not, ugh, it would be a nightmare.

The post Let’s share…with Sasya appeared first on Serumah.

1. Hi, would you like to introduce yourself?

My name’s Zamzam. I’m 23 years old. I work as private employee in one of supplier of oil and gas instrument company.

2. How long you have been renting your room and where’s the location?

Well, I’ve rent my room in Harapan Indah, Bekasi for about 3 months.

3. Could you describe your room rent?

Well, my room is quite large. It has double bed, a TV, a wardrobe but I have to share bathroom. The boarding house offers small parking area.

4. How do you end up roomsharing together?

He is my older brother.

5. What’s so fun about having roommate?

The good things are I have a companion to talk to and he can help me to nurse when I sick.

6. Any downside?

He likes to sleep late and play music very loud.

7. What do you think about roomsharing trend in Indonesia nowadays?

I think it is a very economic option to rent a room but it’s not so common in Indonesia since it’s quite hard to find a roommate.

8. Do you think Serumah website would be useful for people in Indonesia?

It could be useful if there’re more users in the website so that there’ll be higher chance for me to find a new roommate.

9. Would roomsharing be something that you’d recommend?

Of course. Well, I think roomsharing will help us economically to rent a room, especially in capital city like jakarta.

The post Let’s share…with Zamzam appeared first on Serumah.

Undeniably, incompatibility can occur between you and your roommate. This could happens because the differences in characters and background that you and your roommate has. It’s not a nice thing if you have to quarrel with your roommate just because you have different opinion.  Well, you have to be careful. Here are 3 types of roommate you should avoid:

‘Celamitan’

What is the definition of ‘celamitan’? To those who are not familiar with the word ‘celamitan’, ‘celamitan is a trait of people who like to ask what others have, usually in the form of goods.

For example, your roommate likes to ask for your food stock, or other consumer goods such as soap, shampoo and other personal belongings. ‘Celamitan’ person always ask for your stuff. For example, when you’re eating eating, he asks for your food. When he goes to the bath he uses your soap, shampoo and even borrows your clothes. The worst thing is when he finishes borrowing but not returning it. It sucks, doesn’t it? This is sure to make you very uncomfortable, and your friendship is tainted by prolonged conscience.

If your roommate is the type of person like the explanation above, it’s good you expressed your feelings. Remember to choose right words to explain to your roommate so that your roommate is not offended.

Self-awareness

Another type of roommate you should avoid is the one who has no self awareness. There are many unfounded definitions, but ultimately this trait refers to an unpleasant act that harms one party.

For example, your roommate often bring his girlfriend to spend the night in your room. Another example, your roommate often assumes that whatever is in your room is his. So he wears your things as he pleases. Isn’t he right? You guys are roommates, but everyone have private area that no one should not pass.

So, tips from Serumah team for you who live with this type of roommate, you better move out and look for other roommate. You can also search for more affordable rooms. Instead of being stuck with that typical roommate and having to endure anger every day, it’s better to find friends and other healthier places for your goodness.

Liar

Who the hell likes to be lied to? No one. There is not a single person in this world who likes to feel lied to. Arguably, being lied is the most unpleasant feeling especially when your roommate lied to you. Ideally, your roommate is your friend. A friend should not lie to each other. If you have a lying boarder, and you know that he is lying to you, all you have to do is asking the reason why he lies and listen to his explanation.

Well, regardless of how annoying your roommate is, get him to talk before you take an action. You are friends and partner. How you should live in mutual benefit and keep each other’s feeling is the most essential to create a harmonious atmosphere. If you live with a roommate who has three traits mentioned, it is worth considering to move out and get a new roommate.

In Serumah you can register as roommate, housemate or both and find potential roommate that match mwith your personality.

The post 3 types of roommate you should avoid appeared first on Serumah.

1. Hi, would you like to introduce yourself?

Hi, I’m Veronica, 21 years old. I am a college student. I live in a house rent and share with five housemates.

