Uganda Real Estate Business: This is another booming area in Uganda that investors can explore. With a capital of between $ 10,000 and $ 50,000, you can start a real estate business by offering low-cost homes for sale.
Selling medium-cost homes would require capital of somewhere between $ 50,000 and $ 100,000. And for high-cost homes such as residential villas, apartment complexes, office complexes, and housing estates, you’ll need startup capital above $ 100,000.
With a growing Ugandan population, now over 29 million, Uganda real estate has become a major area of business in the country.
Buying real estate requires significant investment, and each parcel of land or property has unique characteristics.
Uganda Real Estate Business Opportunities
There are currently 6 major reasons for real estate business in Uganda, we can classify them as follows:
Real Estate Brokerage – Charged by an arbitrator who facilitates real estate transactions between two parties.
Land Real Estate Development – You get and develop the land by adding services and services including roads, electricity, and water. You then divide the land into smaller planned plots and sell them for a profit.
Condominium Uganda Real Estates Development– You build a building, divide it into different units, then sell the units.
Commercial Real Estate Development – You build a building and exclude each unit at a monthly fee.
Real Estate Management- You manage property owned by someone else.
Uganda Real Estate Appraisal – Providing You Professional Real Estate Appraisal Services
You can set up real estate agencies that do business within 6 niches or you can specialize in a specific real estate business niche. The niche you choose will depend largely on the following factors:
Demand: Currently there is a demand for more land and houses than land and rent.
Capital: This will help you assess how much capital you have, whether starting as a broker or as a real estate developer.
Your Expertise: You cannot engage in real estate valuation when you do not have the necessary expertise because it will be expensive to hire to get a contract every time you need it.
How to start a small Ugandan real estate business.
If you spend very little money to cash in on your real estate business, help your neighbor sell your plot for a commission. As you grow, you will be able to register a formal real estate agency and handle a large business.
- You can also buy it in small plots from an individual slice and sell it at a profit to small customers.
- From a land real estate developer, you can buy a maximum of five plots.
- You can simply buy plots, build your small residential units and rent them out.
- You can also go directly and buy several units in a contingency area and then rent them for a monthly income.
- You can also get a lease for a large tract of land, sub-lease the largest part of it for some monthly income, while you can develop a smaller portion of this land.
- The fourth idea is to buy a plot of land in a major area, build a good house and rent this house for monthly income.
- If you have a little more money, you can buy an old house, within a prime area, give it a facelift, and sell your new home for a profit.
Guidelines for subdividing your land real estate for sale.
- You must first survey the real estate of your land.
- Then you have to prepare your survey deed plan
- Your deed plans must be certified and signed by the Commissioner for Surveying and Mapping
- Your area boundaries should also be clearly shown
- The new plot number allotted by the commissioner should be shown
- You also need to pay survey costs
- To occupy the real estate of your land, you must obtain written consent from the Land Board.
- The board may direct the district surveyor to survey the land
- The surveyor will fill in mutation forms describing your land real estate.
- The surveyor will take over your commissioning plans.
This process is quite involved and can involve many unplanned delays, so if you hire a consultant to walk you through the system, you are safe.
Property Purchase Process in Uganda
The constitution of 1995 only provides the right of ownership of land to the citizens of Uganda. Land cannot be freely given to foreigners. However, they can get a lease for 49 or 99 years. Foreign investors, individuals, or corporate, cannot acquire land for crop or animal production. Foreign nationals can either rent from citizens or the government.
Real estate transactions in Uganda require real estate lawyers. When the seller accepts the offer on the property, the due diligence is as follows. The lawyer conducts a title search and obtains a transfer form from the Land Office.
A licensed surveyor then visits the property to establish boundaries. Depending on the size and location, this may take up to three days. When this is done, a transfer is made to the Land Office to obtain consent. The property is inspected by a government appraiser to ascertain proper taxation.
When all was cleared, the lawyer entered into a sales agreement. 20% is paid upon signing up with the balance due within 30 to 60 days.
The transfer forms are then submitted to the Registrar Department of the Land Office along with the signed sales agreement and stamp fee receipt, and the registration fee is paid. This process, which works with the Registrar’s Department, takes about three weeks to complete.
Legal fee
The legal fees for property value are around 1% to 2%.
Stamp duty
The stamp duty on the value of the property is approximately 1% to 2%.
Registration fee
The registration fee is about 0.05% of the value of the property. The registration fee includes the registration fee, bank fee, search fee, consent fee, and other related costs.
Real estate agent fee
The real estate agent’s fees are about 5% to 10% of the property’s value.
