More Real estate Opportunities

I told you about so many opportunities in real estate:

1.     Get me a nice plumber and I will show you twenty quacks. This is a field dominated by the latter. I usually wonder whether they train people for this particular specialized field. There is this one I gave some work and he put a normal valve where a non-return one was needed with disastrous results and or consequences. When I called him and asked him why he did so, he said he’ll come back and put the right one. So he knew the right one but decided to test my patience. I almost called him PWD. You see when we were in primary school, there is this deputy headmaster who would call you PWD if you did anything silly. Of course by PWD he did not mean Print Working Directory, Linux gurus know what it means but he actually meant Punda Wengi Duniani.

2.     Of course I like rainwater harvesting and so if you want to know of another opportunity, then please specialize in fitting gutters. The other day I saw some nice ones made of plastic.

3.     How about these bio-digesters that will deal with septic waste and digest it. You may not have known but the technology behind these digesters involves introducing live bacteria in some sealed enclosure. This will need a whole lesson, but if you think you can hack it, bring this technology to us and we will not need those humongous septics that we always construct; after all most councils care less about sewer systems.

4.     While at the above, you may figure out how the so called septics are emptied and if you can withstand the effluent, get a honey sucker (exhauster) and PAP you are in business. But kindly ensure that your honey sucker does not conveniently change to a water bowser during the dry season; otherwise we shall report you to NEMA.

5.     This guy who fixes cabro keeps telling me that he has to consider some levels on the ground and how water will flow naturally and so on. I think he makes some good money; after all he also sells paving slabs, culverts, road kerbs and channels amongst other storm water drainage materials. He also claims to manufacture them and he is filthy rich.

6.     There is this painter who is very good. I know that because he insists that painting is an art. He also insists that before he embarks on the actual work, he must get a theme and some inspiration. Then he knows something about blending colors and mixing them. I saw a house he painted somewhere in Runda and it is inspiring. And he really knows colors, you see I did not know that peach is a color (isn’t it a fruit?). How about claret? I is almost color blind so let him not dwell on them.

I can talk endlessly about real estate opportunities; after all it is my field. In the next post I might tell you something about Guangzhou. After all isn’t it an opportunity? Think about all the above and tell me whether we are not in a land full of opportunities.

Opportunities in Real Estate

Real estate opportunities are visible all over Kenya. Turn around where you are sitting; open you bright eyes and you’ll most likely see one. After all, real estate experts will confirm to you that housing units developed annually in Kenya average approximately 30,000 units and this is way below the demand of around 150,000 units. So, just go ahead and cater for the deficit. The other day we had a chat with a buddy of mine and we concluded that there is so much for all of us; we cannot exhaust opportunities in housing people.

How about speculators? Obviously when you hear rumours about some upcoming road, it is time to move in. But many people wait until there is tarmac for them to buy. That time, investors are busy taking their profits. Just like in the stocks, buy!

Just a few upcoming roads you may have heard about:

1.     Greater Eastern bypass ….it is past design stage so it is just a matter of sourcing funds and starting the project. I have not enquired from that KURA guy on the latest.

2.     LAPPSET corridor. Need I say more…Lamu, Isiolo, Meru and many other areas.

3.     There is this road from Ngong to Mai Mahiu via Suswa. Sometimes back I went to those sides, up to some 50kms inside from Ngong and I can assure, there is cheap land upto 50k per acre those sides. Try that and you will definitely enjoy massive appreciations. By the way, when the bulldozers land there, you will be surprised to find the price of an acre shooting to 500k.

4.     They are also upgrading the Syokimau Katani road…

5.     Meru and Nakuru by-passes. Did u know that Naks is the fastest growing town in Africa?

6.     Around Konza, the ICT city

7.     By the way, Kisumu is another hotspot serious need for houses.

The opportunities are rather too many. By the way, if you have any interest in these infrastructural developments, visit http://www.kura.go.ke/index.php

And by the way in real estate we got so many other businesses that one can get into:

1.     You know sometimes am shocked at the kind of bills I receive from the Hardware guy every week. Massive opportunities here especially in places where developments are upcoming.

2.     Transport of Ndarugu stones, foundation stones, ballast, sand and what have you. By the way, did u know that for a single lorry of Ndarugu stones, the transport takes more than 50% of the entire cost?

3.     Contractor business?? Most large scale developers engage contractors

4.     Metal fabricators are also in huge demand…

I cannot exhaust the available opportunities in real estate, not in a single posting. If you are business minded, surely you can fit somewhere. More in the next post.

Waigwa, you are fired!

I hate to deliver this message but you have been a complete let down. When I recruited you I was convinced that you are the type of guy I needed. After the rigorous interviews, I settled on you because you seemed to know what you wanted in life. You clearly communicated in a clear and concise manner the role you were to play in my company. Look at you now, two years down the line and you look like a shadow of the exuberant young man I hired. Take this letter, hand over all company’s assets, records and files in your possession. Just hit the road and don’t you come back no more.

I hired Waigwa and spent a lot of time inducting him. Heck, I even took him to Naivasha in some posh hotel together with a few others as I attempted to sell them my vision. I took them through the history of my firm, how it grew from scratch with lots of hard work, strategy and serious money invested in it. He seemed to be very keen to perform his role and I grew some liking for him. I could count on him to deal with keeping labour records and paying casuals, procuring materials from hardware and dealing with my clients to an extent; after all delegation is a good option to take for any good manager.

That trust made me drop my guards off. This guy from some remote village from Nyeri was my right hand man and in all honesty I thought he was assisting me get closer to my vision. Crafty Waigwa must have realized that his master had gone to sleep. He could add a few names in the labour schedule (ghost workers) and his master would just pay without verifying. He could collude with the hardware guy and receive part deliveries while his master paid for the full amounts on the invoices.

One day, the master’s sixth sense was aroused. He planted some moles on the site and to his shock he was losing quite some money on labour alone. The clever master once demanded to verify some deliveries and of course there was a big difference between delivery notes and invoices. In other words Waigwa had been busted!

Then the master was called by one of his clients and to his utter shock he realized that the client had some critical information given to him by none other than Waigwa. Information the client clearly used to his advantage to corner the master. That was the stroke that broke the camel’s back. Waigwa had to be fired. He has a family to take care of but his dishonesty and lack of integrity ensured the master no option but to send him back to the hole he came from.

I am one of the most patient fellows around but business has taught me that some ruthlessness is necessary. I sometimes exercise the powers to fire.

These employees who do not buy into your dream are a representation of little foxes that destroy the vines in the vineyard. No wonder the wise man in the Bible taught us in Songs of Songs 2:15: "Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom".

Do you know what are the little foxes chewing into your dream? Better find out.

In the upcoming posts, we shall talk about some interesting business opportunities I have been seeing around. Kenya has serious opportunities.