The RealEstateGuru254 Blog
Rent or Buy? The Ultimate Dilemma and a Pragmatist’s Perspective on Homeownership vs. Renting
Were you indoctrinated to believe that renting is waste and buying is the ultimate flex you will ever pull of as an adult? Well, you might want to look at that advice in context (that is based on your individual circumstance and situation). The cold, hard math of it is that you need to decide what really works for you.
Cautions, Caveats & Restrictions in Kenya: What You Need to Know – PART 2
Caveats, cautions and restrtictions are all different forms of property encumbrances designed to protect parties interest in the property and to prevent unauthorized transaction; and are applicable in very many different circumstances. How can you use these registrable instruments to secure and protect your interests in property in Kenya?
Transfer and Registration of Property in Kenya: A Step By Step Guide
What are the due-diligence measures to successfully complete the transfer and registration of property you are acquiring? What is the standard for private ownership of property and what are your rights and responsibilities once the transfer is complete?
Buying Property in Kenya: Foundational Knowledge Every Buyer Should Have
Understanding the process of transfer and registration of property is critical to property acquisitions in any market. What are the different land tenure, regime systems, the key regulations, players, and professionals you are likely to engage in the process?
Wealth Creation through Real Estate Requires Smart Choices
Wealth is, to a large degree, a function of incomes and incomes are primarily the reward offered for effort – time and energy. Investors seek to increase, and eventually, replace their wealth creation by leveraging resources other than their individual time or energy.
5 Critical Considerations for Mortgage Readiness You Must Not Ignore
Not every mortgage fairytale you may ever have heard should not be believed. Mortgages have never and will never guarantee home ownership. For the term of the mortgage you are always just one misstep away from dooming your homeownership dreams.
The Mortgage Market in Kenya: An Analysis from the CBK Bank Supervision Report
The mortgage market in Kenya is dominated by banks which have been the traditional lender of choice from pre-colonial times. Over the years, new players have emerged. Besides banks, there are now Microfinance Institutions, MFIs and Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations (SACCOs) competing as lenders in the market.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Successfully Navigate the Mortgage Process in Kenya – Part 2
The mortgage process in Kenya takes careful planning, a basic but firm grasp of the process, and the right resources: Step #1: Understand the Basics of Mortgages in Kenya; Step #2: Prequalification for a Mortgage; Step #3: Choosing the Right Mortgage Type; Step #4: Gather Required Documentation; Step #5: Submit Your Mortgage Application; Step #6: Approval and Offer Letter; Step #7: Legal Process and Documentation; Step #8: Disbursement of Funds; Step #9: Begin Mortgage Repayments.
KMRC Affordable Home Loans: Breaking Down Barriers to Homeownership in Kenya
KMRC Affordable Home Loans target to deepen accessibility to mortgages by offering loans with a single-digit fixed interest rate and long mortgage tenures. This makes them more affordable and accessible to a wider demographic of borrowers who would not otherwise be able to afford homes.
Getting a Home Mortgage in Kenya? Here’s Everything You Need to Know – Part 1
In Kenya, mortgages are typically issued by banks (traditional lenders). While banks are estimated to hold the larger portfolio of mortgage loans, Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations, (SACCOs) and Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) augment the financing gap for mortgages typically lending to their members only at lower rates compared to commercial banks.
Secure Your Land Investment: Solving Wanjiku’s Dilemma
What are some of the most basic steps you can take to protect your interests in a property and ensure that it is secure even if you purchased the property sight unseen do not live in the country? There are a few critical steps you can take from ensuring that you verify the property’s ownership to taking protective measures with the assistance of a professional surveyor who can physically inspect the property, perform boundary survey, and more. Want to know what else you can do to keep your investment safe?
Can Your Chama Successfully Navigate Real Estate Investments?
Your Chama,...
Chamas Can Never Replace a Clear Personal Financial Strategy
Chamas are...
ArdhiSasa in 2024: Can It Fix Kenya’s Administration Land Issues?
ArdhiSasa was conceptualized as part of Kenya’s Vision 2030, a blueprint aimed at transforming Kenya into a newly industrializing, middle-income country. In response to an antiquated and tedious land administration system that has long been plagued by manual inefficiencies, bureaucratic hurdles, and corruption, the Government of Kenya embarked on a modernization programme touted to transform land administration and management through the digitization of land records.
