First post from Jakarta

I need to choose a sensible starting point before building a broad comparison, because the detail available in Jakarta may not support the same approach used elsewhere. I work as a market analyst and am interested in duplex opportunities, transaction costs, property management, financing comparisons and the gap between advertised and completed prices.

I do not want to import assumptions that fail in Indonesia. For a newcomer, is it better to begin with one local property example, a thread about available sales data, or a checklist covering legal and transaction issues? I am also interested in which questions should come first if the example might become a first purchase rather than remain a model.

A useful first comparison would be narrow, but the obstacle is knowing what you intend to do with it. One area, one property type and one time period should produce clearer answers than a broad set of asking prices.

Is the duplex example connected to a possible first purchase, or are you mainly testing an investment framework? That distinction would determine whether financing and transaction steps come first, or whether the initial task is simply finding comparable price and management data.

Also clarify what you mean by “duplex,” because members may use that word for different layouts or ownership arrangements. I wouldn’t treat advertised and completed prices as a simple discount calculation: the properties and timing may not be directly comparable. For Indonesia-specific transaction costs and legal questions, use current local confirmation rather than importing assumptions from another country.

I agree on defining the property, but I’d examine data availability before building the model. If completed-price information is limited or inconsistent, a precise spreadsheet can create false confidence. Ask members what each figure represents, how recent it is, and whether renovation condition, financing, management costs or occupancy are being treated consistently.

One practical first post on the local board could use a single hypothetical purchase and list every unknown separately: purchase price, financing, transaction costs, renovation, ongoing management and eventual sale assumptions. Mark each item as confirmed, estimated or unavailable. That should produce more useful replies than asking for one all-purpose dataset—and it will make cross-market comparisons much easier to challenge.