Kampala — THE days of looking a tenant in the eye and marketing a house for renting are long gone. Property owners no longer hover around their properties every end of month to collect rent.

In place is the aspect of development appraisal, a new thing in the economy, which has shot up the value of real estate managers. And business is booming as property managers plough huge sums of money. The services of real estate managers have never been this ideal.

Sabiti Bageine, a seasoned property agent of Bageine and Company Surveyors, says: "A doctor or a lawyer in the 1980s would take time off his patients to go and collect rent from a tenant on his property. This would be at a cost of time and him leaving his ailing patient to do some other work, but this is no more."

Bageine asserts that as the business world gets more sophisticated, property owners are employing the services of experts to handle the management of their properties. He cautions that, for an investment to make economic sense, all one has spent on it must be realised within a realistic time frame.

Bageine cautions potential investors that: "Property management is a risky business venture which needs prior consultations."

The illusion that real estate agents are useless, because anyone can buy a home at any price and just ride the appreciation wave, is fast losing ground, given the real estate services in place today.

For example, in the 1980s builders constructed more mansions in Muyenga, Buziga and Ntinda targeting non-government organisations and diplomatic missions. Within a decade, the market was flooded. Office space followed in the 1990s.

Other than that, every Ugandan still wants to own a personal home. People will, therefore, not stop buying and selling houses. This is when advice from a real estate broker comes in handy.

Hamida Abmed, a property developer in Buziga, a Kampala suburb, describes property managers in no uncertain terms.

"They are investment counsellors. They save landlords from picking up bills of tenants who often escape without paying rent or their electricity bills."

Real estate managers now market property and help buyers get property they wish to buy without much hassle.

A survey of the property market is a revelation that values vary from district to locality. The need to study the market before sealing any deal, also makes the services of the property managers very important.

A number of factors determine the price of any property. They comprise the provision of amenities like water, electricity, health services and schools.

John Kasirivu, a commission agent, observes that: "The rent price has stagnated for almost a decade. So, there is need to advise the owner how best he or she can optimumly earn from a given property."

With the services of real estate agents, multi-national corporations like supermarket, home builders, mortgage dealers and hostels are being constructed in prime locations, where they expect maximum returns.