THE FOOLISHNESS OF BUILDING A HOUSE 

THE FOOLISHNESS OF BUILDING A HOUSE
Today I will address a topic which is rather controversial in the sense that it is going against what most people believe. People believe that when you have a house, you are successful. People pride themselves in living in the houses they own by saying "well I don't pay rentals, I praise God." They believe building a house to live in is a serious investment. But a number of people have deterred and stunted their progress because of building a house.
Let me break this down for you, when you invest in a house, the minimum time it will take you to recoup your investment is 10 years. If you invest five hundred thousand in a house, you will be getting rentals of about three thousand Kwacha a month meaning you will be getting thirty six thousand Kwacha a year. That in turn translates that it would take you 14 years for you to recoup your investment. And that is with an assumption that in this 14 years you will always have a tenant in the house. Consider this, if you put that K500,000 investment in a business, there is a very high possibility that in three years you would have built a business and possibly built your house.
We engaged in a particular project with a colleague in 2013 and we made some good money. Using proceeds from the project, my colleague decided to build a house and I opted to invest in a Transport business. Eight months down the line my friend's funds from the project depleted before the house was done and he was stuck. Ten months later, I decided to build my first house and I built it in nine months starting from buying a plot, building the house and everything else. The house was completed and I still had the business running.
This is what tends to happen to a lot of people. They decide to get a personal loan to build a house instead of engaging in something that would give them returns much quicker. What then normally happens is by the time they are reaching window level, funds are done. Imagine the distress of a five year running loan. Since the house is not yet done they cannot move in, and funds are tied. There are those who would retire and decide to build their dream house from their retirement package. What tends to happen is they will build the massive mansion up to roof level, their terminal benefits are done before the house is completely habitable and the next move is selling it at a giveaway price because they have no means of finishing up the house. But imagine if they decided to use their terminal benefits to engage in a business that would then give them returns and make it possible for them to build their house.
We have a number of entrepreneurs that have started out pretty well but they decide to start syphoning money from their businesses to build their houses because they believed having a house is some form of freedom. So by the time they are done with the building project the business is stunted, no longer liquid and soon closes down. Before you think of building a house think again because there could be something you can do that would possibly accord you financial freedom.
In fact, if you consider the top hundred richest people, not a single one made their money through building houses. Well they own properties, they have real estate investments but they did not make money through real estate investments. So it is possible for you to make your money through another channel than keep your money in real estate. My advice to you before you make the deadly mistake of building a house is to think again. For those that are thinking of getting in real estate as a business, I will share with you in one of the episodes and hopefully during my May Country Tour on how you could make money through real estate as a business, I hope you have secured your tickets already.
Once your business has grown you can do so much with easy. As an example, in July last year I was visited by thieves at my house, fortunately when I woke up they were still struggling to enter my secured doors. I was so traumatized with that experience and the few things they stole like my phone through the window close to my bed made things worse. That morning I decided that I want to stay in a secured complex and not a standalone house before marrying because the house and the yard are so spacious I felt even if I was to shout for help I would not be helped in good time. Because the business had grown I just called my accountant and my lawyer to finalize the purchase of a house in a complex within a week and BOOM! it was done. Invest in a business, it will afford you many houses in future.
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