For peace of mind, employ a qualified property manager

To earn a little extra cash, Mr Zablon Ondiek, built eight, single-room rentals in Ahero, Kisumu County.

However,  as a full-time teacher, he had little time to look for tenants, so two months after the houses were ready, they were still unoccupied.

It seemed like a stroke of good luck when, just then, a 27-year-old man approached him and introduced himself as a property agent.

Just to be sure, Mr Ondiek  ran a background check on him and found everything fine, so he gave  him the go ahead to look  for tenants. Within two weeks, tenants started coming. I was very pleased with him,” Mr Ondiek recalls.

Two months later, three of the units were still vacant and when Mr Ondiek asked by,  agent  told him that it was because potential tenants preferred a new building in the area.

“I knew that was a possibility, but for some reason I did not believe him,” Mr Ondiek says.

Not  long afterwards, Mr Ondiek inadvertently learnt from a friend that the agent had advertised one of his units for Sh12,000 a month, when he was, in fact, charging Sh8,000.

Before confronting the agent, he  talked to the tenants privately and  learnt that  the agent had charged them between Sh9,000 and Sh10,000 the first month, yet Mr Ondiek paid him Sh4,000 for every tenant he brought.  When Mr Ondiek confronted him, he admitted to being only a broker, and that he had shown him forged testimonials, so he had to raise extra money to share with another agent. 

“To avoid being conned, look for a professional and certified property sales agent,” says Ms Judy Mbogua, an agent at real estate consultancy firm Danco Ltd in Upper Hill, Nairobi.

She says the first thing you should do is ensure that the person is adequately qualified and is a member of a recognised professional body. “Professionals are competent. When you hire them, they seek your authority before doing anything. This is because failure to do so makes them liable to a trespass charge,” she says, adding, “With power comes due diligence. The main aim of this is to let or sell a property without any drama.”

Ms Mbogua strongly advises against involving more than one agent to avoid having its  rent or price inflated. She says a professional agent should have a database such as a company website, where they post quality pictures of the houses  they are selling.

“Today the world  is immersed in technology. Just make sure that when the picture of a house is posted, the details about its physical appearance and proximity to social amenities like schools, hospitals and roads are included. This information is too important to be left out,” she offers.

“Rogue property agents are a pain not only to the seller, but also the buyer. When they inflate the rent of a house, it can remain unoccupied for a long time. Meanwhile, the unwitting tenant or  buyer pays exorbitantly for it.