Dear Wazua Community,

I am a foreigner living in Kenya for about six years now - never thought I'd stay longer than one, but here I am, now with my very own Kenyan wife and daughter :)

I am considering buying an apartment in Nairobi, but am a little fearful given my lack of connections, and the well known risks of property purchases, esp. as I am considering an off-plan unit. I would greatly appreciate your advice or insights whether this is a good idea in general, and I have a few specific questions below.

Specifically, I am thinking about making an off-plan purchase of a 2BR unit for around 15m in the "ENCLAVE" development in Kilimani (off Dennis Prit) marketed by Hass Consult and developed by "Rising East Real Estate Ltd.". Ground has already been broken. I am mainly interested due to the truly excellent location (close to Westlands, CBD, Upper Hill, quiet, close to shopping & restaurants; next to Palacina Hotel); the aim is to pay it off through rent-income in ~10 years and then keep or resell. I would pay this without a mortgage, so no financing costs.

The developer is not a member of the Kenya Property Developers Association (KPDA), but HassConsult says they have previously constructed the "Skyview" and "Lenox Park" apartments in Kilimani. These bulidings are really the usual mediocre Nairobi standard, nothing like the luxury apartments "Enclave" is pitched as. I am quite concerned about whether the final building will look anything like the prospect renderings. It is essential to me that this will indeed be in the "luxury" category, because with all these half-empty blocks everywhere now, I think the key to commanding a good and reliable rent from the corporate/expat types in the future will be having a really nice apartment which is still relatively rare in Nairobi.

But then, perhaps it is possible for developers to just make a step up, and the architects are Symbion Architects, who seem legit and have done some nice apartments.

I've checked their permits as much as I can, but I am really wondering:

1. Does anyone know these developers?

2. Should I draw any confidence from HassConsults involvement (even if they only market/handle payments), or has HassConsult also been involved in buildings that never got finished or fell short in other ways ?

3. Is there anything else I should ask the developers to provide to get a bit more security about their creditworthiness and ability to finish this building well?

4. Do you think it would be possible to tie payments to concrete steps in the building development (rather than just have a fixed payment quarterly)?

5. Is it just a stupid idea to buy off-plan because you'll never know what you'll get?

Thank you for reading as far, and any advice you may have.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

I'm not an expert, but if it works out, and if the property market doesn't crater by late 2017 (intended completion date), I'd expect the completed units to go for at least 20-22m. More importantly, the most attractive units in the higher up floors with good light and a nice view towards statehouse on one side & Yaya on the other will be gone. They claim to have sold at least half of the 96 apartments already.

I guess I will try to meet them face-to-face to get a better gut feeling of who I am dealing with. I am naturally risk-averse, so I am leaning towards not doing it due to my lack of direct connections and solid reassurance. Then again, I am telling myself - no risk, no reward...

Hass is one of the most trusted and professional marketing agent if not the best in Kenya.Having them on your side as an agent is a great first step for you.I agree with you that the quality of buildings in Nairobi is sub par but i guess competition has been and will continue to sort out that problem in the future.Whatever is coming online now is definitely of higher quality/finish than lets say a few years ago.If you have looked hard enough and cannot find a finished unit that is of your desired quality then follow whatever your gut tells you.in most cases your first gut instinct is normally right.I think you have also received very good advice from the above posters on checking who the financiers are.I put a deposit for edenville II in 2012 and they have never broken ground until today and to add insult to injury they wanted to refund my money if i didn't agree to their new terms which meant that my buy price has gone up by 3.5 million.Someone above mentioned time value of money. By the way Hass is their agent and mine too. they told me there is nothing i can do if i don't agree to the new terms.

Thanks itz for taking the time to respond. I guess another advantage is that the building process has already started (at least excavations). Of course, one looks at that unfinished YAYA tower and shudders...

Thanks also on your feedback on Hass - which seems a bit ambiguous - good in general but in your case not much help with dealing with a rogue developer.

I know the developers they are good guys but apparently this is their major development so everything that can go wrong will go wrong anyway. They have deep pockets you am assuming they arent looking to use the deposits to fund the construction. You havent told us how much deposit you are putting up but my redflag would raise if its more than 10%. If u have kes15m ready you can immediately buy a massionete in the emerging property hotspots of mombasa road say like the greenpark 13MILLION which was 9m less than 2 years ago Riverine kitengela 4 bedroom massionettes by Alexander Forbes retirement fund 15m Yamin park 15m semi detached townhouses was 11m in 2014. Shaba village syokimau. These are developments that are 80-90% done and have sold over 60% actually greenpark almost 95% sold. The reason why townhouses continue to have a higher margin price increase than apartments is because there is very little primeland left whatever is left is selling like gold. There is a huge chance the Enclave will deliver good quality on time but there is also that possibility of things going wrong and Since you can pay cash 15m i bet by the end of 2017 the house you buy today will gain 3-4million guaranteed value and with 19m you can walk around and buy your ideal apartment either from the enclave or a similar development without being a guinea pig for their first major project