Where should you buy land from?

What you need to know:

  • The other plus for buying from a company is there are no land wrangles.

The land question in Uganda has become a very contentious issue splitting even the very close of relatives. Everyday news channels are dominated by conflicts stemming from land wrangles. Some times this starts from where you choose to buy land from. Of course, the market is wide open with very many players, from real estate firms to individuals that includes both genuine and quack dealers. So, from where should one buy from? Buying from an individual or real estate firms?

“Buying from individuals seems to be a safer option and one that offers value for money. A person will offer you something that is good on face value,” says Kigongo Ismail, a landowner, who bought from an individual.
However, he, advises that the buyer has to do extensive research to establish all the facts concerning their land of interest. That involves going on ground to establish facts about the ownership and if the sellers are genuine among others things.

Kigongo adds that the advantage of buying from an individual is certainty. With individual properties, normally, there are less nitty-gritties involved. It is an individual selling his property period. However, from the many land cases in the news, local council reports and court cases, some individual properties are always tied to family feuds. If one has not done extensive research about ownership and other family ties attached to the property, may live to regret as they will be locked down in court battles, which are both time and money consuming.

The other downside is individuals selling properties rarely advertise or market themselves so you as the buyer have to move up and down to look for the sellers. Unlike real estate companies that market well their properties, and can even be found online. Buying from real estate companies seems to be a safer option for most of the elites. “When you buy from a company you are guaranteed of ownership and rarely are there multiple sells unless you buy from a quack company,” says Tony Agaba, who bought his land from a real estate company.

The other plus for buying from a company is there are no land wrangles. “The company sorts out the ownership of the property so you don’t have to worry and the transfers are so quick as soon as you down your payment, they hand you your title,” notes Agaba.
A real estate company possesses the title for an entire estate and if there are cases of multiple ownership, they can be sorted out as Patrick Mukuye, a marketeer at Sema Properties, notes. “If they are such cases we normally arbitrate amongst our customers to everyone’s satisfaction.”
He adds that all plots are well demarcated so rarely do we have encroachments.

The other advantage is estate villages have planned roads, water and electricity are all installed. So, you don’t have to hustle looking for utility. “Depending on the location of the estate, we normally bring the utilities closer to the people and accessibility is guaranteed because access roads are constructed prior,” notes Mukuye.
However, the issue that most estate customers face is transfer of titles to their names.
“Yes, there are delays but it is not dependent on us. Transfers are handled by government land offices so it’s out of our hands. But as soon as complete your payment, we hand you the title and transfer documents,” says Mukuye.