After years of travelling in and out of the country to source for accessories for their mobile businesses, four long-time friends felt that it was time to start a business that would necessitate less travel, enabling them to settle down.
Towards this end, the four friends- Job Kariuki, Joseph Kamau, Shamton Githere and Robert launched Zani properties, a real estate company that would specialise in buying and selling land. READ FULL STORY
With cases of land fraud particularly amongst first-time buyers on the rise, the business would also offer advisory services around best practices for acquiring property.
In this feature, the four friends share insights into what one needs to consider while acquiring property, what kind of challenges one is likely to face when purchasing property and what one needs to do to avoid falling victim to real estate fraud.
“Due to the increase in appetite for land and the desire for home ownership, there has been an increase in cases of land fraud, and one needs to be vigilant to safeguard their investment,” said Job Kariuki, one of the directors of Zani Properties.
He advises instructing the services of a conveyancing lawyer in order to receive appropriate legal representation throughout the sales process.
“A lawyer can help one to verify the validity of documents such as wills, letters of administration of a deceased estate, and letters of allotment,” says Kariuki.
Getting contracts reviewed by an attorney can also help to identify if there are any red flags in the contract.
Exchange of monies throughout the land transaction process is also safest when done through lawyers as opposed to directly from the purchaser to the vendor.
It is also advisable to instruct the services of a licensed land surveyor to verify dimensions of the land and confirm the availability of boundaries.
Once that is established, the next step would be to instruct the services of a reputable agent to give a market estimate of the value of the land, thereby protecting one from possible exploitation from the seller or brokers. A good agent will also help you get the best deal on the land.
“While these services might cost you some money at the beginning, it is a cost worth bearing because it saves you from losing millions of your money to unscrupulous dealers,” remarks Shamton Githere, a co-director at Zani Properties.
Due diligence on the land in question can also be done by asking neighbors questions about the real owner of the land, as well as history of the land ownership
“This will help you to know whether there are disputes involved, and general questions about the issues often overlooked such as drainage,” posits Githere.
Once you are certain that the land in question is fit for purchase, you can instruct your advocate to prepare a letter of offer, which is a binding agreement between the two parties involved that proves commitment.
Some letters of offer demand that buyers pay a requisite down payment of at least 10 percent of the purchase price immediately on signing it.
“You should however avoid paying a booking fee, or deposits that exceed 10 percent of the purchase price of the land,” says Joseph Kamau, a co-director at Zani.
To further safeguard buyers against fraudulent transactions, Robert, a co-director at Zani Properties, says that there is a need to address the systemic and human factors affecting service delivery.
These issues include delay in the issuance of titles, processing of applications for boundary disputes and enforcement of summons for land dispute and verifications.
In some cases, the huge backlogs and inordinate delay in resolution of boundary dispute and verifications are ploys by registrars to solicit for bribes.
“There is a need to stamp out the rampant practice of rogue persons purporting to be land agents working in cohort with public officials to fleece money from unsuspecting members of the public,” said Robert.
