Ms Mkenya,
Do not be fooled ati you can get something decent in Kileleshwa for under 5m. Have you seen those "studio apartments" you will just start laughing once you step in them. Some are the size of a decent toilet in a decent 250 sqm Maisonette in DC

Siste listen and listen carefully. Do not waste your time chasing hopeless apartments in Nairobi for that amount of money. Your best bet is think long term. Buy a plot in DC (1/4 acre) for between 2.5-4m and then build pole pole over the long term. Instant gratification is what is killing Kenyans. They do not want to put the effort and time to earn something decent. Trust me in 20 years time when your DC neighbourhood has reached maturity you will be thanking me heartily.

Have you ever owned an apartment in the leafier sections of Nairobi. I have and still do. It is a bonafide NIGHTMARE my sista.

1. The value of the communal land will remain locked forever. You will never see a coin of it kapsa kapsa kapsa.
2. You know how Kenyans are. Service charge disputes prawwwwwwwwwwww for years and years. People do not want to pay and there is nothing you can do about it except try to prevent them from selling when that time comes. You think they care? Nope!
3. Cramped living conditions no matter how plush the apartment is. Have you ever tried living in a decent sized apartment in Kile or Lavi. At first it is fun. You enjoy the company of mingi mingi people. Then it starts to grate at you. Mara oo someone is throwing a bash downstairs and the noise is irritating. Kids riding bikes and screaming all the time. People are peeing in the pool and spitting dani yaghe. The sauna has broken down and residents refuse to changa to fix despite endless pleas. Hopeless whatsapp group "forwards" baaaaaauuu until you get sick of it. Walevi neighbours scratch or bang your car while you are asleep and deny all culpability once you wake up. The list is endless.
4. Do not be fooled ati renting is a cake walk and occupancy is guaranteed (especially for ati a matchbox studio apartment in Kile ). Think carefully. Who would you rent to? A middle class Nairobian with money would never want to live there. A broke university student with hypergamy would definitely want to live there but no way they will pay you more than 10k because they simply cannot afford it. If the deal seems too good to be true.....

Now compare with the buy and build in DC model. You buy and build say for 10m over three years (if you can afford to have 3-5.5m in the short term certainly over three years you can hit your 10 m target.After 3 years you have a spacious maisonette with a huge piece of land that you own ALONE with no crazy communal living issues that is growing in value at a crazy rate yearly.

As I repeated so many times on the DC is the future thread....ALL the cap gains including the land is YOURS for the unlocking and 10 years later when you want to sell (to those clueless investors who want to hepa their studio apartments and become adults living in a decent house) you sell bila story mingi and smile all the way to the bank. Take these other fellows advice at your own peril!

Shalom

wisedom detected.

At an expectation of 300k per month in rent for a cramped 30sqm Chinese bedsitter in VALLEY ARCADE of all places, and a laughable assertion that no young people are buying and building in DC, I think it is plain as day to the WHOLE WORLD who the fool (your word not mine) in this WHOLE SITE is

The highrise apartments in Ngara are certainly interesting. My worry though is that in a few years the environment might turn into something similar to the 'projects' of the states - you know, gangs, broken glass everywhere, people pissing on the stairs/elevators, etc. I've listened to enough rap music to know that its not fun.

Any thoughts on this?

In the 3.5-5m range you can get a studio apartment in Kileleshwa, Kilimani, Valley arcade area which can rent for 30k, and even more if you put it on airbnb A good portion of new buildings under construction have them especially those done by the Chinese developers. When passing by a construction site just pop in and ask ..

The studios are always the first to sell-out.

Note that, the price for off-plan is usually the same as the final price at the end, the only advantage of buying early is you will have more options for choosing the size and position of your unit since it is a matter of first-come first-serve. hii mambo ingine ya wakenya kujifanya apartment ina appreciate after construction ni artificial appreciation which gets corrected by the market sooner or later, never buy into such

@mugunda my argument about new york studios and Nairobi were completely different statements, let me excuse you for being too slow in following my thought process.

Valley arcade studio today is 30k, a few years ago it was probably half that (i.e SQs since studios have only started popping up now), in the future, the sky is the limit and to prove it I gave you an example of New york studios just so that you understand that studios are not just a 'local' phenomena.

Let those with eyes see and those with ears hear hao wengine we can't help them

There is a big billboard hapa lavington advertising Riruta gardens apartments that start at 1.9m.