UGANDA, Kampala | Real Muloodi News | Fifteen years ago, when Nathan Amaral started his career in real estate, he was broke and in debt, working three jobs trying to make ends meet.
Astoundingly, within three years he was able to build multiple real estate businesses worth over a million US dollars (USh 3.53 billion). Today, his real estate portfolio extends across the US, Portugal, and Uganda. He is a genuine Real Estate Muloodi.
Over the last 10 years Nathan has perfected his investment model, and now he trains other real estate investors, helping them gain clarity, confidence, and cash flow under his brand Fearless Millionaire.
In Uganda, Nathan’s focus is short-term rentals. He recently shared a video about how he built his Ugandan short term rentals business, and the most amazing thing about his strategy, is that you don’t need much capital to get started.
Nathan’s strategy? Sub-leasing. Sub-leasing is when you take a lease from the property owner, and then you sublease the property to somebody else, but at much higher rates so that you can make a profit.
Nathan says the secret is finding the right property in the right area. With the right location, you can as much as triple your money. He says:
“Uganda has a very busy short-term rental market. And here’s the powerful thing and it’s just phenomenal; you can do a sublease and you can literally get three times your money for that rental.”
Nathan mainly subleases to international clients sourced though on-line platforms like Airbnb, Expedia and Booking.com. His clients include people from Australia, the UK, Europe, and China who are coming to Uganda for investment opportunities.
Nathan’s Team
The other secret to Nathan’s success in his short term rentals business is having a solid team he can rely on.
Nathan’s property manager, Crispus (Chris) Kiwanuka, has been working with Nathan for almost two years now. Chris manages most of the day-to-day running of the rentals. He works with the clients, arranges transport if they need help coming from the airport, and facilitates checking in, checking out, etc. He also coordinates getting the rentals ready for the next clients, coordinating the cleaning team etc.
Chris’s own story is equally as compelling as Nathan’s. Chris got started in real estate about four years ago. Prior to this, he had been looking for work for three years without luck. That’s when his entrepreneurial instincts kicked in. He tells:
“I didn’t have work, I was looking for work for 3 years but no one was hiring – I even looked for cleaning work and couldn’t even find cleaning work. But something came to me.. all these apartments have come up, these people selling their land, and I would go look for such people, look at the property and I would say ‘Look, you have a property here, how about if I got you a client, what would you give me for that?’ And they agreed to give me a commission and that is how I got started.”
Nathan adds, “Chris went from not being able to find a job, to getting into real estate just by hustling, and I think a lot of people miss that. They think they need all this education, they need a degree or they need all this experience, but no, you can learn this industry along the way.”
Nathan advises to look for a partner who has the kind of motivation and entrepreneurial drive that Chris has. Nathan relies on Chis to source his properties as well. He says “Chris found the property [in the video], and another two. You don’t have to be the one always looking for the deals; you have to know what you want and what you are looking for, and put it out to your team so they can bring it to you.”
He adds, “Chris has strengths in areas that I don’t have strengths in, and I have strengths that he doesn’t have, and we work together and learn from each other. Work together as a team and grow, build a team with someone you can trust and rely on so that you can grow faster.”
Nathan is extremely impressed with the entrepreneurial attitude of Ugandans. “Everybody wants to start a business. I’ve been so impressed with how many Ugandans want to make it on their own and start their business. They’re full of ideas,” he says.
The Rentals
Nathan says the properties that work really well for him are one bed, one bath apartments. But he recommends to do your research and find out about the area you are investing in. He says “Find out what is the most common type of property in that area, what is most in demand, and you want to always have those properties, as that is what is most in demand.”
Being a short term rentals business, Nathan’s apartments are fully furnished apartments. He provides not only the furniture, but all the other amenities that you would expect in a hotel; linens, towels, soaps, iron and ironing board, small fridge, microwave, toaster, coffee machine, etc. He adds “…and you always want a mattress cover in the hospitality business, treat it like a mini hotel, you want a bed big enough for two people. Don’t have single beds, even if it is a one bedroom place”
In Part 2 of this series, we dive further into Nathan’s advice of what to focus on to build your own successful short-term rental business.
WATCH: How I Built a Short Term Rentals Business in Uganda
READ MORE LIKE THIS:
How I Built a Short Term Rentals Business in Uganda – Part 2
Real Estate Investment Opportunities and Land Prices in Kampala
