I Built a Ksh1.6M House for My Parents to Rent Out, It Was My Costliest Mistake

When I was 34, I thought I had found the perfect investment for my retired parents.

I work as a marketing lead at an insurance company in Nairobi, while my parents are retired primary school teachers living in Kisian, just outside Kisumu. Our family home sits on a large compound along the busy Kisumu–Busia road, about 15 minutes from the city.

Every time I visited home, I noticed the area was changing.

Just like Nairobi, more people were choosing to live outside the city and commute to work. New homes were coming up, rental signs disappeared quickly, and the area was becoming attractive to young professionals looking for more affordable housing.

Initially, my plan was to save enough money to buy a plot in one of Nairobi's satellite towns and eventually build my own home.

But in 2023, I changed my mind after saving Ksh1.6 million.

I thought, Why not build a rental unit at home instead?

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The idea made perfect financial sense. It would generate a steady income for my parents during retirement and reduce the amount of money I send home every month to help with their expenses.

I spent about Ksh1.6 million building a simple but modern two-bedroom house within our compound. It was easy for my parents to monitor, secure and maintain. Because it sat right next to the main road, we expected to earn about Ksh16,000 in monthly rent.

Once construction was complete, I asked my parents to look for a tenant.

A few days later, my mother called with what sounded like good news.

Her cousin, a nurse and single mother of two living in Kisumu, wanted to rent the house. She was looking for a quieter place to raise her children while still commuting to work.

Before agreeing, I asked one question.

"Will she be paying rent?"

My parents assured me she would. I trusted them.

The first two months went exactly as planned. The rent came in on time, and I felt relieved that the investment was finally beginning to pay for itself.

Then things slowly changed.

My parents started calling me more frequently for financial support.

At first, I assumed they had encountered unexpected expenses. But after a few conversations, I realised something wasn't adding up.

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The rent had stopped coming.

When I asked why, my mother explained that her cousin had been facing financial difficulties and needed a little more time.

A little more time turned into several months.

To make matters worse, I later discovered that my parents had reduced the monthly rent by Ksh3,000 without discussing it with me because they felt sorry for her situation.

I couldn't even be angry. I understood why they had done it. To them, she wasn't just a tenant. She was family.

Every time I suggested they follow up on the unpaid rent, they hesitated. They worried that insisting on payment would create conflict within the family.

Ironically, I found myself sending money home even though the entire reason for building the rental house was to reduce that burden.

In 2025 February, my mother's cousin was transferred to Bondo. When she moved out, she still owed four months' rent.

Nobody asked her to clear the balance before leaving. My parents simply wished her well.

I convinced myself that the difficult chapter was finally over. I couldn't have been more wrong.

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Instead of finding another paying tenant, the house slowly became the family's unofficial guest house.

Whenever a relative travelled to Kisumu for a funeral, a wedding, hospital visits, church events or job interviews, they stayed there.

Some spent a weekend. Others stayed for weeks. No one paid.

And because everyone was related to us, my parents found it impossible to say no.

The very investment I had hoped would generate income had become a free accommodation facility.

Looking back, I don't blame my parents. We simply had different ideas about what the house represented.

To me, it was an investment that needed to generate returns. To them, it was part of the family home, a resource that should help relatives whenever they were in need.

That difference in expectations cost me far more than I anticipated.