MY JOURNEY TO FINDING THE PERFECT HOME

House Hunting? Please, that should be a piece of cake. Right? WRONG. My sister recently told me she wants to buy a house in Kenya and my first thought was, 'well, that should be easy with all the new buildings being constructed daily, everywhere i turn i see a crane dominating the Nairobi skies, so how hard can it really be?'


This is my journey to finding the perfect home…for my sister.


Firstly, we were looking for a place that is nearly finished and can be able to move in in a few months, Secondly of course we talked about the price – Lets just say the amount made me want to weep..with joy..and envy..and jealousy. Next came the location - Her exact words, a nice upscale place, very secure with nature all around ,a shopping center nearby and most important, easy to get to from town.(Again, easy, i thought). Then came how many bedrooms – Least 2 bedrooms but preferably a 3 bedroom (Since i have not made a million...yet.., i thought the amount she had offered was ALOT of money and also, with my lack of Real Estate knowledge, i even envisioned getting a 4bedroomed place with that kind of money).Last but not least, she wanted a place with a lot of windows (she loves a place when she opens the curtains light just flows into the whole house), Balconies, a Swimming pool(but it wasn't a necessity), a Gym(also not a necessity) but most importantly, the master bathroom HAS to have a Bathtub. And thus, my journey began with that information at hand.


DAY 1:
My Spirit: Over the roof high
Name: Runda View Apartments
Price: 8.5M
Location: On Limuru road just past Ruaka Town. 10min from Village Market and Westlands, Easy access to Nairobi town
Bedrooms: 3 Bedrooms, master Ensuite (no bathtub)
Type: Apartment
Additional Information: A gated community with a Shopping mall, a Swimming pool and a Clubhouse (inclusive of a Gym, a Sauna and a Restaurant). Borehole Access and Underground water tanks, TV cameras in hidden locations, 24 hour security, Electric fence, 2parking spaces per apartment, Internet access and DSTV connection for each apartment.

The apartments are set on a 1.15 acre of land. We were interested with Phase1 which should be completed in 2 months (end of March which is perfect since we are following the 'sooner the better' policy). Phase 2 is in progress and should be completed in 2013. In Phase1, only 4 apartments were remaining.


The Site Representative was the guard which i found weird (but what do I know?) and if you had any queries about the house i.e. payment mode, you were given a number to call to talk to someone which i assumed was the head agent as the guard did not have all the information. The SHOWHOUSE was to die for. Literally! It was magnificent. When you enter, you are welcomed into a huge living room with huge windows thus a lot of light, a balcony opening up to the swimming pool, a beautiful American kitchen opening out to the living room, beautiful bedrooms with huge windows, wooden floors which catch your attention the moment you walk into a room, a lot of closet space and a laundry yard. The only thing missing was a bathtub in the master bath. A minor setback that we can overlook.


Here is the Bedroom and the Kitchen.

Now, one thing you should always be aware of when being shown a show house is that they always choose the perfect house that has been fully furnished and painted by professionals. The house with the perfect finishing, the perfect lighting, and always a corner house (never the middle apartments). Secondly, you should always ask to look at another apartment/ or a house that is not a show house (no furniture, no paint). This is how you will see the house as it is exactly, not blinded by the beautiful paintings on the wall, the bedcovers, the curtains, the beautiful screaming red paint on the walls distracting you from how small the room really is, nor the vases set on the marble dining table, the rugs thrown on the bathroom floors, the flat screen 50inch TV covering a full wall of the living room or the beautiful IKEA plates set so perfectly on the marble dining table.


Since there were 4 apartments remaining, i asked to see them, were they corner apartments or middle ones? Turns out, all 4 remaining apartments are....yup, middle apartments. Now, when you enter these 'Middle" apartments, you are not welcomed into a huge living room. No! When you enter the house, on your right and left, are the bedrooms! The shock! A bedroom by the entrance? Now, i mentioned that these are 'middle' apartments, meaning neighbors walking to their flats are passing right outside the bedroom windows thus you cannot open your curtains or windows or else the neighbors have a front row view into the bedrooms. The bedrooms have no direct lighting meaning you have to have the lights on regardless the hour of the day. To me, that was enough to change my mind about the perfect house i had envisioned when i had seen the show house. Enough to make me want to keep house hunting.


I am on the lookout for the perfect apartment. Day 1, not so good but my mood has not being dampened. I will get the perfect home.


Till next time... NJ