I need some help, pretty please.

Perhaps you've heard statement or claim that return from stocks beats all other asset classes (bonds, property) in the long run. Does this relate to the Kenyan context?

Someone from the NSE said they met a Barclays shareholder who purchased BBK at 0.50 cents. Any clue what prices shares were trading at in the NSE say in 1980/1990 to help compare with rates of return to property aquired in the same era?

I met someone who bought a quarter acre in embakasi in 1993 at 68,000/= today the same plot is about 1.4m or more..and rising...thats why I've come to trust Land more than stocks...unlike stocks, land prices(in kenya) know only one direction ...UP ..

@muganda the best long run investments are either stocks or residential or commercial property not land because these tend to smash inflation in the long term whereas bonds tend to move at the same pace(or slower) than inflation...

but reader beware!!! stocks are very dependant on the type of inflation... demand pull inflation is wonderful for stocks whereas cost push inflation tends to slaughter stocks terribly in the long run

i think it was during the IPO. will have to confirm. but about 10/-

Muganda, the BBK IPO price in 1986 was 16/- and they issued 5,000,000 shares. It was oversubscribed by 600% and they raised around 80million. A house in Buru was like 200-250,000/-. Hope this helps!

With land you can hardly go wrong- unless you buy the road reserve. Bought 1/4 in Syokimau in 2006 at 440k, now its going around 1.8m, bought elsewhere 1/2 acre in 2008 AT 4M, now going for 7-8M, if you have money- put it in land. Offcourse its prudent to diverse and spread risk- invest too in stocks. My policy now is 20% stocks, 20% Sacco and 60% land. SACCO is my immediate fallback when things are very thick. I never put money in the bank. I will review this in 1 years time

@ Sheep

In agreement with your sentiments. That's why I mentioned that I will review my strategy in 1 years time. It will be not be business as usual. Sometimes last year- I saw an advert for housing units for rent in Tassia whee the vendor had said " 30% discount for the first 10 clients". His rent was within the neighbourhood rates. That tells you that people are moving away from rental units and the business is bound to change substantially in the future. Whatever venture we engage in, we must continuously research the market to identify the trend

Grateful for input so far. If I was attending a MSc class, I'd count the input as a week's worth of classes.

@lutz numbers impressive very strong case for property; though black swan shows @sheep fears may be confirmed.

@mkonomtupu based on your numbers...
BBK ~ 63x House ~ 24x

Maybe wise decision is to buy what you know or love. Though property (with its generous return) seems to allow for more mistakes as compared to stocks (one mistake could ring death knell).

Stocks vs Land? Ask Warren Buffet this question and he will give you a good answer.

Stocks are associated with higher risk and return than land.

For you to reap the benefits of investing in stocks, you have to master the art/ science of investing in stocks:

- Picking the right stocks

- Diversifying

- Discipline (avoiding herd mentality)

- Averaging

- Re-investing the returns

- Knowing when to sell

The art/ science of investing in land is much simpler:

- Choose a good location

- Buy

- Wait

- Sell

Most "investors" who try their hand in stocks, mostly enter during a bull, depend on hot tips and think they are making money due to their own briliance. Sooner or later the bear comes and they get get burn't big time.

The likelihood of losing your capital tied up in land on the other hand is very low.

IMHO just buying 200 shares of Safcom in the IPO does not make you an investor any more than just buying 1/4 Acre in Kitengela.