We are constantly affected by past conditioning of our mind and emotions especially when it comes to property. This is something that can thwart good judgement and decision making. As Africans, we are conditioned to owning land (and a big house that you may actually dont need) as ultimate security (given that our governments has failed to make us feel secure) and sign of success, however far out of town the place may be. Lots of people cannot even understand how you can own a property in a flat (hanging in the air) and claim secure ownership; they will feel very insecure with this arrangement not knowing that there is a very proper mechanism for this in place. Mind you, the most expensive houses in major Cities in the USA e.g. New York are penthouses in flats.
If people could look beyond this past conditioning then maybe they can make better and informed decisions that focuses on improving their family’s quality of life. A friend of mine left his huge mansion in Kitengela two years back and took a smaller apartment in Kilimani and he claims he couldn’t be happier with his and his family’s quality of life due to this switch. He told me he feels he wasted a quarter of 5 years of his life that he lived in Kite due to traffic, and cant even understand why and what he needed the big compound and house for in the first because he never had the time/need to use them anyway. BTw, he has not even been able to get anyone to rent his mansion even at throwaway rate over the last 2 years. On the other hand, If I and my family members have no need to be at work/school at 8:00am, I wouldn’t mind living in a cottage in a big compound by the beach in Shanzu!
Ghaseer…those are pertinent questions you are being yet you choose to duck with some cheap insults…kwani hukununuliwa guarana jana?
On your 2nd and 3rd point,what would you ask of someone living in that situation assuming nothing is at constant.
Not really,an apartment could have 10-20 houses,Assuming they are all couples with 1-2 kids that is not a populus at all
you can put up a gate in a shitty residential area ad call it a gated community - but that does not in real sense make it a gated community
15m for a house in a gated community - big joke
Seer you have a loooooooooong night Boy. Convincing MtuR why folk buy and reside in nice posh areas is a laborious task. So those areas are supposed to be empty because folk should be living in Rongai? If I can afford to reside in Runda why can I not?
Peasant mutura- ndom baki kwa lane yako. Hio nyumba unaishi juja sio gated community, its a collection of nonsense. Heri hata ukae SQ south B
Hio apartment yako ni how many bedrooms mkubwa?
Job requirements ,ease of accessing ammenities , security reasons ,investment reason - ease of selling , renting it out , capital gains ya property, social reasons personal/ ego reasons,luck reasons/ uliagukia a good deal, construction related stress reasons , networking reasons etc
It’s a two bed .
- Siishi Juja
- Nimeishi South B for a while and it is shittier. 99% of houses there are old and have poor designs.
Security,Eastlands has major robbery cases as compared to the other side
Organization-You cannot compare Donholm or Pipeline 15 to 20 years to today, it is overcrowded,poorly planned.Just the other day when i was driving to Fedha i saw someone blocking a whole road going towards Nyayo estate with a mabati structure, sewage clogs and flooding etc
Better services and Social amenities-You get consistent water supply,roads are being done faster, and for a good sum you will get average apartments on this sides with swimming pool, gym, Sauna etc.
Someone who has lived in these areas cannot contemplate going back to Eastlands,it is now better to work and be able to afford a townhouse or larger house in Westlands area
I understand the sense of living in an apartment huko Kileleshwa. What I don’t understand is buying the overpriced apartment. Living in it as a tenant and as a buyer are two different things. Unless you come across a deal you can’t refuse like @Sambamba up there whose friend alimuuzia apartment Valley Arcade for a song. Note that he admits kama hangeipata hiyo deal angenunua plot Membley na ajenge.
Ukinunua apartment you will still need a house with a compound later in life ukigonga 40s. Pia raising kids in apartments would suck. Why buy personal residences twice? You will still feel there is something missing because you can’t retire into that apartment. My view, live in the apartment when young as a tenant and enjoy city life, but don’t buy it. They are not value for money primarily because developers are greedy and overprice them.
Why cant you retire in an apartment? Kwani unataka kufuga n’gombe? If that is so go and retire in shags and fuga that n’gombe otherwise live in the apartment and continue providing consulting services and earn money in your sundowner years; maisha imechange; the idea that utaretire in the village and engage in agriculture ni yesteryears…Even our good friend former chief justice ameretire na anaishi apartment najua. I can tell you for free that ukiretire that’s when you need the apartment…all kids are gone, ni wewe na wife tu; you need quick access to gyms, pools, restaurants etc… And there is nothing like overpricing of apartments-you have to factor the cost of land that the property sits on (not just the building cost), and thats why unaweza rentisha hiyo apartment 100k, but you could hardly get anywhere near 40K for your 4 bedroomed house huko membley
Stop dreaming. Have you seen the number of vacant apartments in that price range (100k)?? Some have been vacant for years.
all i can say it all boils down to you.houses are more of choice and suitability.kuna ule mtu hana familia he/she is busy works 12+hrs a day huyo anaeza rent bachelor pad next to cbd.yet there is another who works only 6hrs a day spends the other running a side hustle that one can live in the outskirts,yet there is one who works 3hrs just sealing deals and its done huyo can stay in rongai.but then kila mtu ana starehe zake.one can rent a penthouse in runda or gigiri but still save more than the one with a plot in kitengela so ni mfuko na vile unapiga hesabu yako.just find a corner for yourself be cormfortable usijinyime na baadaye utafanikiwa
Si unabonga vibaya!! hehe Mi sijui Kwa nini but I rather build at Syokimau or Kitengela if I can’t afford to live in Karen or Runda. So Rongai could be a nice place if well managed.
How much is your friend selling his kitengela mansion?.Asking for PHD research purposes…:D:D