I earn Sh. 27,000 salary; How can I build two bedroom house without taking loans?

Firstly, it’s important to understand the factors which will determine the cost of constructing a two-bedroom, such as:

• Location – building a house in a rural is cheaper than building a house in an urban environment.
• Type and design of the house – complex house designs will cost more in terms of professionals and materials needed compared to simple designs – raising the cost of building the house.
• Fittings – The cost of fittings such as mirrors, lighting, and fitted cupboards varies depending on their type and quality.
• Height of floor-to-ceiling – Houses with large floor-to-ceiling heights cost more labour and materials, hence more construction cost compared to shorter heights.
• Professionals involved – Involving professionals such as contractors, engineers, and interior designers add to the cost of constructing a house.

I was deported from US after using business money to build a house

Having understood these factors, there are three ways you can build your dream house without taking a loan:

Savings

If you are employed permanently, your best recourse would be to calculate your monthly expenditure, and then start saving Ksh 5,000 to Ksh 10,000 per month. This way, you can kickstart your construction project in 3-4 years.

Alternatively, you can learn a new skill and back up your pay slip with income from a side hustle.

Here’s how you can budget your project within two years:

• January and February, buy bricks/blocks
• March and April buy sand
• MAY and June buy doors and windows
• July and August buy hardcore and ballast
• Sep and Oct buy timber
• Nov and Dec buy sheets
• For the second year, you can use every month to buy cement and labour.

Start with One Room

Your second option is to build a temporary house and construct one room, with provision for an extension. After completion, move into the room so that you spare rent expenses and start expanding slowly. Remember, you are not in a race to compete with anyone.

Meanwhile, look for a good ‘fundi’ to quote you the total cost of constructing a two-bedroom.

You can then visit the nearest hardware and enquire about the cost of building materials, such as iron sheets, cement, timber, etc.

Finally, start purchasing and storing the materials. In two-three years, you should have enough resources for your two-bedroomed house. Meanwhile, you can use the idle land to plant short-term crops like potatoes, which you can sell to supplement your income.

Jones Nyaberi: I used Boda savings to build two 3-bedroom houses worth Sh. 1.5 million

Take a Loan

Although Saving is one of the best ways to get capital, it might take you too long to save enough to build a house. This is where you can enlist the help of financial institutions such as SACCOs.

If you save Ksh 9,000 per month in a SACCO, you’ll have Ksh 108,000 by the end of the year.  Most SACCOs will offer you loans of 3-5 times your savings. Therefore, with savings of Ksh 108,000, you can get loans of up to Ksh 500,000.

Real estate companies have multiple products where you can build your house with as little as Ksh 500 000. Assuming SACCO gives you 4-6 years to repay the loan at instalments of Ksh 9 000 per month, you’re good to go.

You can use your first loan to buy land. After repaying it in 3-4 years, you can request another loan, this time for construction.

The average cost of construction

Below is the average cost of building a two-bedroom house

• Foundation – Ksh 80,000 to 200,000
• Roofing – Ksh 490 to 3,500 per square meter
• Cement – Ksh 355,000 for 546 bags of cement
• Windows – Ksh 3,000 to 10,000 per piece
• Doors – Ksh 10,000 to 15,000
• Finishing – Ksh 30,000 per square meter
• Plaster – Ksh 2,000 – 2,400 per square meter
• Painting – Ksh 900 – 2,000 per square meter
• Flooring – Ksh 900 – 4,500 per square meter