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YES - You can own your own piece of Smiling Hill. The development company is offering for sale up to 15 properties - each of three or four apartments - with a 10 to 20 year lease-back returning an outstanding 11% on your investment.

 

OR

 

YOU can apply for a shareholding in the development and operating company giving you a stake in all company-owned properties and the revenues from the project’s development activities, property management business and on-going hospitality operations.

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Option 2 -  OWN a stake in the Company

 

THE BENEFICIAL owner, Smiling Hill Holdings Limited, is now offering an opportunity for a limited number of new investors to join the venture as it enters its Expansion Phase. The company is seeking new capital to fund further property acquisitions, renovations and upgrading of company properties into 2010 and 2011. The funding is being sought as direct investment or through the issue of interest-bearing 5-year convertible notes.

Batam, with a population of about one million, has been designated a Special Economic Zone and Free Trade Zone. It is the fastest growing region in Indonesia and one of the fastest growing economic regions in South-East Asia with a focus on electronics manufactures, shipbuilding and  heavy steel fabrication (mainly for the oil and gas industry).

The Indonesian subsidiary of Smiling Hill Holdings has aggressively purchased, at very favourable prices, many of the houses in Palm Hill Bungalows, a neglected residential estate located at Bukit Senyum (the Indonesian location name translates as Smiling Hill).

The properties are being redeveloped and finished to Western standards and then being held as a pooled managed investment.

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Returns and Asset Growth

THE PROJECT is yielding strong and reliable returns from rents, property sales, property management and hospitality operations. Directors are forecasting net operational yields (EBIT) rising to 25% per annum after the Start Up phase is completed.

However, the principal longer term benefit for investors is expected to be the capital gains resulting from the “forced” upgrading (gentrification) of the total estate and the impact of the on-going development of the wider Batam economy under its new Special Economic Zone status.

Smiling therefore is aiming at acquiring some 80% or more of the 54 houses in the estate. It is buying individual properties at low prices and collectively renovating and upgrading them. It also has upgraded the infrastructure (pool, clubhouse, guesthouse, security etc) and common public spaces. This is sharply lifting values.

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Target Market

THE RAPID expansion of key fabrication and manufacturing industries is bringing increasing numbers of Western specialists and supervisors to Batam on contracts, typically of 6 months to 2 years.

Because there is minimal Western standard accommodation available, many expatriates (or their employers) are paying high tariffs for less than satisfactory accommodation in hotel rooms or in small apartments or houses designed primarily for locals (and offering very limited facilities). Smiling Hill is targeting this market.

Smiling also is targeting both Western retirees and independent consultants relocating to Batam, attracted by its low costs and proximity to Singapore. No other developer or accommodation provider in Batam is specifically targeting the Western Expatriate rental market.

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Ownership Structure

THE SMILING Hill project is effectively owned and controlled by Smiling Hill Holdings Limited (domiciled in Hong Kong) through a 98% holding in the Indonesian foreign investment (PMA) company PT Smiling Hill Investments which owns and manages all company-held properties and assets and the projects construction program.

Smiling Hill Holdings Limited holds a similar interest in a second PMA company PT Smiling Hill Hospitality which is the operating entity for pool, restaurant and bar facilities. A domestic Indonesian company (PT Bukit Senyum Community Services) provides manpower services under contractual arrangements with PT Smiling Hill Investments and PT Smiling Hill Hospitality. This structure protects shareholder assets and provides administrative and tax minimisation benefits.

Investors are issued shares in Smiling Hill Holdings Limited. The company currently has 21 shareholders who have subscribed some SGD$2.6 million.

Acquisitions and most renovations work to date have been financed from shareholder funds and are free of debt apart from limited short-term borrowings (debt is less than 5% of total assets).

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Management Team

THE PROJECT is being managed and operated by three Australians and an American who also are shareholders. Two are foundation investors who each have had four to eight years experience working and operating within Indonesia, speak Indonesian and are familiar with Indonesia’s sometimes difficult business, cultural, legal, government and bureaucratic framework.

Together the management team brings a background of experience in property development, property management, building construction, business development and management, marketing, management accounting, business start-ups and restructuring and hospitality management.

