During the tenth Mombasa homes expo, I bumped into an avid reader of our property column. After praising the column of its consistent education on the procedures and -the how to- of purchasing property; she raised a concern that her desire to own property with a little income was not getting addressed. In her words, “you have left out the Kenyan youth who does not have a million shillings in the bank to pay for a down payment for a house or to buy land” this week I decided to address her concern.
Every financial gain starts with a financial plan, a plan that includes among all you expenses a saving for establishment of an estate for your future and that of your family. The two most important things in acquisition of anything you desire are: a goal and action. If you desire to own land, all you need is a goal with a deadline to it and action of knowing what you can get for what you will have saved by the expiry of that deadline. You can easily own property by starting small with as little as two hundred and ten shillings per day. Crazy as my figures may sound it is doable.
The goal
In January 2013 a young man by the name Anthony approached me with his New Year resolutions and among the goals on his list was to own a piece of land. His net income per month was 15000 ksh. The reason why he had approached me was because he could not make ends meet on his little salary. So we set out to establish a financial plan.
The financial plan
- 10% – charity – we agreed that this amount was to be given away to supporting worthy projects, tithe, helping those who can’t help themselves. Giving attracts goodness into your life.
- 10% – active capital – this is money that you engage in active business to make a profit.
- 10% – passive capital – this money you invest to leverage in interest and value addition by appreciation.
- 20% Housing – house rent and utility bills
- 20% nourishment – food and drink
- 10% Clothing – clothes and shoes
- 10% Entertainment – happiness
- 10% Abundance – this money you set aside for contributions in fundraisers, loaning a friend in need and other such contributions.
The action
We then took action by enrolling him to a housing cooperative whose interests are in real estate and finance. Every month since January he has remitted 2500 shillings to the Sacco faithfully. When he got a bonus he put in some more money alongside his saving. In June the Sacco subdivided 100 acres of land into 50×100 plots that were going for 50,000ksh each with priority to members. He was lucky to qualify for a loan to buy two plots which he will pay for progressively. As we speak each plot is now selling for 120,000 ksh. Anthony can comfortably sell one plot to clear his loan plus interest. This will enable him to take advantage of more subdivisions planned by the Sacco next year.
