As I have stated in my first series of Land Buying in Kenya, “the mistakes to avoid while buying land“, it is important to take your ample time before getting down to buying land in Kenya. After deciding that you want to purchase land, before you take that step of signing any checks or agreements or conducting any bank transfer in an effort to purchase that land. Ensure the answer to the following questions is in the affirmative (basically Yes!);

HAVE YOU DONE EXTENSIVE RESEARCH OF THE LAND YOU WISH TO BUY?
This will help you understand the legal and registration status of the land. You can get an advocate of the high court of Kenya to assist you with the interpretation of the legal aspects .For example, under the Kenyan Laws, it is only the citizens who can own land on both the leasehold and the freehold tenure, foreigners can only own land on leasehold tenure. In addition, leaseholds do not exceed 99 years upon its expiry you have to re-apply for it or it automatically reverts back to the government. Freehold on the other hand is the greatest interest a person can have on land as it gives the holder absolute ownership of the land for life.

WHERE IS THE LAND SITUATED?
It is very important to find land in a suitable area that is going to suit your purpose. There are people who have ended up buying land that is near the airport, adjacent to the railway line or land that is adjoining a park. Such land will cost you since you will have to get consents from the relevant authorities and you will be limited in the use of the land. For instance if you have bought land that is adjacent to the park, airport and the railway line you will have to follow some requirements in case you want to carry out any constructions.

DO YOU KNOW THE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF THE LAND?
There was a story in the news sometimes back of people who had bought land and built houses and during the rainy seasons that area happened to be a water logged area and the houses were literally sinking. I can’t emphasis enough the importance of ensuring that you know the physical conditions of the land you intent to purchase. Ensure you do a land visit and ensure the area you are buying the land is not prone to landslides, floods or is a water logged area. There are people who have also bought land that is completely rocky and yet the purpose of the land was to do farming. I think you now get why knowing the physical conditions of the land you intend to buy is something that you cannot avoid to skip.

HAVE YOU PURCHASED YOUR LAND DURING THE RAINY SEASON?
(Yes! You read that right) The best time to always purchase land is during the rainy season or immediately after the rainy season especially if you are buying land from an area that you are not familiar with. It is at this time that you get to know exactly what you are getting yourself into or what you will be dealing with if you are to go ahead to buy that land. This is because the flow of the water, retention and the soil intake of water in the land you intend to buy will be as clear as crystal something even a surveyor cannot deny. Many cons normally take advantage and sell such land that is prone to floods during the dry seasons, so ensure that you do not fall into that trap and become a statistic.

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF LAND IN THE MARKET?
Subject to the Constitution of Kenya land is classified into three;

Public Land: This is land that portrays the government as a private landowner and assigning all unoccupied and wasteland to it.
Community Land: This is land that is entirely based on communal ownership of land, where the land assignment is done to a clearly defined group of people who usually belong to the same ethnic community.
Private Land: This is land that consists of registered land held by a person under the freehold tenure or land held by a person under the leasehold tenure.

HAVE YOU CONTACTED ALL THE RELEVANT PROFESSIONALS TO ASSIST IN THE LAND BUYING PROCESS?
This is a very important step especially for the beginners, professionals will ensure that you are not conned and the land that you intend to buy is actually legit. The professionals that you will deal with include the following;

Valuers-They will assist in estimating the value of the land.
Land Surveyors-They will help in determining the boundaries and mapping of the land.
Physical Planners-They assist in the development and subdivision of property
Environment Impact and assessment professionals-They ensure that the land is not within any area that might interfere with the environment.

WHO WILL BE YOUR NEIGHBORS?
Most people always consider knowing who your neighbors are as irrelevant until after buying the land they realize their neighbors from all sides are running night clubs businesses and yet your purpose for buying the land was to build your retirement home. It is important for you to get acquainted with your neighbors or at least just have an idea of what your neighbors are all about before you start the land buying process.

IS THE PURCHASE PRICE WITHIN THE PREVAILING MARKET RATE?
This is where you will need a registered valuer to help in estimating the value of the land that you intend to buy. There are people who have bought land way above the market asking price of that land and realize that when it is too late. You do not want to be one of those people since even though Land is an appreciating asset, if you buy land way above the market value and intend to re-sell it you may actually make a loss or have to wait a few more years for you to regain a profit.

DO YOU KNOW THE USER REGULATIONS OF THE AREA YOU INTEND TO PURCHASE THE LAND?
Yes! There are lands that come with restrictions or user regulations that must be followed, you will not be allowed to do something’s or if you intend to do them you will have to get consent from various stakeholders which sometimes will be a frustrating process. It is therefore very important to ensure that you are not buying land that you intent to put up a business that is restricted in that area.

WHAT ARE THE PAYMENT TERMS OF THE LAND?
Ensure you know what the payment terms of the land you intend to buy are, since some land sellers often prefer that you pay the whole purchase price of the land at the beginning which is never a very good idea. When purchasing land it is important to first pay a deposit then when satisfied with everything you pay the remaining balance. Secondly, there are Land sellers who will prefer a cash transaction which is also never a good idea in land transaction since proving that you actually paid will be hard.

WHO ARE YOU DEALING WITH?
When it comes to land transactions it is always best to ensure that the person that you are dealing with is the original owner of the land that you intend to buy. It is only in exceptional circumstances that you can decide to deal with a third party. For instance if the owner of the land you intend to buy is out of the country and has given a third party power of attorney. However, ensure that the power of attorney is actually very legit.

DO YOU KNOW THE SERVICES AVAILABLE?
This is very important because you do not want to buy land that you intend to set up rentals, a business or even built a home and realize you cannot access water or electricity. It is therefore very important to ensure that you ensure that you know the services that are available in the area and whether it will fit the purpose of what you intend to do with the land.

After confirming that the answer to all the following is Yes, or ensuring that it is Yes you can now start the Legal process of purchasing land which will be in my next blog post.

Kindly Note: The content of this blog post is intended to be of general use only and should not be relied upon without seeking specific legal advice on any matter.