How youths can venture into real estate investing
Moses Muriithi is the CEO and Founder Fanaka Real Estate, a property management milliam and land buying and selling company.
Your company recently celebrated five years of operations in Kenya. What are some of your achievements so far and what are your future plans?
Our first business model entailed selling land along Kangundo Road and Ruiru East, but this has evolved to focus on new frontiers along Thika Road, Murang’a and Kiambu counties.
Over the years, the company’s portfolio has also evolved with many more creative, solution-based products to meet the needs of the ever-changing real estate landscape and client needs.
These, include more affordable products, and versatile property management solutions for both landlords and tenants. Not only has the company realised better products, but also better ways to deliver the products.
Which age group has embraced real estate as an investment option?
The older generation has embraced it well, because they understand that buying and owning real estate is an investment strategy that is both satisfying and lucrative.
Youths have been lagging behind, but they have started embracing it, albeit slowly
Why should the youth be interested in real estate?
I can confidently say that real estate is still the best investment one can take on today. It is a long-term asset that provides a sense of financial security and wealth.
It is one of the few assets that always appreciate in value over time. For the youth, real estate provides an enormous opportunity for them to grow their savings and wealth.
With all these advantages, why are they not embracing this venture?
They believe and feel that they don’t have enough money to start investing in real estate.
This is partly due to lack of education on how to make investments and that it is more of a journey rather than a one-off venture. Real estate, just like saving is something that can be started with small amounts over a long period of time.
The interesting bit is, you don’t have to add any value to it yet the investment will always grow in value compounded over the years.
Another key hindrance is information, whereby, the youth don’t understand the real estate investment processes and, therefore, most will shy away from investing due to fear of losing money through fraud.
What needs to be done to ensure more youths embrace real estate investment as an investment option?
A couple of issues that need to be done, include financial literacy and educating them on the importance of investing early in their lives.
Then, the stakeholders in the industry need to ensure that there is sufficient information about property buying and selling processes and lastly, companies and other industry players need to develop innovative products that are affordable to the youth.
As a young person who is running a successful company, what is your call to youths who are hesitant to start their own businesses?
Do not be afraid to start, no matter how small you business is. Then once you start, always think about what could come next, how you can expand your idea countrywide and eventually globally.
It will take time, but if you’re focused, it’s more likely to happen. Apart from that, always look for opportunities and do not be afraid to ask for help.
I believe saying yes to opportunities is one way of taking your business to the next level, because they help you learn what you need to do to become a more successful entrepreneur.
What mistakes do young people make when investing in real estate?
Most lack knowledge of what is happening in their surrounding. Youth are always on the go, but they need to know what’s going on in their community in terms of the property market.
Understanding how real estate values change can be very beneficial when looking for an investment that will give them higher returns over time.
Given the financial constraints youths face, how can they successfully pool funds to kick off a real estate investment?
You don’t need all the cash up front. You can pay off your balance with monthly or quarterly payments until your acquired property is paid off completely.
