To get a house now, all you do is click a mouse

After three months looking for a house  in Ruiru without success,  21 year-old Monicah Muthoni was at the end of her tether.

“I used to dedicate at least an hour every day after work to look for a suitable house I could rent in Ruiru but there just seemed to be no vacant ones around. I expanded my search to the  nearby towns of Githurai and Kahawa West, but it was difficult to find a decent apartment since I was competing with students from nearby universities for the same houses,” she says.

Apart from the frustration,  she lost money to unscrupulous property agents, who promised to find her a house, only to disappear with her money or to take to her houses in areas she did not like.

Ms Muthoni  even tried looking for a house online in a bid to save time, but most online directories only listed apartments located in posh areas, which were way beyond her reach. Before she could throw in the towel, though, a colleague at work mentioned

Kikwetu Home Solutions to her, and the company’s innovative house hunting website, home254.com. It is on this website that she finally found a suitable bedsitter  going for 8,000 shilling a month and settled down  at Gwa-Kairu village in Ruiru.

Mr Joel Wanjau, the founder and CEO of Kikwetu Home Solutions,  underwent an experience similar to Ms Muthoni’s early last year.

“There were changes in the company I was working with, which saw me abruptly transferred to Thika,” he told DN2. “I spent a lot of time hunting for a house in Thika but it was a whole three months before I finally found one and settled down.”

It was this tiring experience that saw Mr Wanjau invest in a venture that would help thousands of others locate and lease rental houses from the comfort of their homes. With a monthly traffic of more than 50,000 potential tenants, home254.com has already helped lease about 30,000 houses since its inception in June last year.

 The 24-year-old fifth-year mechanical engineering student at the Technical University of Kenya says he knew his idea was innovative, but never imagined it would be the huge success  it is now.

MAKES ME HAPPY

“It just means that there was a huge gap in the market that wasn’t being filled by other online listing websites. It makes me happy to know that I am helping landlords connect with tenants seamlessly,” he says.

The online platform has seen Mr Wanjau  employ nearly 40 permanent employees. Apart from two administrative staff and seven website developers in its IT department, Kikwetu Home Solutions has 35 clerks spread out across the country.

The clerks’ task is to move around towns collecting data about vacant houses which include: the location of the house, the rent, plus photographs.

They then upload the information onto the website through their portals and are paid a Sh80 commission for every  house uploaded.

“We have staff in  all the  major towns in the country including Mombasa, Nyeri, Kisumu, Kericho and Kakamega,” explains Mr Wanjau, adding that they even get clients from the diaspora who are looking to tour or settle in the country.

Mr Kagume Joseph, one of the  website administrators, says he couldn’t be any happier.

“This work is very fulfilling since we receive many calls every day from satisfied clients and tenants, especially because our listing services are free of charge,” he tells DN2 at their head office at Equity Plaza in Thika Town.

“We have also partnered with various real estate agents and we now connect them with developers who need help managing their property,” he adds.

Even though the firm has been in existence for less than a year, it has expanded to become more than just a listing service.

“We have ventured into trading in  real estate, whereby we act as brokers between land buyers and land sellers. We also facilitate the sales of houses and apartments.”

In addition, Kikwetu Home Solutions has invested heavily in training property owners on tax remittance and property management. Its Compliance Department holds seminars and workshops where people in the real estate sector can meet, learn and exchange ideas.

“We also offer data analysis services to individuals and other real estate firms. Since we have employees all over Kenya, we are constantly collecting data on current market trends including land appreciation rates and approximate costs of construction. This

helps our clients make informed decisions when it comes to trading in property,” Mr Wanjau says.

Their main clientèe comprises young people between the  ages of 18 and 30. This, Mr Kagume explains, is because young people are more conversant with technology.

“I foresee a future where house-hunting as we now know it will be a thing of the past. And low-income earners will not have to wear out their shoes looking for shelter,” says an optimistic Mr Wanjau.