FINDING REAL ESTATE IN KENYA

By Joram K. Mbui

Knowledge is power. This saying is especially true in regards to the real estate market. An informal survey on the streets of Nairobi reveals that most Kenyans are grossly ignorant of the going ons in the real estate industry in Kenya.

Do you remember the last time you urgently needed to find a house because you had given notice to your landlord? Where did you begin your search? Or have you been looking for a house or plot to buy? Has the search been easy?

There are various sources of information regarding the availability of real estate to buy and to rent. These include newspapers, magazines, shopping mall notice boards, neighborhood sign boards and the internet. I will deal with each of these in detail, highlighting their pros and cons.

Newspapers

This is the most common way of finding property. Estate agents as well as property owners use newspapers because they are affordable and have a very wide reach. The classified sections of the newspapers may have, on some days up to 500 properties listed. This means that a property seeker has a wide variety to choose from. A big advantage with newspapers is that you will always be able to get current information. Since estate agents and property owners pay for the adverts daily, it is very rare that the properties advertised will be unavailable.

The biggest drawback with this mode is that the information provided is very scanty. Rarely are there photographs and detailed information on the property such as location, size, accommodation and amenities. One has to call the advertisers for clarification and this can be expensive and tedious. There is also the risk of encountering fraudsters who place adverts with the sole intention of conning members of the public. As a general rule, avoid any adverts that give only mobile phone numbers as the contacts. Even when dealing with those that have given land lines, insist on meeting in an office.

Magazines

There are not too many property magazines in Kenya primarily because a lot of people do not see the need for them as they can access real estate information from other sources. The longest running magazine is Focus on Property that carries listings from about 15 estate agents. The magazine is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. A new entrant to the market is Property Watch. There is also Homes Kenya that targets the high end property seekers. It lists properties developed, managed or rented by Villacare Ltd and its associates. The listings in the magazines will often have photos and a fairly comprehensive description of the property. Homes Kenya also has articles dealing with pertinent issues in the real estate sector. The biggest drawback with magazines is that they are not published often. Focus on Property and Property Watch are published monthly while Homes Kenya is published every two months. This is a long time especially for the rental market. There is then the probability that some properties may not be available when a property seeker calls the advertiser.

Shopping Mall Notice Boards

These have become very popular especially in Nairobi. Estate agents and property owners prepare poster adverts and put them up at shopping malls such as Sarit Center, Yaya Centre, and Village market. The rationale with this is that property seekers will be able to find this information as they go about there business in the malls. However the challenge here is that the reach is not very wide. Also, the listings are not pinned up in any particular order so you may spend quite a bit of time before you find what you are looking for. This mode of advertising also has the same advantage as newspapers of having current information because the listings have to be paid for every week.

Sign Boards in Estates

There is an emerging trend of property seekers driving through the neighborhoods that they are looking to rent or buy property. They then identify vacant houses by the sign boards placed outside then. Often the security guards at the property provide details of the agent renting the house or the owner.

This can be an extremely risky venture. In addition to it being time consuming and expensive, property seekers expose themselves to fraudsters. There are times that quacks collaborate with the guards to con unsuspecting desperate people. This happens as follows: The guard will produce copies of the keys to the house and will show you around the house. If you like the house, he will give you the number of an ‘estate agent’ or the ‘owner’. You will have no reason to doubt the guard so you call the number and the person on the other end tells you to come back to the house later with the rent and deposit. You will faithfully do this; after all you are desperate to move in as possible. After you pay and move in, the legitimate owner or estate agent will come to show the house to a prospective tenant and it is then that you will realize that you were conned. The guard will have long disappeared and the number you called the ‘estate agent’ or ‘owner’ on will be mteja

The Internet

The internet has drastically changed how we communicate, how we do business and how we look for information. Estate agents have not been left behind in this technological revolution. Quite a number of them have put up websites that list the properties they have for sale and to let. The greatest advantage with the internet is it is possible to give so much more information regarding a property. This includes photos, detailed descriptions and maps. It also allows for email communication between the advertisers and property seekers. Some of the most useful websites include www.hassconsult.co.ke, www.crystalvaluers.com,www.sebestates.com,www.realmast.com, www.tysonskenya.com,www.crownhomes.co.ke,www.datkit.com,and www.lloydmasika.co.ke

The challenge with websites put up by individual estate agents is that they do not offer much variety in terms of numbers and types of property listed. Some agents also do not update their websites often while others do not respond to emails quick enough.

To save property seekers from having to visit too many websites, www.nyumbanet.co.ke  offers listings from various estate agents and property owners. This makes the search for property a lot easier because the website has over 500 properties listed and it therefore offers much more variety than websites put up by individual estates agents.  www.nyumbanet.co.ke also offers mortgage information as well as news and analysis of the real estate sector.

In conclusion therefore, the next time you are in desperate need of a rental house to move into or you are planning to buy a house, I hope that your property search will be much easier and that you will explore all the options there are as well as take the necessary precautions.

An unabridged version of this article was published in Eve Homes, a pullout in Eve Magazine.

The writer is the Chief Executive of NyumbaNet, an online real estate advertising firm. He can be reached at info@nyumbanet.co.ke