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The challenge of being a woman in real estate business
Apartments in Naalya and Kyanja (below). Inset, Nannozi Victoria, member Women’s Council, Association of Real Estates Agents in Uganda.
What you need to know:
National Bureau of Statistics records show there are more men than women in real estate. Nannozi Victoria, Member, Women’s Council,
Association of Real Estates Agents in Uganda, shares challenges women face in the real estate sector.
With only 37.3 per cent of women in Uganda in formal employment, real estate provides an opportunity for self-employment. You are your own boss, you set your own income limit, and you get to test your business skills. You can be a developer, an agent, a property valuer or a property manager. A woman has higher chances of becoming successful in real estate. This is because more females are buying property and women relate better with the male customer.
Although the real estate sector has offered a number of employment opportunities to women, it is still a male dominated field. Uganda Bureau of Statics (UBOS) report, 2002 revealed that while 1,5871 males were employed by the real estate sector, only 4,308 females were employed by the same sector.
It is also important to note that very few women are offered top positions as directors or chief executive officers. The women are left to do jobs such as administrators, receptionists, managers and agents.
Weak legal system
Real estate, like all other sectors, is not devoid of challenges. The challenges include a weak legal system, insufficient capital, limited government support and a volatile market. These challenges affect both the women and men, but the women are hit harder.
Culturally, the man is the provider and the woman is the home maker. She is believed to be the one who takes care of others,-the children, the sick relatives, etc.
Culture
The women are expected to be soft. If anyone finds a lady who is aggressive like the real estate sector demands, they are labelled names like “kyakulasajja” literally meaning she behaves like a man. This affects the woman’s self-esteem and lowers opportunities for advancement in the real estate sector.
Balancing family and work
The women struggle to balance both home responsibilities and work. The woman has to create a balance between being a wife, business owner and real estate agent. She struggles to be excellent in all areas. Real estate business has no time limit; you can receive a call from a customer at 8pm or so early in the morning like at 6:30am.
This could contribute to early aging, pressure and heart disease. Depression is also a likely outcome and it’s believed to affect three to four persons out of 10 in Uganda. Women are encouraged to find time for them to refresh and unwind.
Technology access
Real estate business relies on information sharing. You need to know the what, where, how and why of each property up for sale. You need to know who the potential buyers are. With the advance of technology, most of this information is shared on social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp.
High illetracy rates
Fifty per cent of the female population in Uganda between the ages of 25 and 50 years is illiterate. They cannot read and write. Although it is believed that one does not require one to be educated to join the real estate industry, this lack of education limits their access to newspapers for updates in the real estate industry and any other relevant information.
They will not contribute to national issues, for example, the landlord and tenant bill. This also gives an opportunity for unscrupulous people to cheat the female gender.
Mentorship
There is limited or, no access to mentorship. To survive in the business industry, one needs a mentor. That person who has walked that path you intend to walk but in real estate business, we hardly have female mentors. This may be brought about by the few women who have been successful in real estate coupled with the struggle to balance both home and office work.
Makerere University Business School has in the recent years churned out many female graduates in real estate. Few of these get opportunities of employment in the real estate sector and the majority is lost to other sectors.
Safety
Personal safety is another challenge that women face especially as real estate agents. As the business demands, a customer will be shown a property before the customer buys. Some of these properties are located in places that are isolated and are out of town. They may be 20kms and over outside the central business district. This gives an opportunity to a customer with ulterior motives to take advantage of the woman.
Women are encouraged to always walk in pairs to avoid such a scenario.
Women in the real estate sector have not been spared of conmen. A person visits your property, pretends to be a customer, takes pictures and posts it on social media as the landlord or property agent. A customer is cheated and the woman is prosecuted innocently.
Real estate provides a number of opportunities for the women. Although for the women to survive in this business, they will need to be more aggressive, apply for more flexible working hours, network with other women, find a mentor, train in real estate, and enroll for survival skills training.