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Project Progress and Targets

THE CURRENT Smiling Hill syndicated venture commenced in January 2006. Renovation works completed to date include a guesthouse, apartments, houses, a joinery workshop and a pool and recreation complex including a restaurant and bar.

Rental returns are exceeding original projections and Directors believe the results already being achieved demonstrate a potential for high future earnings and cashflows together with strong asset growth.

Smiling Hill has so far acquired 20 of the 51 available properties in the Palm Hill Bungalows Estate plus a strategic 1,000 sq m building site (14 houses are owned outright or are being purchased with delayed settlements and six houses are being held under long-term leasing arrangements with options to purchase).

Two properties have been remodelled as a clubhouse/guesthouse, four have been remodelled or are being remodelled as 15 rental apartments and studios and a seventh has been upgraded as a rental house. The swimming pool/recreation complex, bar and restaurant have been completed and are operating very successfully.

New investor funds will be used mainly to complete purchases of properties now held under lease and to purchase for the company some of an additional 22 targeted acquisition houses. Funds also will be applied to renovations of stockpiled company owned properties.

Longer term planning for the Smiling Hill Project provides for a total of up to 100 apartments plus the renovation of a further 10 or more properties as houses by 2014. About half of the apartments will be held by Owner-investors (see Option 1 above).

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         SUMMARY OF INVESTOR BENEFITS

 

1) Strong operational earnings and cashflows - Strong, reliable rental returns to company properties plus excellent returns from property development, property management and hospitality operations.

2) Increasing asset values The upgrading of the total Estate, higher yield property configurations and rapid growth in the wider Batam economy will strongly accelerate property values. (Batam is already one of the fastest growing regions in South East Asia and has now been designated a Special Economic Zone with pending Free Trade status).

3) Security of tenure All company assets are being acquired and held through a properly constituted and wholly Western-owned and controlled Indonesian Foreign Investment (PMA) company. This means all Project properties are held under the same form of title as is available to any and all Indonesian corporations.

4) Effective protection of investor equity – A three-tier corporate structure under a Hong Kong Holding company isolates investor assets from operational exposures.

5) Exit provisions – Equitable, pre-agreed procedures for relinquishing shareholdings.

6) Life-style benefits – An opportunity to easily and safely relocate to an accessible and welcoming low-cost location in South-East Asia offering Western living standards and security.

7) Tax Savings – The corporate structure offers opportunities for minimizing potential shareholder tax liabilities overseas.

8) Confidentiality – non-disclosure of individual investments and earnings outside the Company.

9) Expert local knowledge – Operational control and management primarily by qualified Western foundation Investors who speak Indonesian and understand compliance with Indonesian laws, regulations and procedures covering property ownership, company formation and administration, foreign investment, immigration rules and taxation.

10) Established contacts – Established relationships with reliable Indonesian-based legal, conveyancing, banking, accounting, taxation, design and other professionals and with local and regional administrations (Immigration, Police, Land administration, Manpower, Planning and Development etc) – all critical to doing business in Indonesia.

11) Work team and suppliers – An established team of Indonesian building workers, skilled trades people and sub-contractors and a panel of reliable suppliers.

12) Passive investment income – Opportunities to generate enough on-going income from company dividends to supplement pension or other funds sourced from abroad or even to be able to live overseas without relying on funds from home.

 

Downtown Nagoya.jpg

A section of downtown Nagoya, Batam’s main business district.

McDermott Yard Batu Ampar.jpg.jpg

The sprawling J Ray McDermott fabrication yard - one of many on Batam.

Construction at Harbour Bay.jpg

Building by the acre - work  on a shopping centre and shop houses at Harbour Bay.

 Booming
Batam

Click on photos to enlarge

Harbour Bay Mall 2.jpg

Two views of a major new shopping centre which opened at Harbour Bay t in March 2010. An anchor tenant is the giant international chain Carrefour, ranked as the world’s second largest retailer.

Offices Batam Post.JPG

Offices of the Batam Post at Batam Centre opened in 2007. The Post and its associated newspapers and TV station is one of Batam’s main media groups.

Shophouses under Construction.jpg

Shophouses built en-masse at Batam Centre. The sheer volume of building underlines the confidence of Indonesian and Singaporean investors in the economic future of Batam.