Property Encumbrances: Cautions, Caveats & Restrictions And What You Need to Know About Them – PART 1
Caveats, cautions and restrtictions are all different forms of property encumbrances designed to protect parties interest in the property and to prevent unauthorized transaction; and are applicable in very many different circumstances. How can you use these registrable instruments to secure and protect your interests in property in Kenya?
Seven Tips from My Wild Misadventures House-Hunting in Nairobi
Ah, Nairobi!...
Private Settlements: A Fast, Flexible Path to Property Deals in Kenya
An...
Acquiring Agricultural Land for Leasing: A Win-Win Proposition for Investors & Farmers
There is a widely held, even if somewhat dim view that participating in the farming economy is the preserve of those who plant crops, rear animals and otherwise directly participate in farming as producers. This isn’t the only pathway to benefiting from the agricultural land economy. There are growing communities of real estate investors who acquire land with the outlook of benefitting from agricultural production exclusively from land ownership through leasing. Here’s how they’re jumping onto the opportunity, and why you should too!
Registration of Leases: How to Secure Your Rights & Interests Over Leased Property
It is important to note that while the registration of leases is not a legal prerequisite for the recognition of a legal contract between a lessor and lessee, an unregistered lease may be valid between the parties but will offer no protection against third parties to the agreement.
If the law does not demand the registration of leases, why should a lease be registered?
Leases vs. Licences in Real Estate: Understanding the Differences
Leases and licences are distinct legal arrangements in the realm of real estate, each offering different rights and responsibilities to the parties involved. Leases create a landlord-tenant relationship, granting exclusive possession and control for a fixed term, while Licences, on the other hand, are revocable permissions for temporary and non-exclusive use of the property.
Controlled Tenancies, Licenses, Commercial Leases: The Differences & Similarities in Property Usage Arrangements
Controlled Tenancies, Licenses & Commercial Leases refer to the different types of commercial arrangements that a property owner (landlord) and the ultimate user of the property (tenant) might have between themselves. The legal arrangements which confer use of property to property users differs to a large extent on the basis of the intent that both parties had at the time they entered into their engagement, the duration or term for which the agreement was intended to subsist, the nature of commercial arrangements the parties desired to engage in besides many other factors.
Leasing Land in Kenya: A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Lease Agreements
The most basic premise that makes leasing attractive is that it allows two parties to engage for economic benefit – one to utilize an asset they may not be able to afford to purchase to either generate an income or derive some other form of benefit, and the other to benefit by merely owning that asset.
Capital Gains Tax Skyrockets to 15% From January 1′ 2023- Investors Brace for Impact!
Commencing January 1st 2023, Capital Gains Tax, which had previously been levied at the rate of 5% on the gain made on any capital asset, will henceforth be levied at 15%. Secretly, I have heard plausible arguments steeped in political sentiment as to why the capital gains tax tripled overnight- specifically, that the threefold hike is targeted at weakening the political clout of a particular community deemed to be the largest landowners in Kenya.
Why Pension-Backed Mortgages in Kenya Are Unlikely to Return in The Near Future
The pension industry in Kenya controls over KES 1.5 trillion in assets with under 20% penetration of the formal labour market in the country. There is a glaring opportunity here not just to spur homeownership, but also to grow the industry. Pension-backed mortgages would be an effective tool to deepen the conversation between finance and growing access to homeownership.
Top 7 Tips To Take The Headache Out of Selling Property in Lean Economic Times
When selling property during a recession, the principles remain the same as with any other time in any market. But conventional approaches are unlikely to hold up to the test. The condition of the market is often erratic, tentative and unpredictable. So what needs to change? Sellers’ strategy and approach in dealing with the market is critical in finding sucees and achieving the goal.
Will The Ongoing Title Conversions Affect Your Land Ownership Rights?
Heard about title conversions? Well, if you own land in Nairobi (and eventually across the country) – including an interest in land situated within Nairobi – then you need to be appraised of this recent development. Title conversions are being implemented across the country as part of the social and administrative land reforms.
Why Enforcing Your Property Rights and Responsibilities Is So Important
Property ownership is secured and administered by law, which also clearly defines ownership, the rights and responsibilities that attach to it. The single greatest threat to property owners rights might just be inaction on their part in securing those rights by duly exercising the obligations created by the mere act of ownership.
The 5 Key Things You Need To Do Before Leasing Land In Kenya
Because of the commercial interest you will potentially create around the land you intend to lease, the need for assurance that you will enjoy unfettered use of land for the duration of time that you have agreed to contract it out on lease from its owner(s) is paramount. What steps should you take to ensure that the lease you enter into protects and asserts your rights?
