Meet Luke Rowe. The head of marketing residential project at Jones Lang LaSalle who loves surfing, nature, and most of all his family.
Luke, could we start with a little background information, where are you?
I was born in Geneva, Switzerland. My grandfather, he held the position of the Australian ambassador. My father was in Vietnam as a professional soldier. My mother chose to spend time in Switzerland rather than only in Australia, but our starting point is Manly - a suburb in Sydney waterfront
How long have you lived here in Indonesia?
I first moved to Indonesia in 1993 until 1995, then spent two years in Sydney again. I chose to return to Indonesia in 1997. I have always specialized in commercial and residential property. It was a wild ride, many years several presidents, economic upheaval, massive political changes and most of my business time was spent in and around Jakarta. I recently learned that the vast Jakarta metropolitan area is home to 26.5 million people making it the second largest city in the world after Tokyo.
What do you like most about Jakarta? How you and your family usually spend your weekends?
Grandtyana is my beautiful Indonesian woman, and school sports and organized sports, such as football, basketball, swimming and tennis to keep us busy. I'm always a passionate surfer and regularly make trips to Pelabuhan Ratu. There is a pretty good brotherhood are people here who love the sport of surfing and thanks to that, I made some friends for life who are as stupid and as interested as I am.
Foreign ownership is a difficult and often confusing issue here. How foreigners can invest in real estate in Indonesia
I always answer that question with tongue in cheek ?; marry a local, as I did. But in reality, a casual answer. Really, there are only four roads. First, you can form a foreign investment company and invest in real estate HGB as the vast majority of Indonesians. This is, of course in the long term, renewable title, which is able and mortgage company may own a 100% interest in the asset. Second, use a candidate structure (which puts a lot of trust in the candidate). Third, make a long-term lease. A lease is actually registered here. Therefore, a long-term lease is a very safe way to get the exclusive enjoyment of a property. Obviously this does not give the benefits of full occupancy of the property, but it is definitely a sure way to enjoy a place in Indonesia. Fourth, expatriates with work permits in Indonesia have the right to purchase property under a formal title called Hak Pakai. It is remarkably similar to HGB, but can be saved directly on behalf of the foreigner.
What expatriates traps can fall in purchasing the property?
I guess the biggest trap for a young player is to place too much trust in a dubious arrangement candidates. The road is littered with corpses, where people entered real estate transactions in a hurry, did not get the adequate security of tenure, did not have a mechanism to withdraw their capital and do not have a mechanism for out the arrangements. My advice is quite simple: Perform a complete due diligence, using professional advice and spend the extra money on hiring a law firm capable of real estate transactions. Before making any purchase decision, get very clear agreements and buy reputable developers. Look at alternatives before emotional buying decisions of funding, and to be as complete as possible -. Because it is an important and expensive decision
Where do you see the real estate market of Indonesia headed in the future?
It is incredibly exciting to think that this vast metropolitan area with 26.5 million people has only about 80,000 apartments. As the city continues to grow, as traffic congestion worsens, the infrastructure can not be delivered at the rate of population growth, there is a real trend in the life of the city center and we believe this will continue in the foreseeable future. We are naturally very excited by this trend and we have intensified our residential project marketing activities accordingly.
Keep an eye on JLL new projects. We find the middle segment of the market more interesting. Capital values are still reasonable, although they are rising fast. Rental yields are incredibly good compared to other more developed cities in the region and the world. As Indonesian mortgage rates continue to become more attractive, we will see a middle-class Indonesian increasingly, increasingly wealthy and able to offer this type of accommodation. This will create a long-term demand. At the same time foreign companies are expanding in Indonesia and will continue to be a demand for rental housing.
Do you think Indonesia has adequate infrastructure in place to support rapid growth?
Naturally, I would keep this article as positive as possible. However, the development of the infrastructure was not sufficient to meet the growing challenges facing this metropolis uprising. So many cars and motorcycles are sold month after month, and traffic continues to worsen. The public transport system still requires much work and smart thinking to truly serve the people. The tendency is to take advantage of the private car, because the public transport alternative is not attractive. I sometimes joke with my friends when they complain of traffic. I them a very simple solution still offers "Take a ojek"
So where do you see yourself in the future, do you plan to stay here or in Indonesia moving from here?
life is all about opportunities. my life is focused on my family, especially my wife and children. We continue to be happy here in Indonesia . It is nice to watch my children become bilingual, and see my wife thrive in its natural environment. Thanks to my professional life very hard and be able to chase the waves, I continue to enjoy life here in Jakarta. I l 'I waited a long time for the Indonesian economy to build and develop in the way it is now. It would be foolish to leave any time soon as we enter a long and prosperous period in the country.