By Eric Wainaina

Property management agent business in major towns where massive developments are taking place seems to be making a killing from the fast growing sector; developers are seeking their services to manage the houses.

In most flats in these towns, one will encounter signboards pinned on the wall on residential and commercial houses bearing the name and contacts of an agent, an indication how the service business is gaining momentum.

In many places, when tenants are hunting for houses to rent, they hardly look for the landlords. You will find them seating in property agent offices who they believe have fast answers to their problems.

John Mwaniki, the director of Jeckmas Services, a property agent with interests in Nairobi and Kiambu counties says a business he started a few years ago grew fast.

Mwaniki says he started the business seven years ago but then the business was still low since there were few houses to manage and most landlords did not trust agents. The company, he says, was initially intended to offer cleaning services.

gave up

However, after he failed to win enough contracts to sustain the business, Mwaniki put his business on hold for a job in a real estate company as an accountant where he worked for three months.

“I realised there were good deals in the business and resigned to start my own real estate business. With good marketing, I was able to get a good market share in Nairobi and Kiambu,” he says.

He started with managing property and selling properties where he was paid on commission and today the business has grown to the extent that he buys and sells land, and builds houses for sale.

Mwaniki says he has acquired land in Thika, Ruai, Syokimau and Eldoret, among other places where he plans to build houses for sale.

He is also building a Sh15 million hotel in Mai Mahiu, which is expected to be complete in few months time and he hopes it’s going to boost his profile.Mwaniki says landlords prefer to use agents who are swift in demanding rents on their behalf and are able to manage and maintain the houses.

“For an agent that is a business, and he must be efficient and therefore, ensure the client gets his money on time, maintain the house to ensure that the flats are always fully occupied and landlords have come to trust us,” he told Home and Away.

In Kiambu County, for instance, there are many agents in towns such as Thika, Kiambu, Ruiru, Limuru, Juja, Kikuyu and Githunguri and more are setting up.

Due to its proximity to Nairobi, the housing sector has been gaining momentum in Kiambu with construction taking place even in areas which were previously unthinkable for development.

Josphat Ngamau, who runs Zoom Real Property Agency based in Kiambu, says in the recent past, real estate management business has shot up tremendously.

Five years ago, Ngamau who is also the vice-chairman of Kiambu Resident Welfare Association, says there were only two agents but today, the number has gone up significantly.

He told Home and Away that landlords prefer using the agents to avoid the hassle of dealing with tenants.

“They (landlords) do not want to deal with the tenants who are sometimes nagging, and so they use us to collect the rent and manage the premises,” Ngamau says.

A part from collecting the monthly rents and managing the caretakers and other service givers such as water, power and security, property agencies are also responsible for the maintenance of the flats.

demand

This, he says, has boosted the property agent, saying the more investors are turning any available land to concrete jungle, the more the business opportunity come, and the more the agencies come up.

“The demand is high in Kiambu County. There are many flats, apartments and gated communities, and most need our services. That is why there is a real estate agency in almost all commercial buildings in the town,” he says.However, Ngamau says the business needs to be regulated, saying some agents are dubious.

“Because this business is growing, it needs to be controlled because in some cases, you find the landlords complaining of poor management and maintenance and harassment of tenants,” he says.