Active Political Goodwill Sorely Required to Achieve Land Reforms in Kenya
Prior to the enactment of the Constitution 2010, the Government of Kenya began to take robust and progressive steps towards land reforms in the country, addressing many of the lingering issues on the administration and management of land in the country through a raft of new legislative, policy and administrative reform measures.
Adverse Possession: Why You Could Lose Your Ownership Rights to Squatters
Are you aware that the law may allow someone who has lived on your property for longer than 12 years in open contravention to your rights to legally challenge your right to ownership over that property? What exactly is adverse possession and as a property owner, how can you protect your assets?
Buyer Agency Explained: Why It’s a Game-Changer for Kenyan Property Buyers
Buyer agency is an undertaking by a property agent to secure a property that matches the buyer’s requirements on the best terms possible; assigning the agent mandate to search for the property, negotiate terms, sorting through due diligence and manage the transaction through to closing.
How To Secure Phenomenal Capital Growth In The Property Market
Investors seek to maximize return on investments to cushion against currency depreciation and inflation. Capital gains are an effective measure against inflation. How then can you secure phenomenal capital growth in the property market?
Unpacking Property Scams & The Red Flags Around Them
Scammers’ typically “hide” in plain sight. However, their intentions are always hidden, making it notoriously difficult to foil their schemes. So what renders seemingly rational individuals hapless to their wiles? What in our human nature makes us susceptible to these schemes?
Vacant Land in Kenya: What You Should Know Before Buying
Why is vacant land so wildly popular in our market? Without clear investment objectives, vacant land acquisitions may not provide the optimal use of resources at your disposal. Knowing what drives growth in property values will help you position your acquisitions strategically
Understanding Land Banking Investment Schemes
Land banking is a real estate investment scheme that promises above-average returns at a predetermined future date. Equally, for the high returns they promise, they carry significant risk because there is no “real” transfer of the property to the investor. But do they deliver?
Bargain Hunting FT.5: Key Takeaways For Real Estate Investing
What key takeaways would a successful real estate investor offer? Roadmaps are a great tool for providing direction. There isn’t one way to do anything successfully. The knowledge and skill of those more experienced can be helpful in navigating the journey.
Bargain-Hunting FT 4: Investing in Distressed, Bank-Owned Property
Mortgages naturally fall into default when borrowers become financially incapacitated. When this happens, financiers take measures to recover outstanding debts. In this ignominious space, the tenacious property investor can find the opportunity for growth.
Bargain-Hunting: How Soft Markets Create Massive Investor Profits
Soft markets also called the buyers’ markets, are the real estate investor’s joy – an idyllic condition where supply outstrips demand. In this market, buyers rule! This dominance allows buyers to push down prices and in the process secure huge price or quantity discounts.
Bargain Hunting: 5 Keys to Find Great Property Deals
Bargains abound in the property market. Committed property investors set off to find them and muster the resources to carve out the lifestyle they desire. So where do these bargains “reside” and how can they grow your income to create financial independence for you?
Bargain-Hunting: 6 Keys To Buying Property Offplan
Off-plan investing is a great way to secure bargains in the real estate market. The smart investor is also cognizant that great bargains in this market also portend higher risk and so before you jump right into it, an awareness of how to manage risk is just as important.
The Risks and Benefits to Buying Property Off-Plan
Don’t be under any illusions, off-plan schemes are risky. Understanding those risks and taking all prudent measures to manage them is the smartest choice you could make before taking the decision to face what could potentially be a costly, bruising financial experience.
Why Off‑Plan Schemes Still Reign Supreme in Kenya’s Property Market
In this market, second only to the “build option”, off-plan schemes are the vastly preferred path to home ownership. Why? Market conditions coupled with comparatively favorable prices and terms, make off-plan schemes popular despite the high risk they carry.
4 Keys to Successful Real Estate Investing in Kenya
A clearly defined real estate investing plan can create financial security for any diligent investor. The market is rife with opportunity despite the high capital requirements to venture into real estate, the reintroduction of CGT and an unpredictable interest regime.
Acquiring vs Investing in Real Estate: Is there any Difference?
The common sentiment in our market is that any and all property acquisitions constitute investments. Is active speculation in real estate a sound investment strategy and can returns be enhanced by understanding the differences between acquisitions and investments if any?
