Property management can be very daunting, requiring a lot of time and effort. From rent collection to keeping inventories on repairs, the task can be a handful. Home-grown startup Nyumba Zetu, initiated by Nicholas Ogaye, is endearing itself to property owners and providing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with a technological solution to ease the load on their shoulders.
“I wasn’t trying to create a commercial product,” Ogaye recalls. “I was just solving my own problem as a finance committee member.”
Living in New York for nearly a decade, Ogaye and his wife faced challenges managing their newly acquired apartment in Kenya. Frustrated by the lack of transparency and efficiency in bill payments and financial reporting, he did what any problem-solving engineer would do – he built a solution.
Ogaye did not know that his personal project would soon catch the attention of others facing similar challenges. As word spread about his efficient system, he began receiving calls from people eager to use it for their properties. Initially hesitant, Ogaye eventually recognised the potential for a broader application. After conducting market research and identifying a gap in Nairobi's property management solutions, he decided to turn his personal tool into a full-fledged business.
“We realised that most property managers spend 90 percent of their time on payment reconciliations,” Ogaye notes. “It’s distracting and prone to errors. We wanted to change that.”
They changed it by integrating directly with banks and mobile money platforms. Nyumba Zetu has created a system that provides instant confirmation of payments. No more screenshots, no more disputes over whether rent was paid or not. It’s a small change that has had a massive impact on the day-to-day running of properties across the region.
While it caters for properties of all sizes, its impact on small and medium sized real estate businesses has been particularly significant. The platform allows individual landlords to efficiently manage their properties without the need for expensive property management services. For smaller property management companies, it provides enterprise-level tools at a fraction of the cost of developing custom solutions.
Property management technology
“Our system helps landlords manage their properties by themselves in a very cost-effective way,” Ogaye explains. “They get monthly reports and instant insights into their properties, knowing exactly who has paid and when.”
This democratisation of property management technology is enabling smaller players in the real estate sector to compete more effectively with larger, more established companies.
At the heart of their approach is a focus on accessibility and convenience. Recognising the widespread use of WhatsApp in Kenya, Nyumba Zetu sends bills and notifications through this popular messaging app. This clever integration eliminates the need for a separate mobile application, making the system more user-friendly and accessible across various devices and levels of technological proficiency.
To further enhance the user experience, the platform incorporates a chatbot capable of handling a wide range of queries. From providing billing information to logging maintenance issues, this automated assistant improves efficiency and responsiveness.
Nyumba Zetu has also reimagined how to encourage timely payments. Instead of resorting to disruptive measures such as locking apartments or cutting off utilities, they have implemented an automated penalty system. As the company’s representative explains, “If you don’t pay by the fifth of the month, you get charged a five percent penalty on the outstanding balance.” This approach incentivises prompt payment without causing undue hardship.
The platform’s comprehensive financial management capabilities extend beyond rent collection to include water bills and service charges, offering a complete picture of property finances. Nyumba Zetu also equips property managers with robust Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These metrics allow managers to track various aspects of their performance over time, from the number of complaints received to outstanding balances, enabling data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement.
Tenants also know exactly what they owe and when they owe it, while property managers have clear, up-to-date information at their fingertips. The result is a more harmonious, efficient ecosystem for everyone involved. The platform is registered with Kenya’s Office of Data Protection Commission and follows strict data protection protocols.
“We only collect the minimal information necessary to send invoices and receive payments,” Ogaye assures.
“All data is stored securely, and we have an elaborate off-boarding process that includes permanent deletion of records when a client leaves the platform.”
This commitment to data security has helped Nyumba Zetu build trust among its users, contributing to its impressive client retention rate. In two years of operation, the platform has lost only one client out of over 200.
As Nyumba Zetu continues to grow, Ogaye and his team are constantly working to improve the platform based on user feedback. With a robust development process in place, they’re able to regularly roll out new features and improvements while maintaining the system’s stability and security.
“We promise 99.99 percent uptime,” Ogaye states proudly. “In the last two years, we’ve only had two brief outages, each lasting less than half an hour. As we mature, we’re getting better and better at handling increased traffic and user demands.”
The platform’s scalability is a crucial factor in its success. Ogaye explains, “Because we are deploying on the cloud, we can increase our resources almost elastically to accommodate the traffic we see. As we get mature, we are having less and less issues.”
The team has implemented a continuous integration and continuous development (CI/CD) process to ensure that new features and updates are thoroughly tested before being pushed into production. This approach minimises the risk of error and maintains the high quality of service that Nyumba Zetu’s clients have come to expect.
The Nyumba Zetu journey hasn’t been without its challenges. Integrating with banks and mobile money platforms was a particularly thorny issue in the early days. “The initial integrations took months for each bank,” Ogaye recalls. “We had to figure out the technical issues, who to talk to, and then walk through the process step by step.”
But these challenges have only served to strengthen Nyumba Zetu’s resolve and expertise. Today, the company boasts seamless integrations with major financial institutions, a testament to its technical prowess and perseverance.
One of the most intriguing developments on Nyumba Zetu’s roadmap is its focus on the diaspora market. Recognising the significant flow of money from Africans living abroad into the continent’s real estate sector, the company is developing tools to give these long-distance investors greater insight and control over their properties.
“We’re trying to build a way that we can give them insight into how their properties are performing,” Ogaye explains. “Not just in terms of rent collections or payments, but also from a development perspective. How can we make it easy for you to monitor the progress of your property development remotely?”
Although Nyumba Zetu started in Kenya, its vision has always been pan-African. The company has already expanded into Zambia and is making inroads into South Africa. “We’re building solutions for the entire continent,” Ogaye says proudly.
This expansion isn’t just about geographical reach. Nyumba Zetu is constantly evolving its product offering to meet the diverse needs of the African real estate market.
From a new listings feature that promises to simplify property searches to a “mini Airbnb” for short stays, the company is positioning itself as a one-stop shop for all things property.
