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hi, don't worry if you wanna live in jkt...welcome and get the best place for your family:D

Hi Shane,

Well the truth is that what you have heard is right..but, and I emphasise the BUT here, to a degree.

Jakareta is no more unsafe than any major city in the world and for that matter any major city in Asia, for example, I would not put Jakarta any higher up the list than Delhi. It is true the water is not good enough to drink but then again having lived in London and New York I can tell you that the water is not okay to drink in those two places also!!

Everyone drinks mineral water and all appartments have a dispenser do dispense both hot and cold mineral water from 1 gallon bottles so it's not a problem at all.

On the whole, having lived in Jakarta for approx. 1 year with my family I can say that it a nice and welcoming city to live and work in.

If you are after community then the Indian community here in Jakarta is of a big size and the schools here are also fantastic, although on the pricey side, however if your company is paying as mine are this is negated from the issue. (Ghandi International has an excellent curriculum and the teachers are of a very high standard in mu opinion a higher standard than in India!)

In regards to places to stay, the Indian community is very large in Taman Rasuna and many Indian families live there, so plenty of friends for your wife to make and also your children, it is a complety safe complex with security 24hrs and excellent facilities. IT is on the cheaper side of the price range, granted, but the appartments are quite big and the upside here is the family and community side of things. Price range around 800-1500 USD per month.

You can also consider Mega Kunnighan to live in which also has a largeish Indian community, and is also where my family and I reside, it is more expensive than the "average" with apartments of a family size going for about 2500-4500 USD per month, although you can find cheaper but with a family of your size I would think that you need a slighlty bigger place.

If you are after a house or condo then Pondok Indah or Kemang would be the preferred location, the only issue I would think of with this is where you are working as the traffic into work if you work in the business district would take you around 2 hours to negotiate in the mornings.

There are many Indian and Western Restaurants available of great quality in Jakarta and the standard of living is very high, the people are friendly and courteous as well and since living here I can report I have had no trouble whatsoever and even not had a sniff of trouble at all, which is not the case for my home town of Delhi!!

I would reccomend that you come to Jakarta, I was aprehensive just like you but since being here, I can say I have enjoyed it immensly and the kids and wife like it too!! With a 3 year contract here it's a good job!

If you want to ask more specific questions then feel free to ask, I or someone else would be more than happy to answer them for you!!

Regards,

Waz.

Dear Waz

Thanks for excellent input

However my salary is not that Huge , Iam offered to 3000 USD per month and out of which they told 400 USD will be for House rent

Please check whether this is okay can i get condomium type house on rent in 400 USD

Regards
Shane

HI Shane,

You welcome, that's why we are all here on the forum. I myself was helped to make my decision to come to Jakarta by the honesty and advice of the members of this forum.

Okay, to be honest Shane your allowance is rather low for the securing of a condo in Jakarta. The issue here is that Jakarta is one of those places in the world where the playing field is not even between local residents and the expatriates.

In your price range I would suggest that you should be looking for an apartment and not a condo to live in. For this I would say that it is probably most advisable for you to get in touch with an Indonesian in your company (our office assistant helped me with this) to arrange for an apartment for you. If an Indonesian does the negotiation for the apartment on your behalf then you will most likely get a big discount from if, for example, you did the negotiation as you are an expatriate and the landlord's will take you to town as they all think we are made of money and unfortunately they think they can rip you off. It's a shame, but it's a fact of life over here.

You will have to pay a bit extra than $400 USD though so please bear this in mind. I would suggest you could get a decent enough apartment for around 600-650 USD not including water and electricity bills.

Another thing to bear in mind is that your negotiating power becomes exponential the more you can afford to pay up front. Most landlords want a whole years rent up front paid for, although this is negotiable to around a 3 month upfront period you will pay for it in terms of the price as your room to manoeuvre will be limited, this is where the assistance of a Indonesian comes into play!

Taman Rasuna is still probably your best bet for a good apartment in the centre of town within your budget and with all the facilities you would like (shops, swimming pool for the kids, tennis courts, basketball courts, availability of Indian shops selling our spices etc.)

Hope this helps you out a bit, any more questions then please ask away!

Regards,

Waz