Building a home when abroad

When one lives abroad, they do all it takes to work hard and send money home to better their lives. Most opt to build homes. However, with the many fraudsters around the country, many of these people have been duped.

Daniel Nsaba Buturo, a marketing Manager Waves Apartments and real estate dealer, says when people are abroad, they have the ability to earn money and save.

Nsaba Buturo, who works with developers of modern affordable housing projects in Kampala, says: “Many times our people abroad find themselves spending such money without thinking twice and when they return home, they will have nothing.”

He adds: “People abroad can deposit a small amount of money with a property company dealing in modern housing to kick start construction of a house of their choice and then keep paying in installments. Once paid up, the person now fully owns the house.

“The idea of owning property here inspires people abroad to look at the opportunity of investing back home through intallment payments to buy apartments, hence build houses when abroad,” he says.

Nsaba Butuuro adds that previously, people would have to send money to relatives, colleagues or friends to help them build and supervise back home and in most cases all doesnt go well as in most cases they squander the money or do something substandard.

“This project is there to avoid such issues, you have the opportunity to choose what you want and pay for excatly that and find exactly what you paid for. From aboout Shs120m, one is able to fully own a modern two bedroomed apartment and this can be done in installments for a year. That is the best way to build a house while abroad.”

Earnest Kitamirike, a Ugandan living abroad, is one of the many beneficiaries from such a scheme. He comes back home occasionally to celebrate the festive holidays with his family.

“When coming into the country, all we need are our documents. I bought a three bedroomed apartment and it is ideal since we never wanted to share a house with our parents home as this means encroaching on their space and privacy yet we too need our own.”
He says it was hard at first but kept on saving for three years before he ended up buying the home to own it fully.

“We do not have trusted ways of acquiring homes here in the country, the team from property company kept on sending me videos and photos of my apartment just like I wanted it and it is what I found when I got in the country upon its completion,” he explains.

The beauty
Ahmed Lule, a real estate manager with Lule Properties says with this mode of acquiring a home, one does not have to go through the hustle of looking for land or even one of finding what neighbourhood you would want plus a trusted person to handle their home construction while you are abroad.

“This is the way to go since the close people we trust are not delivering back home here. One then just has to trust the work with the company while they concentrate on making money, once they are done with the hard work, they expect to return to a comfortable, cosy, and standard house, worth their money,” he says, adding that this mode is geared to meet the needs of those who have dreamt of owning a home but thus far have been priced out and this market segment includes newly married couples, the youth working in blue chip companies based in Uganda, young families and entrepreneurs.

Trust issues
Samson Kabogozza, a real estate dealer, says Ugandans abroad can as well embrace bank financing for home purchases or construction since it is not as hard as most people think and it needs to be encouraged as it will help in addressing the housing deficit in the country.

“Most banks offer a full bouquet of options, including long-term mortgages like home completion, construction or buying among others, each of which is specifically tooled for a particular function, with different durations, rates and conditions which must be well understood before the loan is taken out,” he says.

Kabogozza adds that people should be made more aware of the multiple benefits of using formal bank financing as a means of easing home acquisition and construction while abroad.

“Many people might be shocked to learn that bank financing for home purchases and construction is not as hard as most people think. And paying a mortgage can be almost the same as monthly rent.”

Travel back
Eunice Kulabako, a property dealer in Wakiso says, it is actually better for a person intending or planning to buy property to come down to the country, get the property and pay it off with all the necessary documentation. “Believe me not, the mode of buying property via social media and phone calls is not reliable at all. It is common that people want to do things the easy way but the outcomes are never good in most cases, it is better to get on ground,” she explains.

Kulabako adds that when on ground, you get to understand the different dynamics in the property you are buying and you do not have to regret thereafter since you buy something as it is.

“No one can best understand what you want however match you explain to them or paint a perfect picture of how it should look like. It is therefore ideal that you buy the property yourself and reach on ground.”
Adnan Mpuuga, an operations manager at East Lands Agency says property, most especially a home cannot be acquired in a year or two.

“You cannot be busy forever, if you seriously want the best, get different time intervals say after every year and come down here to get land, start construction, and install electricity gradually. It takes time and that is why people are cheated in most cases because they want things done quickly.

Mpuga adds that it also depends on the person you have back at home, if you have a serious supervisor a side from relatives and property managers, you can be guaranteed a beautiful home without being duped.

“There are trustable companies that build homes, if you can be patient, at least wait for a complete house and buy it off. Secure mortgages and when done paying 60 per cent, you can get a care taker to occupy the house and pay the balance with time,” he explains.

Mpuga affirms that this mode of having to buy a completed fully furnished structure is actually one of the ways people are embracing today with 70 per cent of Ugandans living abroad having to acquire homes in this kind of arrangement.
Noah Kiganda, the managing director Ecoland Property Services says it is better for one to go through a real estate agency to help them identify a home for buying.

Mortgage
“The real estate industry has now developed and we have a number of reputable construction and real estate dealers. If you like the property, get a mortgage or discuss a payment plan with the property owner such that you can pay and own it,” he says.
Kiganda adds that one can also opt to hire a construction company with a local supervisor to oversee the construction of their dream home but they have to come often to monitor progress.

“Financial safety is what we are looking at here, instead of losing a huge amount of money like Shs500m which you probably have set aside to buy the home, spend Shs4m for an air ticket to come and get on ground and see what is going on with your home so you don’t lose all your money,” he says.

Housing deficit
According to recent reports of National Housing and Construction Company (NHCC), Kampala requires an additional of 800,000 housing units to solve the problem of house shortages.
To avert this, proper utilisation of land is the only key solution to reaching that target as well as reversing the problem of urban growth population in the near future.
Like most African countries, Uganda is facing a challenge of a housing deficit and this is manifested in the overcrowding in some areas, following the massive population increase.

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