🇰🇪 Get in touch with Pratik, my favourite real estate agent in Nairobi: thewanderinginvestor.com/services/international-real-estate-services/my-real-estate-agent-in-nairobi-kenya/ 🇰🇪 Analysis of the Nairobi real estate market: thewanderinginvestor.com/international-real-estate/making-a-real-estate-investment-in-kenya-a-smart-move/
When you see an off plan 70% sold off is pretty much a marketing statement because you have no proof. The complete blocks had 70% sold poster during construction too. Don't fall for it without proof Kenyans are tricky, I support your ending verdict on investing
Yes, I kinda agree here as well - when you see "3 badroom 6M" that doesnt actually mean there are 3 bedroom apts for 6M. It means once 1 bedroom on groundfloor was sold to the developers best friend for 6M...
I truly enjoy this Chanel which is so well researched and gives a very honest well rounded picture of Nairobi real estate. As a diasporian planning on returning to Kenya this year all these bits of honest information is key. Love your passion and keep posting Blessings plus plus
Such a shame that the property's swimming pool area looks like that. Last year I started an exterior cleaning company because I feel there's a big gap when it comes maintenance of exterior surfaces.
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You have great content. Could you please do a video on the real estate market in the Kenyan coast, focusing on both residential and commercial developments .,(if possible)
Great evaluation. I've lived in Kenya my whole life give or take a bit of travel now and then. I am enthusiastic about investing in Kenya but I find it hard to justify an investment in Nairobi in the short term. If you want to keep property assets for long term returns then Nairobi makes sense, otherwise you're much better off putting your money in the frontier counties where new highways and other infrastructure is opening up previously locked potential. If you're investing in Nairobi right now, go into Tech and service.
Incredibly accurate and useful info. Only bit I would contest is the off-plan 70% . I'd need to see evidence of that as many developers in Kenya use that as a marketing strategy.
The high end real estate market is quite flooded. Just wish you could check areas like Ruaka or Thika Road all the way to Thika for low income housing with quite organized management. Rent is as low as $130 per month but with proper due diligence you could get a high growth area that can guarantee at least 70% occupancy
@@cynfulification you missed the point of the video. It's not about ideal places for white folks or any folks for that matter to stay, but the best places to invest if you want good returns on your investment
@@GK-zu8zsI haven't missed any points in this video. Ofcourse as a Kenyan you think buying property in Ruaka or Thika is good investment because that's your Kenyan perspective of thinking however I worked with foreigners and none of them want to be anywhere far from Westlands, Hurlingham, Lavington, Karen or even Gigiri. Infact their Embassies have marked these areas as safe zones for them to live. So don't recommend what you don't know out of lack of experience with foreigners.
Management capacity in the real estate sector is an interesting constraint to explore. Some developers are working to mitigate this via centralized planning e.g. Tilisi, Tatu City, and gated communities... but this is not sustainable as it is essentially trying to privatize trust based systems. There are plenty of cases where investors have lost their life savings due to unscrupulous developers, so what happens to Kenyans who cannot access these communities? Efficacy of law and order at a system level is still a gap area. However, it also reflects a market opportunity for Management as a service.
Following...you’re brutally honest, did burst my bubble a little bit, but I usually wonder who these developers are targeting as I don’t see Kenyans rushing to fill those “high end” apartments given that most youth in mid 20-30-40ish don’t have jobs or aren’t earning income sufficient enough to allow for these pricey apartments. Who is buying, who are they targeting, because foreigners won’t fill up all those high rise apartments. I’d rather invest in low to mid priced apartments for rentals. For the price of one of these at say 20 million, I’d have bought 3-5 apartments going for between 4-6 million and earned more returns per month in rentals or Airbnb.
Very well researched. Would have been interesting if you also looked into the auction space, as there is a decent chunk of supply there. Also note govt paper yeilds 9%-13% (15%wht) and some have tax exemption.