2. How long you have been renting your house and where is it?

I have been renting a house in Bogor for 6 months. We actually rent this house for a year.

3. Could you describe your house rent?

We live in a very nice neighborhood. There’s security in every corner. The house has semi furnished. There are TV, three wardrobes, kitchen and three bunk beds. The house is very nice, it has a small yard where you can have picnic. It also has an open carport.

4. How do you end up housesharing together?

My previous room rent’s price raised so high. It costed almost doubled than before. Then I found the ads about this house. If it is shared for three people, I still can’t afford it. But it has 3 bunk beds in three rooms. So I initiated to rent this house for 6 people. I have two friends who already want to move from our previous boarding house. I asked my friend in my faculty and she agreed. My friend Sisi, got two candidate housemate from her faculty. Then we finally end up sharing the house together.

5. What’s so fun about having housemates?

You can cooking together, watching TV and laughing the talkshow together. I also do my thesis with them. So everynight, we were sitting on the living room and do our final thesis. But all in all, we got best price for rent expense.

6. Any downside?

We often fight over the bathroom. There are 6 person who go to campus at the same time but there’s just only one bathroom.

7. What do you think about housesharing trend in Indonesia nowadays?

Well, it’s quite familiar especially for every college student. I got this idea by watching Coklat Stroberi, an old comedy romance Indonesia movie. As a college student, we have to spend very less for any daily expenses. One of major thing to spending money is on renting room rent/boarding house. So we, college student, need to struggle to find affordable room but with good quality. By housesharing we can spend less on buying daily meal. We can share food by cooking together. If you’re sick, there’ll be a housemate that will help you to take you to clinic or buy a medicine. But you need to find the clicked ones. Once you meet the suitable housemates, you’ll enjoy sharing living space.

8. Would roomsharing be something that you’d recommend?

No doubt! I’ll recommend to all college students who struggle saving living cost. Moreover, by the existence of Serumah website. It will help a lot people who need to find housemate. No more asking one by one.

The post Let’s share…with Veronica appeared first on Serumah.

1. Hi, would you like to introduce yourself?

Hi, I’m Cahaya, 24 years old. I work in media investment management. I’ve been work here for 2 years. I’m now renting room rent with my roommate, Ayu.

2. How long you have been renting your room?

I have been sharing room rent with my roommate for almost 1,5 years. We rent a room in Mampang Prapatan, South Jakarta.

3. Could you describe your room rent?

My room rent is basically for one person. But the room is quite  large for one person. It has aircon, bathroom and a small kitchen. The landlord allow us to rent together and give extra bed so we don’t need to share bed.

4. How do you end up sharing a room together?

My roommate is my friend at uni. We were also in the same neighborhood before we rent a room together. The cost was 800k IDR. Then, we found our current room rent which cost 1500k IDR. The facility is pretty much better than the previous room rent so we decided to share a room together.

5. What’s so fun about having a roommate?

My roommate, Ayu, have a slightly different working hours with me. I usually work from 10 to 7. She works from 7 to5. So she’s the one who wake up first and mostly sleep earliest. But, she always wakes me up every morning to pray and we have small talk before sleeping. We sometimes have breakfast together. At weekend, we often spend time together having window shopping. Having a roommate really improves my social life.

6. Any downside?

I’m quite messy person and my roommate is the kind of perfectionist one. So I rarely clean our room and bathroom. I know it was pretty hard for her to adapt with my attitude. But day by day, she is able to deal with my habit. I also improve my habit. We clean our room every weekend.

7. What do you think about roomsharing trend in Jakarta nowadays?

I think roomsharing trend’s very common and happening now. My friend even rented a house and collected the housemate. If at that time, Serumah already exist, she didn’t need to ask person one by one.

8. Would roomsharing be something that you’d recommend?

I totally recommend people having a roommate! You can save money on rent and also have a better social life.

The post Let’s share…with Cahaya appeared first on Serumah.