Post submitted by Susan Mumbua, Communications Manager. Lamudi

As the real estate industry continues to boom in Kenya, people are looking to invest in property. This is because investing in real estate has a lower risk than stock and forex trading. There is a wave of owning a house or land in Kenya and many high-net-worth individuals as well as investment analysts are confident of real estate investment.

Lamudi Kenya Managing Director Dan Karua said: “Investing in real estate guarantees good returns over time depending on the location of the property and the type of property one has invested in. Land in Kenya is very common and people are willing to invest far and wide because infrastructure in the country is growing fast in different areas of the country.”

There are several benefits of investing in land as opposed to the other types of properties in the market.

You do not have to do anything to vacant land.

Once you buy land, you do not have to spend extra to do anything to land. You can sell it as it is. The most people do is to put a fence round the piece of land to show the area bought by the owner. Some agents will develop the land by adding electricity, water sources and construct the roads leading to the land to raise the value of the land and sell it off faster.

Land is a ‘hands off’ Investment

You do not have to deal with tenants or fixing any leaks or any other issues that come with owning a house or a building. Investing in land gives you peace because it’s a long-term investment and a tangible asset that does not wear out. Since prices in the market are flexible in Kenya, one can make a profit in a short time.

Valuable Resource

The fact that they are not making more of it, those who invest in land find out that they have an asset that many would want. Do not be in a hurry to sell it off, once you buy a piece in the right location, it will make more sense in the long-term and get you good returns. For example, land that was worth KES. 50,000 ten years ago is now worth KES. three million to five million per acre.

Start small and buy some of the and going for KES. 100,000 to 250,000 now. As they say, ‘Do not wait to buy land, buy land and wait.’