Very true, if an investment in Kenya yields less than 9%, just invest in government paper. I think people don't have the information on real estate returns before they invest.
Your content is excellent. We went to nairobi looking for property. 2019. The prices looked attractive relative to toronto. The conclusion is the same. Its excellent for a holiday home. Nothing else. Property management is rent collection. Also no such thing as a reserve fund. That right there is what makes spartment/ condo investing impossible.
I agree, property management in KE is a big problem. The thing is, every Tom, Dick and Harry thinks they can get into that line of business because they think it only involves collecting rent every month from tenants, making a few phone calls here and there and locking peoples' houses when they're late to pay rent. There's also no property management oversight body to keep property managers in check (or if there's one, they clearly are ineffective). You should hear some of the horror stories from tenants, particularly in the mid-to-lower segment of the market. I'm glad you touched on the money laundering issue. For a developing country, Kenya sure does have an oversupply of high end apartments that experience up to 80% vacancies and one asks themselves, who can afford to put up all these high rises and have them nearly empty, sometimes for years on end??
I really like your videos! In case you do not know, there's a really good collection of Kenyan real estate profiles on RU-vid. They are actually from a TV show (I think the show stopped). Anyway, if you're a real estate nerd like me, you'll find the RU-vid videos really interesting. They describe individual Nairobi neighborhoods. The show was called Area Code. If you're interested, I highly suggest you check out the one entitled, "Area Code: Nyayo Estate Embakasi." I think you might be impressed with the property management in this housing development. I'm afraid of giving you the direct link because sometimes RU-vid will delete a comment that contains a URL. Anyway, this series is a great way to get a taste of the different neighborhoods of Nairobi. I found it very fascinating since I live outside Kenya.
This is a true depiction of our real estate industry. However on the offplan projects one needs to be very careful with them as some say they are sold out while in reality the uptake is less than 10%. Currently some investors are doing joint ventures or acquiring rundown properties redeveloping and then selling.
For me I see a market gap or opportunity in property management. For every negative side there is a positive. As a Kenyan I would advice anyone to invest mainly in agriculture majority of kenyan economocsis from agriculture. It's smart of you to have such a deep analysis in only three weeks of time here
This is a very important video for most people looking to invest in real estate in Kenya. Saved me a shit tonne of money. Thanks and no thanks to Kenyan apartments.
I think the Tax issue needs clarification and perhaps you might want to speak with tax experts about this. While the 30% withholding tax is present you need to note that withholding tax is not a final tax and can be expensed for other income tax as well as you can get refunds if you expense properly when doing your annual returns. That said you're right about most of insight. However for an investment channel you should have also looked at lower to middle income rental investments where some developers are making good money. Many though don't do adequate feasibility studies before investing so they end up burning.
Thank you very much for all this information! You have saved us from making an absolute horrible investment in this country! Not sure of they will ever change their paradigm conducive for foreign investors!
Wow interesting insight! It is very true, Property management in Kenya is a little off. Maintenance of properties tends to be very basic. Things like swimming pools and gyms are poorly maintained.
Very insightful view on real estate in Kenya. As a diaspora I find it very overpriced, for the same amount of investment, I can get an income earning property in the Midwest with top notch management, and enjoy a tax advantage for owning rental property, low interest rates, allowed depreciation and other expenses and increasing equity. 30% tax on gross income is actually stunning and set with no consideration of foreign investors.
I'm Kenyan and you are spot on on the poor property management. I was like someone at last said what I was thinking. What would be the solution for this though?
