A failed vision By RICHARD MAROSI | Veracruz, Mexico NOV. 26, 2017 Sixteen years ago, Mexico embarked on a monumental campaign to elevate living standards for its working-class masses. The government teamed with private developers to launch the largest residential construction boom in Latin American history. Global investors — the World Bank, big foundations, Wall Street firms — poured billions of...
A commercial plot on sale. Note the fence is almost completely submerged in water. If you want to buy a plot, this is the best time to shop. You are likely to see it in its worst state and you can either avoid it completely or negotiate for a handsome discount. The Land agents will not want you to see this. The cost of construction on a piece of land that is prone to flooding is normally very high....
Affordable housing in Kenya is a reality This surprises even me, for I have often thought that owning a house is for the “other” class. Truth is, with a little homework, you too will discover that affordable housing in Kenya is real and within reach. Use of eco-blocks This technology is relatively new in the Kenyan market. As discussed in an earlier article (the eco-block), one needs an eco-block...
You as the potential buyer are able to explore a range of options before settling on your house. Shopping around allows you to see the different designs, quality of finishing and so on before settling on a house to buy. You also don’t have the challenges encountered in getting approvals for the construction of your home. These include architectural and structural plans approvals and the environmental...
In this day and age, building green homes should be the only way to build our homes. This involves taking advantage of sustainable design to using green materials and even fixtures. As you embark on building your home consider the following: A few considerations in building green homes Size matters A smaller house means less building resources and lower running costs when living in it. Smaller houses...
Real estate investment is one of the most popular investment options, other than stock and forex trading and investment. In fact, many high profile investors, and billionaires, and the market watchers are of the view that it is better and safe to invest in the real estate and the mortgage market. This is because, both stock and forex investments are much more complex, and involves risks at various...
Yesterday I went to value a property in Nyahururu. As usual, I carried my tape measure, camera and a map of the parcel that I had gone to inspect. I didn’t carry my scale rule as I should, coz in the past I have not really had to use it in Nyahururu. After all , the smaller the luggage, the better for me since I was using public transport. When I arrived in Nyahururu town, I met with my client and we...
There is this tycoon that had bought land along Kangundo road. The reason I call him a tycoon is because apart from the 5 acres that we are talking about, he had many other parcels of land scattered across the country. Let’s just say he was a typical Kikuyu man who had accumulated a lot of “wealth”. Let’s call him Mr Gitonga. Just like all of us, once you have bought a parcel of land and fenced it,...
Two weeks ago, a guy came to our office. He looked like he is in his late 20s and asked the receptionist how much it would cost to do a valuation and to do a search separately. This was strange since a search is normally part of valuation so we don’t charge it separately. The receptionist referred him to me. For the sake of this illustration, let’s call him Peter. When Peter started explaining what he...
The other day, my friend called me. He sounded very excited. After a minute of catching up, he told me that he needed my opinion. He had finally found land that he could afford. He told me that he had found some land in a County not far from Nairobi that was selling at a very fair price. He said, “I saw an advert that an acre is going for Kshs 30,000 per acre”. He said that the neighboring land was...