Finding houses for rent in Addis Ababa (for locals)

Addis Agents Real Estate receives several dozens of enquiries every single day from expatriates, the Ethiopian diaspora and local Ethiopians based in Addis Ababa and allover the country. Most of the enquiries come from people, who are looking for houses for rent in Addis Ababa. Since our target market is mostly comprised of expatriates, international nongovernmental organizations and multinational corporations in Ethiopia, we have not been serving the local market as much as our fellow Ethiopians would love for us to do. While we are studying the best ways to expand our target market to serve the local market without compromising on the quality of service we have been known for since 2008, we have commissioned a local market expert that specializes in helping Ethiopian nationals find houses for rent in Addis Ababa to contribute a series of articles that could be valuable for our fellow Ethiopians. We hope that you will find it informative.

Finding houses for rent in Addis Ababa that is affordable
By Ayele Alemu

First of all, I would like to thank Addis Agents for allowing me to share the knowledge and experience I have accumulated over the years working in the trenches of the Addis Ababa real estate market. I have personally helped hundreds of Addis Ababaians and Ethiopians from other parts of Ethiopia find houses for rent in Addis Ababa in the last decade or so. I would like to start my article by offering a high level assessment of the Addis Ababa property rental market. The housing options that are available to you can be categorized in different ways, which we will get to in a minute. What you can rent is largely dependent on the size of your pocket. You can choose from a single tiny room without internal plumbing system situated in a shared compound to a fancy villa with its own compound, where you can live independently. Below is a quick rundown on the options you can consider when looking for houses for rent in Addis Ababa.

Single room without plumbing system
These kind of options are usually found on a private property where a landlord leases out spare rooms in the service section. If you are a young adult just entering the workforce, this option is probably the only affordable housing option for you. Since you have no choice but to use the small space you have for cooking, sleeping, sitting and any other domestic activity, try to find a room that is as large as possible. Ideally, you should not rent anything less than 12 Sq M. Since such rooms do not have internal plumbing systems, you will have to share a shower room and toilet with other residents in the compound. For this reason, make sure to take a good look on these facilities and see if the minimum cleanliness and health standards. Living in this kind of condition might not be what you have envisioned but finding much nicer houses for rent in Addis Ababa is not realistic considering your financial standing as a young adult.

Self-contained room(s) with some kind of plumbing system

These kinds of options are also mostly found on private properties, where the landlord has excess space he wants to lease. Some landlords build self-contained units in the service quarter with 1-2 bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. If you can find reasonably clean and functional unit with a parking spot on the compound and the landlord seems a reasonable person, do not waste time looking for other houses for rent in Addis Ababa. Among the advantages you would enjoy if you lease such units is security, good social life and open space for kids to run around. By contrast, if you have a nasty landlord, life can be very hard for you. Hence, try to find out what kind of landlord the homeowner is before you sign the lease contract. If there is no way you can do that, try to sign a lease only for a few months and extend it later only if you feel comfortable with the landlord. Most Ethiopians start out by living in these kind of units before transitioning to occupying independent houses for rent in Addis Ababa.

What if one does not want to live on a shared compound?
If you are an independent person and hate the idea of residing on a private property, where you have to share some basic facilities and/or the a compound space with landlords and/or other tenants, your option would be finding a condominium, a villa with no other occupants living in the compound or an apartment in Addis Ababa.

Condominiums
In Ethiopian context, the term condominium refers to apartment type residential units built by the Ethiopian government under the affordable housing scheme. They usually have studio, one, two, three and four bedroom condo units. The quality of the condominiums for rent in Addis Ababa varies greatly. The units with the standard finishing are of very poor quality but some landlords invest a bit of money to raise the standards quite significantly. The rental price of condominiums in Addis Ababa is significantly higher than the two other kinds of options discussed above and varies greatly depending on quality, location and size. Life in condominium residential communities is a bit chaotic as such communal living concept is still new to Ethiopia and clear norms have not been established in the minds of residents.

Apartments
In the Ethiopian real estate market, the term apartment usually refers to residential units or buildings that were developed by private individuals or real estate companies in recent years. The second best housing option after getting houses for rent in Addis Ababa, is leasing apartments in Addis Ababa. The number of apartments for rent in Addis Ababa was very limited a decade ago. However, apartment buildings in Addis Ababa have mushroomed everywhere in the last few years. Two and three bedroom apartments in Addis Ababa are especially found abundantly. One bedroom apartments are moderately abundant while studio and four bedroom units are found in small number. The quality of such options is much better than the condominium options. The rental price of apartments for rent in Addis Ababa is also significantly higher than condo options. If you need price information for different locations, browse this website.

Standalone Villas with private compounds
If you are a senior professional or a well to do business person and think that you can afford to live in one of the private houses for rent in Addis Ababa, only the sky is the limit. If your preference is renting a villa in Addis Ababa with good size garden, you are better of going after an older villa that was built in the seventies and the eighties. If having a garden is not that important to you, you should be able to find a nice modern and multiple story villa for lease in Addis Ababa very easily. You can even rent a villa in Addis Ababa’s most exclusive gated communities such as Varnero, Sunshine, Jackros, Berta, Sunrise, and the likes. If you need information on prices of houses in Addis Ababa, visit the listings on this website.

In conclusion, whether you have interest in visiting the best luxurious furnished houses for rent in Addis Ababa or affordable apartments for lease in Addis Ababa, you can make an appointment with Addis Agents Real Estate.