What to Ask a Real Estate Agent in Nairobi Before Booking a Site Visit

Booking a site visit before asking the right questions is one of the most consistent patterns in how Nairobi property buyers waste time. You travel to a development, spend an hour viewing a unit, come back genuinely interested, and then discover during due diligence that the title is undivided, the service charge is double what the agent mentioned in passing, or the unit you viewed was the last available and is already under offer. None of these are things you could not have established in a five-minute call before making the trip.

Real estate agents in Nairobi vary considerably in what they know about the properties they represent. Some are deeply familiar with the building, its management, its title position, and its history. Others are working from a developer's briefing pack and have visited the site once. The questions below reveal which type you are dealing with, and they eliminate unsuitable properties before you invest your time in viewing them.

Is This Unit Actually Available Right Now

This sounds too obvious to include. It is first on the list because it is the question that is most frequently not asked, and the answer is not always what you expect. In active Nairobi developments, units that appear in online listings are sometimes already under reservation or have had a sale agreement signed. Some agents maintain listings for units that are no longer available because replacing them requires effort, or because they want to capture enquiries and then redirect buyers to alternative units.

Ask specifically: is this unit currently available, is there an active reservation on it, and has any offer been accepted by the seller or developer? If the answer involves any uncertainty, such as "I need to check with the developer," treat that as a signal that the listing may not reflect current availability. Your time is worth establishing this clearly before you book anything.

What Is the Title Position for This Specific Unit

The title question is the most important pre-visit question for any apartment purchase in Nairobi, and it is one that many buyers never ask until their advocate raises it during due diligence. By that point, the buyer has already viewed the property, expressed interest, possibly paid a reservation fee, and built enough emotional attachment to the purchase that unwinding it feels costly even when the title situation is problematic.

Ask: does an individual sectional title exist for this unit, or is the development still on a parent title awaiting subdivision? If subdivision is pending, ask when it is expected and what is required to complete it. If the agent cannot answer this clearly, they do not have sufficient knowledge of the product they are selling to be a useful guide through the transaction. That is not an agent you want mediating a purchase of this scale.

The acceptable answers are: yes, individual title exists and is registered, or: the development is on a parent title, subdivision is expected by a specific date, and the parent title has been searched with no charges or caveats attached. An answer of "the developer will sort the title" or "titles come later, that's normal" without further detail is not sufficient.

Has the Occupation Certificate Been Issued

For completed buildings and recently handed-over developments, the occupation certificate is a prerequisite for legal habitation. Ask whether it has been issued before you visit, because the answer affects whether the purchase is ready to proceed to completion. A building without an OC may be beautiful on the inside and technically unavailable for lawful occupation until the county government issues the certificate. Finding this out after a viewing is later than ideal.

For off-plan developments, the relevant question is whether planning approval has been granted and whether NCA registration for the contractor is in place. A development that is actively selling without confirmed planning approval is a risk that many buyers accept without understanding they are accepting it. The agent should be able to confirm both without hesitation.

What Is the Full Price and What Does It Include

The advertised price is rarely the complete picture. Before visiting, establish exactly what is included in the stated figure and what costs sit outside it. Is parking included or priced separately? Is the unit finished or bare-shell? If bare-shell, what specification is the buyer responsible for providing? Are there any other charges payable to the developer at completion, such as a legal fee contribution, a connection fee for utilities, or a management company setup charge?

Some developments in Nairobi quote a unit price that does not include a mandatory parking bay, with the bay priced at an additional Ksh 500,000 to Ksh 1.5 million depending on the building and location. Others include the bay in the headline price. If you are comparing two developments on price without knowing their respective inclusion structures, the comparison is unreliable.

Ask also how the price has moved since the development launched. Off-plan prices typically escalate through construction phases. Knowing where the current price sits relative to the launch price tells you something about how the development has sold and whether the developer is under any pressure to move remaining units.

What Is the Monthly Service Charge and What Does It Cover

Ask for the confirmed monthly service charge before you visit, not during the viewing when you are focused on the unit itself. Ask for the figure in writing and ask what it covers specifically. Does it include backup generator fuel? Does it include lift maintenance? Is there a sinking fund contribution built into it?

An agent who can answer these questions accurately is working from real operational knowledge of the building. An agent who gives you a range, a rough estimate, or a figure they will need to confirm later is working from marketing material. The service charge is part of your monthly ownership cost from day one. You need the real number before you assess whether the purchase works financially, not after you have already committed emotionally to the unit.

If you are not yet clear on why service charges deserve this level of attention, the article on service charges in Nairobi apartments and what buyers should ask covers the full picture.

Who Is the Seller and What Is Their Position

For resale properties, ask whether the agent is representing the seller directly or acting as a sub-agent for another agency. Sub-agency arrangements are common in Nairobi and are not inherently problematic, but they create an information chain where the agent you are speaking to may not have direct access to the seller and may not be able to convey your questions accurately or quickly. Knowing the structure of the representation tells you who to direct your most important questions to.

Ask why the seller is selling. The answer will not always be forthcoming or complete, but the framing of the response is informative. A seller who is relocating internationally is in a different position from one who is selling because they cannot service a mortgage on the unit. The latter may be more motivated to negotiate on price or terms. An agent who can represent the seller's position clearly and honestly is more useful to a serious buyer than one who deflects every question about seller motivation.

What the Agent's Answers Are Actually Telling You

Run through these questions before every site visit and pay attention to the quality of the answers, not just the content. An agent who answers each question directly, with specific figures and without needing to check with the developer first, has genuine operational knowledge of the property. An agent who hedges, qualifies, or deflects most questions back to the brochure is not in a position to help you make a well-informed decision. That is not necessarily dishonesty. It is often simply an agent who has been handed a listing without being adequately briefed. But it tells you that the due diligence burden will fall entirely on you and your advocate, with limited useful input from the agent.

Agents in Nairobi are not licensed or regulated in the same way as in some other markets. The Estate Agents Registration Board exists but enforcement is inconsistent and the market includes a wide range of operators from professional, knowledgeable firms to individuals who have taken on a listing as a side activity. The quality of information you receive varies accordingly. Asking specific, factual questions before a visit is the fastest way to calibrate who you are dealing with.

For buyers ready to move from initial enquiry into serious evaluation, the article on what makes a Nairobi apartment worth shortlisting covers the building and title level checks that should happen before you visit. Once you are on site, the viewing checklist for Nairobi apartments and homes covers what to assess in person. For the full purchase process from initial search through to title registration, the buying property in Kenya guide covers each stage in sequence.

For current properties available across Nairobi's main residential areas, the property for sale listings cover apartments and homes at different price points. If you want guidance on a specific development or want to speak to someone who can answer these questions directly about a property you are considering, the team at Nairobi Real Estate is available through the contact page.