Renting is paying for a service, not throwing money into a pit. You are paying for a place to live!!
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There is some nuance to this argument because it is both true and false.
A balanced meal of rice, beef, and freshly squeezed orange juice is a basic need. Fish fillet, aged steak, and imported wines are not basic needs!!
A nice shirt from a local vendor is a basic need. Loro Piana, Hermes, and Cashmere drips arenât basic needs.
A 20k two bedroom apartment in Kasarani is a basic need. A 130k/month duplex in Kileleshwa is not a basic need.
You get the idea? There is so much variability in the prices of âneedsâ that it makes a big difference. You are certainly losing something if you pay beyond the basics when you cannot afford to. If you have eaten millions of shillings in food for the past 10 years, and you are a peasant, then you have certainly wasted money on wants and not needs. Basic food is a need, expensive food is not a need. You canât eat at a steakhouse every evening and claim that food is a basic need to justify your decision.
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@Landlord has one advantage and itâs that he receives a notification of 75k every 5th of the month.
food, shelter, and clothing are basics. ukilemewa na izo tatu, una maana gani?
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Honestly rent in Kenya is such a good deal compared to other countries. For example I have a three bedroom on a quarter acre with a lawn that is 40 minutes away from the CBD during rush hour and I pay 35k per month. Even in a place like South Africa such a property would cost hundreds of thousands a month in rent. In Nigeria it they charge rent annually, meaning I would have had to cough up 420k just to enter the house.
Meanwhile buying real estate outright in Kenya is a TERRIBLE deal compared to other countries. My landlord would probably only sell for 30m or something ridiculous. And the option of building in Kenya means going out to some remote areas where the costs imposed by the remoteness outweigh any savings from owning your own house. Not to mention the illiquidity of most houses. If your house is not appealing to big developers, good luck selling it
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In kenya, renting is better than tethering yourself in same place like a goat.
rent in the city, build in the village.
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in the major cities and towns around kenya the village is just a stone-throw away - the metro areas are very tinny in kenya so it makes sense to just buy cheap land hujo outskirts and live there instead of renting
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OMG them am living the life. I live in nice leafy place 5 minutes from town
This should be obvious Hadi wale wasee wanajenga kamulu, kitengela, ngong na uko na shamba ocha nashindwa pupa no za nini
I like renting juu am flighty. Any little thing sipendi about a place, I Hama to a different side of town. Try that with a mansion worth 15m sijui wapi. Ocha nayo I donât compromise, I live like a governor
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