Typical Palm Hill Houses.jpg
House B12 2008.jpg
House A20 Palm Hill Dec 92.jpg
House at A 21 dilapidated.jpg

THE ORIGINAL owners typically paid from SGD$120,000 to $160,000 for houses at Palm Hill Estate finished like the one above when they were first offered around 1992.

BY AROUND 2002 most of the houses in the Estate were like this - run-down, dilapidated and occupied by squatters.

TYPICAL houses at Smiling Hill - dilapidated, often overgrown, sometimes deserted, sometimes occupied by squatters yet well positioned and structurally sound.

THE HOUSE above is the mirror image of and is in similar condition to that of the house below before its renovation as four 2-bedroom apartments.

House C12 at Completion.jpg

HOUSE TRANSFORMED into four comfortable and well appointed apartments. All were fully let to Western expatriates within less than a month after completion.

This completed property is now FOR SALE to an Owner-Investor.

(SEE BELOW)

 

Returns and Cashflow

EXPERIENCED PROPERTY INVESTORS will recognise that an 11 per cent rate of return on residential property is VERY good. At prevailing Western bank interest rates it guarantees positive cashflows even if your investment is 100% geared.

This means that if you have available equity to borrow against in your home country, at say 5.5%, you could be making a return of about 5% from completion with NONE of your own cash invested.

By way of comparison residential property investments in Australia typically yield less than 5% and often as little as 3 to 4%. Investors rely on tax breaks and capital gains to make residential property investment worthwhile.

Even well-regarded commercial property is often offered with very ordinary yields in Australia (lease-backs by the banks at around 8%, or Bunnings Hardware stores at around 8% to 9%).

In Indonesia Jakarta residential property yields are typically around 6% (regarded as "good") and in Bali the typical offer is about 8%.

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Established Long-term Developer and Operator

RESIDENTIAL APARTMENT and villa projects in Indonesia generally are built and operated by Indonesian developers whose main motive is to get in get out with the maximum profit in the shortest possible time.

The Smiling Hill project is run by Westerners (mainly for Westerners) and we are here very much for the long-term. The project commenced in its present structure in January 2006 after some two years of preliminary work and research.

Our progress so far has been achieved with our own money - we have minimal debt (less than 5% gearing) and thus a VERY strong balance sheet. We now control some 20 properties of the total 54 in the estate and plan to acquire more as they become available.

Company planning provides for Smiling to retain, redevelop and let as many as 25 company properties along with those we are offering for  lease back.

We have an imperative to make the total project work over the longer term for both the Owner-investors and ourselves.

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Lease-back Terms, Rent Payments and Fees

WE OFFER YOU an initial lease-back term of 10 years and we offer two further options of five years each for a potential total term of 20 years.

You, as the investor, never have to worry about vacancies - Smiling is your tenant and any vacancies are entirely our concern.

You begin to receive rents from 30 days after the completion of the renovation of your property - typically about nine months from commencement of your contract. Your rent payments are made quarterly in advance and the rental is adjusted annually to take account of inflation (either by the official inflation index or by 5%, whichever is the lesser).

You pay only very modest "Body Corporate" or “Owners Association” type contributions (the equivalent of 0.75% of your original package price) plus annual land or local authority fees and building insurance - your net rate of return after these costs works out at about 10.2%.

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Secure and Clear Title

NO FOREIGN INDIVIDUAL or corporation can OWN property in Indonesia in freehold in the Western sense - all land under freehold title (Hak Milik) is restricted to Indonesian individuals or associations comprised wholly of Indonesian citizens.

However, much, if not MOST, land in Indonesia for which titles have issued is held in some form of leasehold and non Indonesians CAN READILY obtain secure title to property provided they follow the appropriate procedures.

There is even a special form of limited leasehold title (Hak Pakai) exclusively for foreign buyers. However, the Hak Pakai form of title is regarded as inferior because the purchaser is limited to buying one property with the rights to transfer, bequeath and mortgage the property limited and the lease duration shorter.

Therefore most foreign buyers purchase property through a nominee arrangement or by establishing an Indonesian corporation which becomes the owner. These procedures allow non-Indonesians to hold property under the most common leasehold form of title (Hak Guna Bangunan or HGB) and confer the same rights to transfer, bequeath or mortgage their properties as are enjoyed by Indonesian owners.

