Most people associate the buying and selling of land with crooked deals because of the scandals around it, but trading in land can be good business if you understand the legal processes.
Indeed, many people now call themselves commission agents for land. The business offers good commissions if you successfully conclude a transaction. For example, 10 per cent commission from a land sale worth Sh1 million could earn you Sh100,000.
“You must know all the land transaction processes if you are to succeed in this business,” says Pius Katambo, a land agent at the Coast.
“Land transactions are not difficult when all the required documents are available,” says Katambo, who has more than 20 years of experience in the business.
To get into business as a land agent, all one needs is an office and the usual business licences from your county government.
Where land ownership documents are missing, there are procedures for getting new documents from relevant government offices. Part of the duties of a land agent is to help clients by following up on the documents.
Katambo doesn’t like getting involved with brokers. The problem with brokers, he says, is they place a huge mark-up on the price of land. The ultimate owner of the land is thus unable to find buyers because the price the broker wants is higher than prevailing market rates.
Katambo advises those interested in becoming land agents to have multiple sources of income to cater for periods when land sales are slow incoming.
This story first appeared on the digital magazine Star Sasa, accessible on Sundays for Sh10 by dialling *550*3#
Edited by T Jalio