In the dynamic landscape of urban development, real estate stands out not just for structures, but for community enrichment through job opportunities.
Behind every building lies a story waiting to be told. With Cheriez Properties the narrative unfolds to create quality residential housing facilities in Nairobi, Kenya.
Cheriez Properties, owned by Leah Wambui, a Kenyan real estate developer is paving its way through the Kenyan market.
One phenomenal idea from the businesswoman is the development of the remarkable 200 housing properties in the Kitengela area on the outskirts of Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi.
The houses are worth about KES 15M (US$115,500) with a gated community and luxurious offers including a children’s playground and swimming pool.
Here is the story of the business mogul making her way through the Kenyan market one house at a time.
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Who is Leah Wambui?
Leah Wambui was born and raised in Kenya. After losing her parents at the age of 16, she moved in with her aunt who nurtured her entrepreneurial skills. The aunt was a small business owner who distributed goods to consumers around Nairobi.
After high school, she wasn’t able to join college due to a lack of school fees. She secured a job as a receptionist, but her desire to one day start her own business lingered on.
The first business she started was a liquor shop, in Kiambu, an hour away from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
However, the liquor business had its fair share of challenges and she quickly knew that it was not the path that she wanted to pursue.
Leah’s Journey to Real Estate
Leah then ventured into the real estate space when with the support of her husband she purchased a five-acre piece of land in Kitengela, a painstaking process that involved several installments.
She then designed a plan for the 5 acres designating a smaller section for the construction of a few housing units.
Leveraging family savings, bank finance, and a few off-plan client deposits, she was able to put up the first set of 10 houses.
A grand opening of the finished units however did not result in the anticipated demand. Low purchases led to the stalling of construction in other parts of the larger project.
Aggressive marketing and partnerships with financial institutions that provided qualifying clients with mortgages saw increased uptake of the units.
Currently, Cheriez Properties Limited is among the fast-rising real estate developers in Kenya with two estates; Royal Finesse and Royal Gates, to its name.
Royal Finesse has sold out all its 78 townhouses, each with four bedrooms all en-suite with detached servant quarter.
Cheriez Properties have so far sold about 200 houses for a total of KES 3 billion (US$ 24 million)
Challenges Leah faced in the Real Estate Business
To begin the construction of the first ten houses, the couple had to deplete their savings, take on Sacco loans, and even sell their house.
Another challenge was that continued construction was dependent on cash flow from the sale of the completed units.
This meant that when sales were low, or collections from the existing buyers were late, construction work had to stall.
Such disruptions meant poor project time management leading to cost overruns that with proper financing would have been avoided.
Leah also faced loss due to a dishonest contractor and architect, both of whom she had to replace at some point. There were multiple cases of loss of materials from the construction site and situations where the architect’s certificates had inflated costs.
Finally, convincing people to purchase the developed houses was not a walk in the park. To sell the first 10 houses, she had to travel abroad to convince Kenyans in the diaspora that her housing units were a good investment deal.