HGB is a building rights title and is the form of title typically held by Indonesian Corporations. The nominal term may vary from province to province but in Batam is 80 years. In effect it is very much like the 99-year leasehold title in the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) or the leasehold forms of title which apply in Singapore.

We strongly recommend foreign buyers use the incorporation method for the purchase of Batam properties - we DO NOT recommend the nominee method. We have used an Indonesian foreign investment company (PMA) to acquire the Smiling Hill property portfolio We hold all our properties as HGB and enjoy full rights to mortgage, sell/transfer, lease, bequeath etc.

The PMA form of incorporation came into being only in 1999 and this category of company can be WHOLLY foreign owned, though it is required to offer to sell-down 5% to an Indonesian entity or individual within 15 years. A PMA must have two shareholders but both can be foreign individuals or entities (for example you and a company you already have overseas). Foreign nationals may be appointed as company officers (president director/CEO or Komisaris/Chairman-public officer). There is a requirement that a position of Director be reserved for an Indonesian but there is no statutory requirement to fill this position.

Our PMA company was established for the purpose of purchasing, developing and renting/selling property. However, any PMA company can buy property and it can buy multiple properties. It incurs the same rights and obligations with respect to the property as any other Indonesian corporation. Creating such a company can also offer advantages in obtaining long-term visas for anyone wishing to spend extended periods in Indonesia.

The cost of establishing a PMA company is about US$3,000 but the consequences of not getting security of title right do not bear thinking about. We can introduce you to reliable Western consultants who can handle the incorporation process for you.

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Estate Management and Operations

THE SMILING HILL ESTATE and your property will be managed by Western expatriate staff who have professional backgrounds in property management, marketing, property development and construction, project management, hospitality operations and administration and accounting.

This team also is responsible for managing the Smiling Hill guesthouse and company owned operated apartments and houses (ultimately up to 25 company properties) plus our swimming pool complex and restaurant/bar operations.

Our company is committed to establishing and maintaining the highest standards to ensure Smiling Hill’s positioning as a premier location for expatriate housing and accommodation - it is in the interests of both the company and Owner-investors that maintenance programs of public spaces and facilities and individual properties are efficient and consistent. The company is fully responsible for maintaining all public and common areas.

The company also will administer maintenance of Owner-investor properties on behalf of the owners with this work funded from a compulsory Maintenance Reserve equivalent to 1% of the contracted package purchase price. As an Owner-investor you are responsible only for funding actual BUILDING repairs and maintenance including non-moveable fixtures and fittings such as bathroom fittings, plumbing, electrics, solar hot water systems, air conditioners, kitchens, painting etc.

We lease-back your Owner-investor property unfurnished with all  decorating and furniture items provided by and funded by the Company. We also are responsible for insuring and maintaining “moveable” furnishings at no cost to you as owner. You avoid the worry of wondering what’s happening to the contents of your property and the hassles of repairs, replacements and refurbishing.

In short WE take care of the key areas where most property investors face most of their problems - namely the property surrounds (gardens  etc) and the contents (furnishings and decorations).

Both Company properties and Owner-investor properties are protected by SECURITY staff 24 hours seven days a week. Good security is essential to the Smiling Hill operation for both protection of our property assets and the comfort of tenants and guests.

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Exit Procedures

OWNER-INVESTORS who choose to exit will enjoy guaranteed capital gains.

If you wish to sell you must give our Company a first right of refusal at a price 9 (nine) times the then prevailing annual rental. (This price will rise as rents are adjusted annually for inflation, probably by around 5% a year.)

Should the Company choose not to purchase you may sell to a third party provided the buyer agrees to an assignment of our lease-back agreement.

Should you wish to terminate our lease-back agreement for any reason, we may exercise an automatic buy-back entitlement, again at a price of 9 (nine) times the then prevailing annual rental. The company may exercise this option through a nominee.

Subject to Board approval, Owner-investors may vend-in their individual property interest at any time in return for shares in the Company at the then prevailing share price.

