On Packaging: The Kololo Real Estate Deal That Taught Me a Life Lesson
On Packaging: The Kololo Real Estate Deal That Taught Me a Life Lesson
Towards the end of last year, I was brokering my biggest real estate deal yet. An investor from China was looking to purchase a house with a pool in Kololo, Naguru, or Nakasero—my areas of expertise. His budget was around $1.5 million.
Surprisingly, I only found one house that fit the description. However, it was in a rather decrepit state: doors loosely hanging, the pool green from algae, and yet the asking price was still $1.2 million.
While the land itself was prime, being at the top of Kololo Hill in a pristine neighborhood, the state of the house was far from it. This led the investor to make a take-it-or-leave-it offer of $800,000—over $400,000 below the asking price.
From my experience in construction, I estimated the cost of renovating the house to be around $20,000, but the owner refused to invest in these small fixes. Needless to say, the deal fell through. The lesson? His laziness in not making minor renovations cost him more than tenfold in lost value.
Shortly after this experience, I reflected on similar situations in my life. Last May, I was buying my first car—a beat-up off-white Corolla from a desperate seller trying to raise money for a ticket to Malaysia. After haggling, we agreed on 6.5 million UGX, paid in installments. But my uncle, upon testing the car, pointed out a laundry list of issues. Though I initially wanted a refund, I ended up taking the car for an extra 500,000 UGX. After spending a little over 1 million UGX on repairs, I sold the car later for a solid profit.
More recently, I put my bike up for sale. The first buyer picked out every minor issue: brakes, chain tightness, etc. After haggling, he brought the price down from 3.5 million to 2.8 million UGX. But I remembered my Kololo experience and decided to take it for a full service, which cost only 120,000 UGX. The next buyer paid the full asking price without hesitation.
The Lesson: Whether you're selling a house, a car, or even a bike, clients will punish you for your laziness. If you don’t take the time to fix small issues, it will cost you far more in the long run.
Stand warned: Laziness will cost you.