In the real estate sector, landlords are the corporate elite. They own the houses and charge the rent. They decide the prices as they sit in their town-houses and count their money, hoping that the inflation rate forever works in their favor.
So what if you could sit among these fat cats and count your own returns? If you lived in a one-bedroom apartment for 20 years, you could have spent more than enough money to have actually bought that residence by now. If you took a home-owner’s mortgage, you could have been the proud owner of a small but valuable piece of real estate.
Assume that you made such an investment 20 years ago. You are all set to live in your new apartment. You’ve made the final deposit and the home is fully furnished. What now? You can live out the rest of your single life in a one bedroom high-rise or you can milk your cash cow for all it’s worth.
Prioritizing
If you own an apartment, you might want to rethink just living in there rent-free. It seems like a waste of money if you have all that room and all you do is eat and sleep there. Why not rent it out to a tenant? You can find a cheaper apartment for yourself as you receive returns on your investment. The best part about this is the fact that you can hike up the prices with a few tips and tricks.
Renovating
One of the best ways to increase your property’s value is to do a few renovations. Putting in a new sink or repainting an apartment gives the land-lord an excuse to hike up the prices. Something as simple as putting wallpaper over a cracked floor can go a long way if you want your tenants to cough up some more money.
Opportunity
With rent prices on the rise, now is the best time to be a landlord. A report by Hass Consult states that an apartment currently costs 10.33% more than it did during the same period last year. This means that a one-bedroom high-rise in Langata can go for up to KES 15,000 a month as compared to KES 13,500 in September of 2011.
Shared Accommodations
If you already own a stand-alone house, renting out rooms and quarters can save you a lot of money. You can cover the cost of your own utilities by leasing out an extra room to a tenant. You can even pay your land rates with the money you earn from rent. What’s more is the fact that whatever is left is yours to spend as you please.
A house is an asset and should be treated as such. Unless you are planning to sell, you should probably see what can be gained from it. If you can’t make money off your investment then it’s not worth having.