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       Smiling Project Overview

 

OWN a block of apartments

 

 

OWN a stake in the Company

 

           BENEFITS TO INVESTORS

Own a piece of Smiling Hill
NOW

Completed Property for Sale & Lease-back

Make

money

from

Day 1

 

Property of FOUR modern and well appointed 2-bedroom x 2-bathroom air conditioned apartments completed just one year ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PRICE  US$342,000  (Unfurnished)

For more information on smiling hill company investments and conditions applying:

info@smilinghillbatam.com

 

Project Overview

 

SMILING HILL ESTATE is located on the Indonesian island of Batam and is being developed as a gated community of rental apartments and semi-detached houses targeting a substantial and expanding Expatriate rental market.

The developers are acquiring, transforming, revitalising and ADDING VALUE to a formerly run-down but very favourably located housing estate.

The project is Batam’s FIRST and ONLY residential community being specifically developed and managed by Westerners mainly for Westerners.

Planning provides for a total of 80 to 100 apartments plus the renovation of a further 10 or more properties as houses over the period to 2014. The project is generating high operational rates of return and also promises strong rates of capital growth.

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   Option 1-  OWN a piece of Smiling Hill

 

                         Owner-investor Offer

 

HOW WOULD YOU like to have a safe, secure property investment earning you a guaranteed 11% a year (paid quarterly in advance) and indexed for inflation?

This is what the team at Smiling Hill is now offering for up to 15 savvy investors.

Smiling Hill is experiencing a strong and continuing demand from  expatriates for quality accommodation and this means we need more renovated properties URGENTLY for conversion and upgrading as modern apartments.

Under our Owner-investor offer you can buy a property for renovation as three or four apartments and earn outstanding lease-back returns for a minimum of 10 years and up to 20 years.

Or you can buy a completed property and receive strong returns from Day 1.

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  1. YOU enter into a purchase agreement at a fixed package price for a block of three or four unfurnished apartments at Smiling Hill (typically around US$85,000 per 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment).
  2. WE transfer an un-renovated house and land to you, your company or your nominee from our property stockpile or source a property for you from a third party. You pay the property purchase price and associated fees, including costs of completing the transfer to your purchasing entity and the cost of establishing the purchasing entity if required (we recommend Owner-investors establish an Indonesian foreign investment company as their purchasing entity to ensure strong security of tenure.)
  3. YOU enter into a construction contract with us for the balance of the total package price and pay a 5% deposit.
  4. YOU pay five Progress Payments as defined construction benchmarks are passed - because you own the property you also own the completed work.
  5. WE enter into a minimum 10-year agreement with you (with options for two further 5-year terms) under which we lease-back the completed unfurnished apartments at an annual rental equivalent to 11% of the total fixed package price.
  6. YOU receive your rent payments quarterly in advance commencing 1 month (30 days) after the renovation construction is completed. Your rent will be inflation adjusted annually as at 30 March by up to 5%.
  7. WE deduct the equivalent of 0.75% of the fixed package price per year (inflation indexed annually) from your rent payments as quarterly contributions towards the costs of estate security, waste removal, upkeep of common areas etc.
  8. WE furnish and decorate the premises AT OUR COST so that we can operate the property as serviced apartments. We are responsible for on-going repairs, maintenance, upgrading and insurance of all non-fixed furnishing and finishing contents at NO COST TO YOU.
  9. YOU pay for annual property charges (minimal), building insurance and building repairs and maintenance including non-moveable fixtures and fittings (for example - bathroom fittings, plumbing, electrics, solar hot water systems, air conditioners, kitchens, painting etc).
  10. WE withhold the equivalent of 1% of the fixed package price from your rent payments (inflation indexed annually) as a Property Charges and Maintenance Reserve to fund the items described in 9 above. All maintenance expenses will be fully acquitted and unexpended funds credited to your account. Your prior approval will be required for expenditures in excess of SGD$1,500.
  11. IF you wish to sell your property you must give us first right of refusal at a price equivalent to 9 (nine) times the then prevailing annual rental. If we decline and you sell to a third party you must assign our lease-back agreement to the new owner as part of your sales contract.

IF you wish to terminate our lease-back agreement then we will have an automatic option to purchase the property at a price equivalent to 9 (nine) times the then prevailing annual rental. We may exercise this option through a nominee.

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POWERFUL REASONS FOR CHOOSING A SMILING HILL PROPERTY