Welcome, 2022: Think of putting your property house in order
As December comes to an end, many of us think of how fast 2021 has rushed away. There is a habit of looking at the next year with hope. We are encouraged, and many try to, make New Year Resolutions. Very few remember these resolutions beyond February, and it is thus, inspiring, to read about this lady in the social media, who posted that she had fulfilled all the resolutions she made at the beginning of this year. Much as she must be among the tiny minority who see their new year’s resolutions through, hers gives us hope that it is possible to make these resolutions and fulfil them.
It is in that spirit that we propose that, for the coming year, think of making resolutions to put your property (real estate) house in order. Real estate makes for a huge investment, for individuals, households and the nation at large. It needs to be looked after well.
If you do not have land, we suggest that you make a resolution to acquire land - be this in urban or in rural areas. This is because land appreciates in value with time, and the longer you wait before acquiring a piece of land, the more you will find yourself having to dig deeper into your pocket for it!
By way of an example: in the 20,000 Plots Project in Dar es Salaam, you could get a good, well-surveyed piece of land if you had between Sh200,000 and Sh1 million. Today, you cannot touch these plots, if you do not have Sh30 million as a minimum. So, make it a point to acquire land in 2022.
This land must be free from encumbrances. It must be well-demarcated to avoid disputes with neighbours. Plus: you must be prepared to develop it by building on it, or putting it to agriculture, for example. Many a young men and women of today have made it big from agriculture, and silvi-culture. 2022 must, therefore, be a year of investing in and making your land productive.
All property owners should take property maintenance seriously. It is claimed by some observers, that we lack a culture of maintenance. Yet, maintenance is very important to ward off obsolescence, and enhance the value of the property, given the ravages of depreciation, that come with the passage of time and other changes.
In 2022, make it a point to have a property maintenance programme. This may be day to day, periodic, preventive or emergency maintenance undertakings. Remember that saying of the wise, that a stitch in time saves nine.
Are your real estate assets, well recorded? Who is the custodian of those records? Are these records up to date? It has transpired, more often than not, that within a household, the head may know the existence of such and such a property, which the rest of the household members have no idea of the existence of such properties. Let 2022 be a year to update your property records. In so doing, it is important align with what the government is doing. Currently, the Ministry of Lands is updating records of title holders, and is actually issuing new, digital titles in its ILMIS (Integrated Land Management Information System) Programme. This is an opportunity not to be missed.
Property ownership also goes hand in hand with the duty to pay various government taxes and charges. These include the annual land rent; property tax, rental income tax, stamp duty and others.
Many owners ignore these, which leads to them getting many penalties and interest charges. Be a good citizen in 2022 - and pay all your property related taxes and charges to enable the government to fulfil its duties.
As we pointed out earlier on, real estate is very valuable. Not only can it be used as a medium of investment, but also it can be used to leverage investment.
Leverage is the use of debt (borrowed capital) in order to undertake an investment or project expecting the profits made to be greater that the interest payable on the money borrowed. The result is to multiply the potential returns from a project. Real estate, which has a clear legal titled, can be leveraged as collateral for loans. Utilise it that way.
Finally, land tends to generate disputes. If you have a dispute, resolve to solve it soonest.
The best way is to go for alternative dispute resolution which include arbitration, mediation, (re)conciliation, or negotiation. Settlement through courts of law tends to take long.
Let 2022 be a year of clearing land disputes involving your valuable assets: land and real estate.
Wishing you a successful 2022! Make it the Year of Property for you!
