Cass Hazlewood, real estate professional/Photo Credit: Cass
Lamu is a fascinating destination with a rich history and unique cultural heritage. It is a small town on Lamu Island in the northeastern coast of Kenya in the Indian Ocean.
Lamu is one of Kenya’s oldest inhabited towns and is known for its buildings made from coral stone and mangrove timber. It is very popular among tourists for its beautiful white sand beaches and rich history.
AfricaNewsAnalysis’ travel editor, Niels Bartels, was there and met Cass Hazlewood for an interview. Cass works where others go on vacation.
Cass Hazlewood is a real estate professional with over 30 years of experience in the industry.
He has a diverse background in property management, development, short-term rentals and building contracting and works for Pam Golding Properties.
His expertise includes planning and architectural knowledge, which helps navigate the complexities of the property market.
Cass has been in Kenya since 2011 and started on the coast 2 years ago and in Lamu in September this year. He solely covers Lamu for Pam Golding Properties (cass.hazlewood@pamgolding.co.ke) and was captivated by its charm. Cass has since dedicated himself to shaping the local property market.
Known for his dynamic and determined approach, Cass provides advice to both buyers and sellers.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: Why did you move to Kenya and how did you start your job there?
Cass: I have been coming to this part of Kenya (especially Lamu) for 10 years. About a year ago on one of my visits here (and they are regular) I thought that I want to spend more time here, so I wanted to come here with a purpose and have something useful to do while I am here rather than just being a holiday maker. It was in the back of my mind on my last visit. The biggest estate agent in Africa is Pam Golding. They started their business 48 years ago in South Africa and they made a connection to the UK quite early on the beginning of their business. They have been gathering places in all of Africa but especially in Kenya where they have now reached about 120 employees (with 80 agents) covering all parts of the coast and the mainland. Lamu being a particular special area has been one of the last places they ended up covering. Although they started working here a few years back, they have been waiting for the right candidate to come along, which happened to be me. I met them and we had a great conversation. They realized that I had a lot of knowledge of the housing market here. As an agent, working slightly independently it’s perfect for me to cover the area how I wish to and how I want to with the wings and the power of a large company that has experience in real estate.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: You work in Lamu which is a place where others go on vacation. What are in your opinion the interesting places for tourists here?
Cass: Lamu is an archipelago. It is very interesting to visit for culture and history and to learn about Swahilis and how they ended up being here. There is a big fort there which is interesting and it has many interesting side streets. There is a saying that says: “ Lost in Lamu“ . There is an old town that hasn’t taken off as a tourist place to live but as a place to visit for culture, art and history. It is a great place to visit. In terms of other places within the archipelago which are worth visiting, we have Kipungani with beautiful views over the mainland and it is becoming a destination for the slightlier wealthier individuals. There is Kiwayu which is properly the most northern part of Kenya. It is quite close to Somalia. It is a very beautiful place to visit and very peaceful. The ones who go there fall in love with it and come back many times. There is also Manda which is an island with a peninsula opposite Lamu. That has become very popular with people buying lots of land and building their own houses. It’s going to turn into a town in the next 20 years. At the moment it has got one of the most beautiful beaches, great sunsets. It’s a great place to visit if you are interested in nature because it is a bird sanctuary as well.
And then you have got Shela which is where everything happens. There are the bars, there are no cars, no motorbikes. Only pedestrians are allowed in the village. Donkeys are here, they are work horses. It is the most peaceful place you can imagine.
In addition to that, there are a few desert islands to visit where you can find quite exclusive resorts. You can go for a day trip or stay in these resorts throughout the archipelago.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: How is the estate market in Lamu currently?
Cass: It is complicated, it is diverse. You can buy a property here for 10 million and you can buy a property for 10,000. It has every part of an ecosystem required to make the building market work. It’s the first time that an estate agent of any“ real caliber“ has been here in Lamu.
At the moment we have a transitional period where in the past there were people who have made money from putting together deals without any real contractual paperwork / documentation. It was just handshake. Some work out, some don’t. The historical mapping of the area is very sketchy.
You have to rely a lot on what people sold for, what they are buying for. It is quite a complex situation.It is very challenging (and very interesting at the same time) to bring all these different parts of the market into some kind of estate where we are able to price the value of a property based on historical events
AfricaNewsAnalysis: You said it is quite a complex situation: So which challenges are you currently facing?
Cass: A lot of people have been here since the sixties or seventies. They are an aging generation. They want to move out of their beautiful houses they have built. There is a new generation coming in which is not so „chic“ anymore, It is more of a tourist destination. A lot of people want to sell without letting anybody know about it. They want it to be secret, under the table. One of my challenges is to explain to sellers that they need to expose their property to the market worldwide. That’s the best way they are going to achieve a sale at the best rate.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: Who are your clients?
Cass: The people selling their houses here are from all over the world. They are Europeans. Germans, French, Americans, a very small number of Chinese and no Russians. There are no Russians here. There are a few Israelis. It is a group of elite people that bought houses here.
There are also a few famous people but not household names. You don’t get celebrity type of people here. Selling someone’s property does involve getting to know them quite well. You have to deal with some of the reasons why they are selling, they entrust you with quite important information about themselves.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: What motivates rich people to buy an expensive property in Lamu?
Cass: They fall in love with the place. That is the key thing. It is unique. It is not for everybody. You have to really connect with the place and see why you want to be there. It is mostly not their only home. It is usually a situation where they want to have a lifestyle built into the property. They want to rent them out, so it is quite a big tourist opportunity to rent their properties and then they would fit in one or two months a year around their rentals. The place then didn’t make money but it paid for itself. That’s kind of a key requirement here.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: Let us have a look into the future at the end of our interview. What do you foresee ? Are there any areas which are in huge demand now?
Cass: Land values have gone up in the last two years times four. It is definitely a place to buy. The land has good size plots and there is a town developping here. In the back of Lamu which is called Shela Shamba and on Manda as well. Lot’s of plots are available, there have been lot’s of activities over the last few years and things are going up quite quickly. It has gone from very cheap to reasonable.
You can still come and buy a reasonable plot which is good value. You can go through the process of building a house or sitting on the land as a land owner until the value has gone up.
It is for investors, it is for the people who want to live here and it is still for the holiday makers. There’s lots of different people here that want to buy for different reasons.
AfricaNewsAnalysis: Thank you for this interview