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What to consider before putting up your dream home

Your Home
 Photo:Courtesy

If you bought land and built your home or are putting up one, it is good to know that what you see is not necessarily what you get.

In Kenya, people hardly follow the law, even in construction. So you put up your dream house, plant trees, manicure your small garden, and sit comfortably to enjoy the fruits of your hard work.

Next to your house is an empty plot. The owner has never come to 'see' it so you have no idea what he or she plans to do with the land.

Then one morning you find tens of people on the site putting up a humongous mabati church. There is no leader you can identify in the group to ask what is happening. You and your neighbours look helplessly as the monster of a structure comes up.

 Two days later, a Friday, there is kesha in this structure and you can't sleep because the speakers are so loud they can make rain fall.

Sounds familiar?

When you invest in Kenya, you must think ahead of time. What will happen to this property in two or three or ten years? Will it still be homely?

Estates like Buruburu in Nairobi were seen to be very far from the city centre while Pipeline Estate was a bush. In just ten years, Pipeline has become a high density area while the serenity of Buruburu long forgotten. The one-acre homes in Kileleshwa and Kilimani are now high-rise apartments.

Using the same parlance as the one used on the road, defensive driving, you can also become 'defensive' in your investment.

Your plot, which is being sold now as residential, is likely to change to commercial in a short while as population increases and demand for housing becomes acute.

Therefore, seek experts' advice. For one, you can make your house's foundation stable to withstand more floors just in case your neighbours decide to build skyscrapers around you. In that case, you can also easily rip off the roof and turn your domestic residency into a commercial high rise building without having to demolish it and starting anew.

The problem with most of us is that we develop attachment to things we have built or nurtured. We value every stone bought for the house and the time spent there.

To cut off this unhealthy attachment, view property as a convenience. That is the only way you will find it easy to dispose of property if doing so is the right thing to do at the given time. It is not wise to hang on to something whose value is no longer the same or has deteriorated over time.

If you buy your home at say Sh4 million and someone offers you Sh6 million after two or so years, why should you think twice about selling it especially if you can invest the money somewhere else where returns are much higher?

I know a friend who bought land at Sh1.2 million and three years later someone offered to buy it at Sh3.5 million but refused saying her children will develop the land when they grow up. This is the mistake most people make.

For one, your children do not have your vision and will most likely not develop that land but sell it even to travel abroad. When an opportunity like this comes knocking on your door, grab it instead of letting your investment lie idle 'for children'. You will invest in something more lucrative and help your children better than this idle land.

When you do so, you are prudent and business savvy.

Always look at the brighter side of everything. Do not be like another friend who is just amassing properties for future 'security'. What, for example, is the value of investing in 20 acres of land in an arid area? What returns will you make unless you decide to invest heavily in open field irrigation?

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