Every human being comes to this point and time in life when you realise the value of money. While we are growing up we are taught that ‘the love of money is the root of all evil’ this fosters an indifferent attitude towards money and the moneyed in the society. I remember when I was going to Sunday school and the Sunday school teacher- a well-worn and torn fellow- preached so passionately about the virtue of poverty. He went on to quote bible verses such as Matthew 19:23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The only bit he left out I came to find out when I was grown up enough to read the bible for myself was the verse that followed. Matthew 19:26 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” This was a teaching in trust in the lord and not a teaching to glorify poverty.
During my early adult hood I started to appreciate the value of money when I learnt that money is the only medium that can buy options in life. It is rather uncomfortable to have no options in life. In the search for options I had to change my attitude about money. I am not talking about an obsessive love for money but being able to appreciate the value of money so that you can increase your ability to make money, spend it wisely and grow it.
In my quest for financial freedom I tried numerous businesses from catering, logistics, internet to mention but a few. But I found out later in life that it is much easier to make a fortune in real-estate than it is in other sectors of the economy. The following are simple steps you can follow to make a fortune for yourself in real estate.
Buy and hold
You can accelerate your life savings plan by buying and holding income-producing real-estate. In this booming real estate industry in Kenya and the whole of east Africa there is opportunity for everyone to buy and hold income producing real estate. The good news is you don’t even need to have all the money to get your share of the cake; Banks and other financial institutions are more than willing to finance a real estate venture. Well calculated moves in the real estate industry are sure ways of making a “Godly” kill in the real estate industry. For instance you can buy proposed developments at introductory prices off plan and then hold for a year and a half as construction is done and sell off at the new rate once the houses are completed. Just be sure to buy from a reputable developer in terms of timely delivery of product and quality.
For long term deals of buy and hold you can buy a ready house let it out and hold until the value has appreciated to a reasonable level. During this appreciation time you will be collecting rental income.
Another sure way of buying and holding is buying land especially in potential development areas and holding till the proposed development have come up then selling thereafter. Look at what happened to land lords along the new Thika superhighway they were laughing all the way to the bank when their land tripled in value in just one year.
In the next article we will explore further steps and ways of growing your money in a Godly way through the real estate opportunity.
