Building in Nairobi

Hello osks.

Welcome to Expat.com!

I suggest you to post an advert in the housing in Nairobi - For sale section (Land). It can help.

Thank you,
Aurélie

hey, I decided to post here, because im looking for advice, I'm not looking to buy yet, i thought the for sale forum was just for perspective buyers, which i won't become until after at least a year, Im just doing my homework

so any advice on what's the best neighbourhood and how to find a cheap reliable arcitecht?

and again all other advice regarding these questions are ofcourse welcome

Hope that you'll soon be enlightened osks!

Harmonie.

Hi, Personally I wouldn't recommend any of those areas as being particularly secure.  There was absolutely no way that my Wife, or I would have considerd those areas when we bought in 2008. 

I wouldn't advise hiring and architect, or contrractors until you are in Kenya to supervise the whole process.  I have seen very poor qulity work carried out on properties where the owners live overseas.

thanks for your response, we wouldn't hire the architect or contractors until we would be in the country, i just wanted to get a little head start on my research.. but which areas would you recommend that are secure but still not out of the blue overpriced like gigiri, runda and some others?

Ongata Rongai is relatively cheaper than Karen.  I don't know about security though, I have relatives who have built in Rongai and I haven't heard them complain about security issues.  I know that the traffic jams on that side are horrendous.  Make sure you do as much research as possible before you even think of building in Kenya, it's the cheaper option but you had better make sure that you get a genuine title deed for your land.  There have been cases of people's houses being torn down because they were given fake title deeds.

Thanks for the advice and warning i will make sure to double check everything and yes i want to do my research well, thats why i have already started even though we'll probably buy the land next year and then move and build a couple of years later

Ongata Rongai, Ngong and Kiserian are all cheaper, than Karen, but one of the reasons for this is quite possibly that they are all rather less secure.  Ongata Rongai also has a reputation for being a 'Mungiki' area and not everyone believes that they have disbanded.  It also hasn't been unusual for serious robberies to occur in Ngong.  Then, there is the traffic.

I agree wholeheartedly about the title deed.  Many land deals go through brokers - both genuine and not - and it is very common scam for a plot belonging, say to the government, or a person living abroad, to be 'sold'.  This may particularly apply if you are looking for a good deal.  In the best case, the 'broker' makes off with your deposit.  In the worst case, the 'broker' makes off with the entire balance.............and then you try to register the land. 

To repeat, make sure that you are 'in country' to buy and to build.  Get a reputable lawyer to do searches on the land that you are interested in, to ensure that it is both genuine and that there are no outstanding loans/debts against the title.  Keep control of the cash and do not give any of it to your lawyer to hold, pending completion of the deal - it is not unknown for them to spend some/all of it. 

We lived in Lavington until 2008.  Our landlord was interested in selling us the house we were renting, but wanted too much money.  We moved to Thika and bought a property that was 95% complete, but was being sold as the owner/builder had run out of cash.  Land and property prices have jumped sharply since then, even where we are, with the re-building of Thika Road.  On the whole, we are glad that we moved from Nairobi, as moving around there, even for shopping, was becoming a lengthy and frustrating process.

Building costs have also risen very sharply and this is also something to carefully research.

The areas you mention; Karen, Runda, Gigiri are amongst the most expensive areas in Nairobi.  In the right areas, however, land and property remain a very good investment.

Thank you very much, this has so far answeared all of my questions, we were hoping to buy soon cause we knew prices are rising but we will wait a while, keep doing our research and see what coming years will bring

legally, feel free to get in touch for assistance on issues such as stamp duty payment, deposit, searches, registration e to help and transfer. will love to help u out.

Ashantiz wrote:

legally, feel free to get in touch for assistance on issues such as stamp duty payment, deposit, searches, registration e to help and transfer. will love to help u out.

thanks

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