How Diaspora Buyers Can Find the Right Property in Nairobi

Define the requirement before you look

A requirement is a short written statement of what the property must do. It is not a wish list; it is a filter. Written properly, it lets someone else search on your behalf and lets you reject a beautiful property in one line because it does not meet it.

• Intended use — personal residence, family housing, letting, or a base for visits
• Budget range, all-in, in one currency
• Preferred areas, and areas you have ruled out
• Bedrooms and any non-negotiable rooms
• Property type and acceptable building age or condition
• Furnished or unfurnished
• Timeline and decision-makers
• Two or three things you will not compromise on

Budget

Set the total commitment first, then subtract the surrounding costs to arrive at the purchase price you can actually pay: your advocate's fees, stamp duty and registration costs, valuation or survey where commissioned, transfer and currency costs, and the first months of ownership including service charge and any furnishing.

Give whoever is searching for you a range rather than a ceiling, and say whether the range is firm. A search run against a soft budget wastes everyone's time; a search run against an honest range produces relevant options at both ends.

Location

Choose the area from how you will use the property, not from reputation. A unit intended for letting to professionals should sit where those tenants want to live and how far they are willing to commute. A family home should be chosen around schools, daily routes and the amount of outdoor space you actually need.

If you have been away for some years, be aware that parts of Nairobi have changed substantially in density and traffic. It is worth reviewing the areas guide and the individual area pages for Westlands, Kilimani, Kileleshwa, Riverside, Lavington, Karen and Gigiri before fixing on one.

Bedrooms and layout

Count bedrooms for the life the property will hold, not for the maximum the budget allows. A three-bedroom unit in a good building often serves a family better than a four-bedroom unit in a compromised one, and it costs less to run.

Layout matters more than the bedroom count in apartments. Ask about the actual internal area rather than the marketed area, whether balconies are included in that figure, the orientation and where the light falls, storage, whether there is a DSQ, and how many parking bays are allocated.

Property type

Apartments dominate the central areas and are the easiest to buy, let and eventually sell, at the cost of a service charge and shared decision-making. Townhouses in gated schemes suit families who want space with managed security. Standalone villas offer the most independence and the highest running costs, and sit mainly in the lower-density areas.

If you are unsure, view one of each. A single live viewing of a townhouse will tell you more about whether you want one than a week of browsing listings.

Furnished or unfurnished

For a purchase you will occupy later, unfurnished is usually the sensible default; you will furnish to your own taste when you arrive. For a unit intended for short-let or corporate tenants, furnished may be what the market expects, and the cost of furnishing should be in your budget from the start rather than discovered afterwards.

If you are arriving before you buy, a furnished rental is often the better first step. Our furnished rentals section lists what is currently available, and there is a fuller discussion in the relocation guide.

Intended use and timeline

Say plainly whether this is an investment, a future home, or both, and when you need it. A buyer who must complete before a family relocation in six months should be shown completed property; a buyer with a three-year horizon can reasonably consider off-plan and stage the payments.

Timeline also governs how much of the process is worth arranging now. Orientation and area knowledge are always worth acquiring early. Physical inspections and legal instruction belong to the point at which you can transact.

Investment or personal residence

The same property is judged by different standards depending on the answer. For a residence, the test is whether you will be glad to live there: light, noise, neighbours, the walk from the parking bay with shopping. For an investment, the test is whether it lets easily, holds a tenant, and costs little to keep in condition.

Where a property is intended to be both — let now, occupied later — write down which criterion wins in a conflict. Buyers who have not decided tend to overpay for finishes a tenant will not value while accepting a location they would not want to live in.

Comparing shortlisted properties

Comparison only works when every property is described with the same fields. Ask for a consistent record for each shortlisted unit and fill the gaps before you judge.

• Asking price, and what is included at that price
• Actual internal area, and whether balconies are counted
• Floor, orientation and outlook
• Bedrooms, bathrooms, DSQ and parking bays
• Completion status and, if under construction, the contractual handover date
• Service charge and what it covers
• Building age, developer, and how the scheme is managed
• Current letting position and comparable rents in the building
• Which documents are available and which are not
• How long the property has been on the market

Virtual viewings

Use virtual viewings to reduce a longlist to a shortlist. A live call where you can direct the camera is worth several edited videos: ask to see the approach, the common areas, every room in sequence, the view from the main windows, the finishes close up, and the parking.

Take notes during the call and ask for anything that was not shown. What is skipped is often the most informative part of the viewing. The virtual viewings guide covers what to ask.

Physical viewing

Before committing funds, someone acting in your interest should stand in the property. If you can travel, group several viewings into one trip and leave time to see the area at different times of day. If you cannot, appoint a professional to inspect and report in writing, and give them a written list of what to check.

Building the shortlist

Aim for three to six properties, each of which you would be content to buy if the checks came back clean. Anything larger is a longlist and should be cut; anything smaller may mean the requirement is too narrow for the current market, which is itself useful information.

You can browse the published collection at our properties page, or set out your requirement through the diaspora property form and we will build the shortlist against it. When it comes to verification, the Diaspora Trust Guide shows what we hold for each listing and what your own advisers should confirm.