A viewing lasts about eleven minutes and most of it is spent looking at the finishes. The things that decide whether you are happy in a place are almost never visible in that time, and almost all of them can be found out by asking.
Ask the questions in front of the person showing you the unit, and write the answers down.
Water
- When does the supply run? Not "is there water", because every unit has water in theory. Which days, which hours.
- Is there a tank, and whose is it? Communal, per-unit, and how often it is filled.
- Who pays for water, and how is it measured? Per-unit meter, shared meter divided somehow, or a flat charge. A shared meter divided by occupancy is the most common source of billing disputes.
Power
- Whose name is the meter in, and is there anything outstanding on it? Inheriting arrears on a prepaid or postpaid meter is a real and avoidable problem.
- How often does it go, and for how long? Ask a neighbour, not just the agent.
The building
- Who is the caretaker, and how are repairs reported? A named person and a stated route suggests things get fixed. A vague answer suggests they do not.
- What is the service charge, what does it cover, and when did it last change?
- How is security handled at night? Gate, lighting, who is on duty and until when.
- Where does the drainage go, and does this block flood? Ask directly. In the rainy season this is the difference between an inconvenience and a disaster.
Money and terms
- What is the deposit, and what would take it back off me?
- Is there anything payable beyond rent and deposit? Get every recurring charge named.
- Who do I pay, into which account, and in whose name?
- How much notice do I have to give, and how much do you?
The ones that reveal the most
"How long was this unit empty, and why did the last tenant leave?" You may not get a straight answer, but the way it is answered tells you plenty.
"Can I come back at a different time of day?" A place at 10am and the same place at 7pm are different places: traffic, noise, water pressure, lighting, who is around. A landlord with nothing to hide has no reason to refuse.
"Can I talk to a neighbour?" Thirty seconds with someone who already lives there is worth more than the whole viewing.
Write the answers down
Not because anyone is lying, but because you will see four places today and you will not remember which one had the tank. Keep the same five headings for every unit, being water, power, building, money and terms, and the comparison at the end makes itself. Planning a day of viewings covers the rest of that routine.
The unit itself
Ask these standing in the room, and test what you can rather than taking the answer:
- Which direction does it face, and when does it get sun? It decides the temperature of the bedroom and whether washing dries.
- What is the water pressure like on this floor, in the evening? Top-floor pressure at six in the evening is a different question from ground-floor pressure at eleven in the morning. Open a tap while you are there.
- Is there a water heater, does it work, and is it on the meter?
- Where does the kitchen drain go, and has it blocked before?
- Any damp? Look at the ceiling corners, behind the door, under the sink and along the skirting on outside walls. Fresh paint in one patch on an outside wall is worth a question.
- Does every socket work, and is there a trip board in the unit?
- Do the windows lock, and does the main door have a proper lock? Whether the locks are changed between tenants is a fair thing to ask.
- Is there network coverage inside? Check your own phone in the back bedroom, not at the door.
- What comes with it? Cooker, wardrobes, curtain rails, tank, shelving. And will all of it still be here on handover day?
Neighbours, noise and the things nobody volunteers
The questions that decide whether you stay two years or six months:
- How many units share this block, and who lives in them? Families, students, short-stay tenants. Not a judgement, just a very different life.
- What is directly above, below and next door? A bar, a church, a workshop or a generator changes a unit more than any finish does.
- How noisy is the road at night? Ask, then come back and find out.
- Is there anything commercial in the block?
- How long do people usually stay? High turnover in one block, when neighbouring blocks are stable, is information.
Thirty seconds with someone who already lives there is worth more than the entire viewing, and a landlord with nothing to hide has no reason to prevent it.
Getting there, parking and daily life
- What is the actual walk to the nearest matatu stage, at night as well as in the day?
- Where do you park, is it allocated, and does it cost extra?
- Is there space for a boda to reach the gate, and can a lorry get in on moving day?
- What is the nearest shop, clinic, school, chemist?
- How does the block do in heavy rain? Ask directly about flooding, and look at where the water would go.
- Is refuse collected, by whom, and is it in the service charge?
The five-heading comparison sheet
Use the same headings for every unit you see, and fill them in before you leave the compound. Memory is unreliable after the third viewing and useless after the fifth:
Water. Supply days and hours, tank, how it is measured and billed, pressure on the day. Power. Meter type, whose name it is in, any outstanding balance, how often it goes. Building. Caretaker, repair route, security, drainage, service charge and what it covers. Money. Rent, deposit, utility deposit, every recurring charge named, who to pay and in what name. Terms. Length, notice both ways, rent review basis, what happens if you leave early.
Add two lines of your own each time: what you liked, and the thing that bothered you. The second one is the one you will forget and the one that will still bother you in month four.
Take photographs as you go, one per room plus the meters and the block entrance, and name them by the unit before you leave. Five units photographed and unlabelled is the most common way a morning of viewings becomes unusable by the evening. The full logistics of a viewing day are in planning a day of viewings without wasting it, and the safety habits in how to view a property safely.
Before you commit
Ask for the written agreement to read at home, not at the gate. Ask who you are paying and into which account name. And ask for anything that was promised verbally, such as a repaint, a new tank or a lock change, to be written into the agreement, because a promise outside the document is not a term.
Then, if you are still interested, go back at a different time of day. Most regret about a rental is regret about something that was true at seven in the evening and invisible at eleven in the morning.
Common questions
What should I ask when viewing a house in Kenya?
Start with water, covering which days and hours the supply runs and how it is measured and billed, then power, the building and its repairs, every recurring charge by name, and the terms. Those five headings cover almost everything that later makes a tenancy good or bad.
What are the warning signs at a viewing?
Vagueness about who handles repairs, an unwillingness to let you return at another time of day or speak to a neighbour, pressure to pay something on the spot, and any charge that cannot be named. Fresh paint on one patch of an outside wall is worth a direct question about damp.
Should I view a property twice?
Where you can, yes, and at a different time of day. Traffic, noise, water pressure, lighting and who is around change completely between mid-morning and evening, and those are the things that decide whether you are comfortable there.
How do I compare several units fairly?
Use the same five headings for each and complete them before leaving the compound, with photographs named by unit. Comparing from memory after five viewings reliably favours the one you saw last rather than the one that suited you best.
Can I ask to speak to current tenants?
You can, and it is the single most informative thing available to you. A landlord or agent who prevents it without a reason has told you something worth knowing.
What should I confirm about the meters before signing?
Whose name each meter is in, whether anything is outstanding on it, and what the current reading or token balance is. Inheriting somebody else's arrears is common, avoidable, and very hard to unpick afterwards.