Does anyone here have experience with owning a lakefront property? One of my boys is planning to buy something on the shores of Lake Elementaita (next to Sirville Lodge) to build God knows what.
Since I don’t have experience with that sort of investment (he claims anaweza jenga vacation home aweke pale Airbnb as the lodges around the area are shit), labda elders hapa wanaweza toa mawaidha. He is adamant that he will get clients given that the lake is a UNESCO world heritage site kwa sababu ya flamingos na bird watching.
It’s not bad having friends who make at least $150k. That’s one advantage of working in the tech industry in Vancouver. There’s many Kenyan guys here and we talk about what to do back home all the time. Kunakuanga na all type of fellas coming with all sorts of ideas.
I think being in the diaspora watu wanakuanga na pressure mob ya kufanya kitu home for two reasons:
While the money here is good, acquiring assets here is much more costly. $200k for a house down payment here goes much further in Kenya so people prefer repatriating the money home in some form
I’ve discovered that most people wanawashwa sana na pesa ikiwa kwa mfuko. Someone who has saved let’s say $50k ako so adamant to acquire something in Kenya because that money is not enough to do anything useful here.
Lets just say that its not one of your boys rather its you picking people’s brains to your never ending list of things to do and will never do. There is no blue print for a successful business; you put in hard work and as someone mentioned earlier on, it works or not. The land will cost you a good chunk of money ; you need at least 1/4 acre and the sellers mentality is to get premium price no matter the location; never been to Elementaita. I remember a few years ago we were buying land on Lake Naivasha for 1 million an acre and right now I thinks its about 20 million .
My advise to someone is build a house you can do Airbnb and one you can live in. I have no idea how to market an Airbnb but there are very many social media managers in Kenya. Personally I won’t do any Airbnb services; I like my privacy and cant deal with all the crap I see. Afadhali you build one bedrooms in Pipepile and become a slum lord…
Everyone here knows my stance on investing in Kenya. Back to the topic at hand.
I think that’s exactly what he intends to do (vacation home stuff). Surprisingly, the price isn’t too bad as he’s buying at 5M for a 1/4 acre. Slum lording is actually much tricky because of non-paying tenants who destroy the property anyway by doing stupid things like using firewood in an apartment etc.
If you run the math, an AirBnb in a vacation hot spot charging $120 a night (at least the ones in similar locations like Nanyuki, Lamu, Diani etc) could generate $2000 a month with only 50% monthly occupancy rate. Constructing such a bungalow / villa might only cost 6M. That’s a very high return on investment. Supposing the guy builds two villas, that’s $4k a month at a minimum at a fraction of the cost of building a slum rise in pipeline.
Personally, I think it’s a good idea for him to pursue. Mimi I prefer investing where I live so it’s a no-go zone for me. However, I can see his perspective.
Airbnbs in many places are cyclical with the exception of Nairobi. My in-laws live in Nanyuki and there are thousands of Airbnbs and not many will be paying that $ 120 per night; and not many will go to Elementaita over Nanyuki or Naivasha. Same thing in Diani; my cousin has one just near the shopping center on 1/2 care; she has built like 10 apartments(3 stories) with a pool and she barely break even; her only saving grace is she works for some UN body and has gotten connections for them to book at her place. There are times I stay there for a week and no one books; she makes her money during school holidays esp November and December. A 6 million bungalow is cheap especially if you want to make $120 per night.
You need to take some time and visit Kenya for like 2 months and see the reality on the ground; so kukaa Westlands and conting the chicks before they hatch.
Insightful. I don’t know much about Elementaita other than there’s a lot of resorts there but with almost zero airbnbs by the lake (I think people prefer Airbnb villas to hotels that’s why I thought a vacation rental there would be in demand). Most AirBnbs seem to be far away in Nakuru and Naivasha.
Regarding Nanyuki, one of our friends told us his holiday home is usually booked 70% of the time and his rates are $110 a night so I agree that it’s indeed a popular destination. I don’t know much about Diani and the coastal region at all to make any meaningful comment.
Having said that, hii ya Elementaita ndio iko so it’s the one tunachambua.
It’s Riperian and protected land around the lake. The closest you can get land is 7km from the lake.
But it’s Kenya. You can be sold for anything you want. You ask and tell them you are from San Francisco, you will be sold land on the shores of the lake. @DukeOfKabeteshire
No, it’s only a few meters from the shore (not 7KM). There’s a clear demarcation line set by the sub-county and UNESCO. I actually asked him that. Otherwise, how come there are already resorts on the shore (like Sirville)?
There you got your answer. How come there’s only resorts, and not personal property? Where are peoples ancestral homes? In over 5000 years, people didn’t live next to the lake?
BTW juu wewe ni money man nitakuchanua kuna some charter nimetumia before from NBO mna changa watu Kama 15. 3K USD pp unafika most major airports in Trumpistan. Kutoka hapo unachukua last mile hadi huko mashinani kwa wahindi Surrey mahali unaishi.