@@SpiderOG I have more issues with the building maintenance, aesthetics part of it. For instance, there should be someone maintaining that pool he just showed ,also a gardener to keep the surroundings trim and tidy. Plus keep the gym clean. I can imagine paying a lot of money to live in that apartment with all these nice amenities yet i cant even use them.😒
thanks fella, very informative, i was sort of interested in investing in a couple of those chinese built appartements from the other vid.think you have put me straight on that, being a foreigner myself, 30 percent tax is a nono,, keep em coming, kind regardz
Thank you for the information. Very insightful. I however didn’t appreciate the degrading comment about somali money coming from Western donation. That was incorrect and very uncalled for as there are many wealthy Somalis who are also Kenyan citizens, the NFD area of Kenya belongs to Somalis. Also many hardworking diaspora Somalis do business and invest in Kenya as it appeals to our people as a good place for families. So no, somali money in Kenya is NOT from Western donation as you put it!! Somalis are incredibly astute business people in general and they have a thriving business community in Nairobi.
Excellent analysis, as always, Ladislas. Just one tiny error: while the Chinese, Somalis and South Sudanese developers are, indeed foreign. The “Indians” are actually Kenyan and local. That’s the difference.
The somalis are not foreigners the northern part of Kenya is somali, and there are also somalis from Somaliland who have been there as long as the Indians since the British.
@@namiin3034 Most of the ethnic Somali property developers aren’t Kenyan Somalis, but refugees from Somalia living in Western countries. Kenyan Somalis, like other Kenyans, have no need to emigrate abroad in large numbers.
Unlike in Nigeria where the developers sometines build, then stick around for more profit by taking charge of maintenance, it appears the developers in Kenya just build, sell and make their profit, then move on to the next project.
People do not use the pools in Nairobi. Weather is too cold. The pool is cooling out over night. When you buy off plan you ll find out that at the end not everything that was on the plan will be built and the finishing is lower quality then expected. That is mostly like this in mombasa. Because investors are in arab countries and will never see the end product. The arabs do this investment because they are not allowed to charge interest rates. Real estate is an intrestratish investment but still islam conform. The middle class market is completely overbuilt in momnbasa. I guess it is same in nairobi too.
Good analysis but I wonder why cant real estate companies consider investing in Land upcountry?. I have trying to sell 50 Acres land upcountry but am yet to find a real estate company which can sell it.
@@TheWanderingInvestor I'm already on your second video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UtCA11Kt_ck.html I'm an Architect and I concur with everything you've said. Real estate companies sponsor most real estate shows on TVs that majority of Kenyans use as their staple for information on the industry. Your video is sadly the only objective one out there and from on inside. It's a true reflection of the state of real estate.
@@dennismombo4343 Interesting to hear this. Years ago, I heard someone say that HassConsult is very influential in skewing real estate/property reports about Nairobi and its environs. It makes sense though, that the big players will want to control the narrative to their advantage.
@@kim1570 That Hass consult price index is bogus. As he said "This is Kenya not Switzerland". All those shows are adverts. Most these fellaz have now started targetting the diaspora. What he said is TOTALLY true. It's extremely difficult not to get conned by at least one person in the value chain. Realtor Consultants included.
That's the reason wise men don't allow others to manage their Airbnb. The only thing that should be managed by others is the cleaning of the Airbnb. And even that needs to be approved before the cleaner accepts their pay and vanishes into thing air, just to ensure that the place is thoroughly cleaned
The inventory numbers are quite high, but based on location the prices are holding . Apparently the real estate prices seem solid and I thought the huge inventory sold favor buyers with great prices but nope ! But most developments are geared towards the diaspora market and quite overpriced!! Some of the prices I'd rather just buy in Lavington or high end Mombasa !! The quality is better !
Bad contractor are everywhere, I am in the nerthlands and boy oh boy i cant even compare kenya real estate to the nerthlands, New building having leaks , mold and cracks is the norm in the nethlands, the thin walls , shaking floors and the staircase that are only meant for half of your foot...i will say that the only thing kenya needs to improve on is the finishing otherwise theres no comparison.
The taxation is 10% withholding on gross rental income or you may choose to pay 30% on the net income that's my understanding on the taxation provision.
i live in the outskirts where i pay rent for a bedsitter for 40dollars but now they are bieng destroyed and now rent is 100dollars or more,,this constructions are only targeting the middle class and rich.the low income earners are getting forced to hoods
