The land and housing market in Kenya has had very major changes in the recent past with prices sky rocketing. This is good news for those who owned property but bad for those seeking to invest now as prices especially of houses are way beyond the reach of many would be buyers.

Nevertheless, there are still some good land and house opportunities. The key is to keep checking for good and affordable deals. In the mean time, it is advisable to keep investing so as to build your buying power. Below are some tips to help you in these investment opportunities;

- Do not invest for a promise of higher prices in the future. Almost all land in Kenya is “next to a proposed bypass, near a proposed university campus” and all other promises. Be careful.

- Avoid land that is mass sold to speculators. Such land remains undeveloped over decades as all who bought were speculating.

- Avoid land in the nowhere. Though it may come with huge capital gain promises, such land may never pan out in a few generations.

- Do your due diligence thoroughly. Land is very prone to con artists.

- Bargain hard. If you thought ‘mutumba’ had a large bargaining space, land has more. In many instances, desperate sellers are willing to get even a quarter of the price!

- Buying a second hand house (from a previous owner) is now becoming significantly cheaper than buying new house projects. Only negotiate hard.

- Due to the high mortgage rates and high house prices, buying a house is becoming very expensive. It is therefore wise to consider building rather than buying.

- There are very reliable and competitive small scale contractors who are offering great services to house builders. You can therefore now build your home or rentals with less hassle than it was before.