Kenya’s property market has witnessed a boom in
the last five years, riding on a growing middle class
and continued interest in the country among
investors. However, finding property for rent or
sale has not always been an easy task.
Kenyan-born entrepreneur Jamie Pujara identified
this gap in the market and established Buy Rent
Kenya, a real estate portal.
“I noticed there is a need in the market. I don’t
know if you have been apartment searching; it’s
quite difficult in Kenya. You can’t get the
information you need. I wanted to create a space
where we could put all agents and developers’
properties online.”
The site offers listings for residential and commercial
properties from accredited and compliant agents and
brokerages. Agents and developers showcase their
properties on the platform with photographs and
short description about the location, price and
particular features.
Since its launch in May 2012, Pujara says the
business has been going “really well” due to Kenya’s
high internet penetration and unmet demand for
property .
“Property is something that interests everybody, from
the fresh graduate to the 70-year-old who is still
investing. We are now the biggest site in terms of
property listings, the agents signed on and user
base.”
Buy Rent Kenya charges agents and developers a
subscription fee for membership. The agents and
developers can either pay KSh 6,500 (US$74) per
month for silver membership which allows them to
make 15 listings or pay KSh 9,500 ($108) for gold
membership and enjoy unlimited listings.
“Our job is to provide leads; the agent’s job is to
make the sale. We don’t think the service is
expensive. The cost per lead is much cheaper and
agents get access to the diaspora market where a lot
of real estate funding in this country comes from. It
is worthwhile,” says Pujara.
In its efforts to “get rid of all the conmen”, Buy Rent
Kenya insists on working with legitimate agents and
developers only. Due to this, most of the properties
listed on the site are on the higher side of the
market locking out potential buyers in the lower-end
segment.
“We can only list properties that are legitimate. I
don’t want to put up property online that I am not
sure if the source is genuine. Unfortunately, that
jacks the price up a little bit. In the eventuality that
we have a more structured housing market in Kenya
we will incorporate more [affordable housing].”
For Buy Rent Kenya, the biggest challenge is getting
its clients to understand how they can maximise the
potential of the online property portal.
“If you have an online platform and you can put up
20 photos, why put one? If you can write a
description of two paragraphs about the property,
why write two lines? If you want sell your house,
make it look like a house you want to sell.”
The online property market is set for stiff
competition following the recent entry of Vamido,
funded by Berlin-based Rocket Internet, and
Property24, which in turn is owned by South African
multinational media company Naspers. Kenya’s
Nation Media Group also recently launched its own
real estate site, N-soko Property.
“Big competition tells you the market is big, it’s got
a lot of potential and that this is a service the
market needs. How are we going to cope? One, we
are a Kenyan company. We want to identify ourselves
as the Kenyan brand. Two, we have a head start; a
first mover advantage.”
Pujara is not worried about the competition these
multinationals have brought to the market.
“Competition is good. I think we got too complacent
towards the end of last year when we officially
became the biggest property portal. The growing
competition has given us a chance to refocus.”
Online opportunities
According to Pujara, the growing internet penetration
across Africa offers a unique opportunity to
entrepreneurs to start online businesses.
“If you can find an online solution, then Africa is the
place to be,” he says.
The entrepreneur, who also runs a high-end Chinese
restaurant started by his grandfather 35 years ago,
says one of the lessons he has learnt in
entrepreneurship is making sacrifices and putting
long hours of work and commitment into his
ventures.
“I juggle two businesses and towards the end of the
year as I said, we were getting complacent on one. I
realised I have to work double the time to make sure
they are both successful.”
Have a plan
Pujara advises entrepreneurs to have a clear
business plan and set targets.
“You need to be able to measure against what you
have set out to do That will always give you an
indication of whether or not you are on the right
track,” he says. “I think it is very important to have a
plan and to keep referring back to it. When you start
something new it is very easy to get sidetracked.”
He says it is important to keep things simple and be
willing to keep trying even when one fails.
“You are always going to fail [but] you have to keep
trying. There are a million and one roadblocks. You
have to believe in your idea. You can’t hire people to
follow your dream. You have to go on the ground and
do it yourself.”
Pujara says he is optimistic about the potential of
the market, adding that he plans to expand the
business beyond Kenya.
“We want to consolidate the Kenyan market and then
branch it out. We want to have Buy Rent in Kenya,
Uganda , Tanzania , Rwanda, Zambia, Somalia, South
Sudan and other markets in Africa. This is a long-
term goal for us. It is going to grow really big.”
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