Goldstay
Kenya · Nairobi

Premium property management in Nairobi.

Typical 2BR in Kilimani or Westlands nets USD 1,400 to 1,900 a month, wired to your account on the 5th.

9
Neighbourhoods
USD
Remittance
24/7
Support
Where we operate

We focus on the Nairobi neighbourhoods with the strongest diaspora tenant demand.

Our tenant base includes UN, diplomats, corporates, international NGOs and expats. We know what they expect, what they pay, and how to keep them.

Own property elsewhere in Kenya?Ask us anyway →
By the neighbourhood

What 2-bedroom rent actually looks like in Nairobi, today.

Indicative monthly rent for a recently let, well-finished 2-bedroom apartment, in USD. These are the bands we'd expect to price a property into; the actual number depends on finishings, floor, view and season. Updated quarterly from our managed portfolio and comparable market listings.

Westlands
$1,400to$2,000
Corporate, UN, NGO
Kilimani
$1,300to$1,800
Young professionals, expats
Kileleshwa
$1,400to$1,900
Families, diplomats
Lavington
$1,500to$2,200
Diplomats, corporate executives
Parklands
$1,000to$1,500
Mixed corporate, mid-tier expat
Brookside
$1,700to$2,500
Premium families, embassies
Karen
$1,500to$2,000
Expat families, diplomats, school faculty
Runda
$1,800to$2,500
Corporate executives, embassies
Rosslyn
$1,600to$2,300
UN, diplomats, international school families
Ranges are indicative and not guaranteed returns. For a specific estimate against your property, use the yield calculator or message us.
The problem we solve

Managing property from abroad is a second job you never signed up for.

Every diaspora landlord knows the cycle. We built Goldstay to end it.

Unreliable Agents

Local agents who stop communicating after the first month and go silent when it matters most.

Late Rent Payments

Chasing tenants from six thousand miles away is exhausting, awkward and rarely effective.

Maintenance Surprises

Finding out about a burst pipe or damaged floor six months after the fact, with no invoices to show.

Currency Friction

Collecting rent in KES and wrestling with conversion, wire fees and timing every single month.

Services

From finding the property to wiring you the rent.

Three services covering the full diaspora landlord lifecycle. Buy well, rent smart, collect in USD.

Property Sourcing

Free
for buyers

For diaspora landlords buying remotely. We find the right property, run the inspections, negotiate the price, verify the title and hand you a turnkey asset ready to rent.

  • On-the-ground property search to your investment brief
  • Remote video walk-through and in-person inspection
  • Price negotiation on your behalf
  • Legal and title verification with our property lawyers
  • Due diligence on the developer, building and service charge history
  • Full handover pack at completion: keys, documents, inventory, utilities
  • Seamless transition into Goldstay long-term or short-stay management

Long-Term Management

10%
of collected rent

End-to-end management for landlords who want stable, long-term tenants in Nairobi.

  • Tenant sourcing and rigorous vetting
  • Lease agreement drafting
  • Rent collection and USD remittance to your foreign account
  • Routine and emergency maintenance coordination
  • Monthly financial statements
  • 24/7 landlord WhatsApp support

Airbnb / Short-Stay Management

20%
of revenue

Full Airbnb operations for landlords who want maximum yield without lifting a finger.

  • Professional photography and listing creation
  • Dynamic pricing optimisation
  • Guest communication and screening
  • Turnover cleaning coordination
  • Maintenance management
  • Monthly revenue statements and USD remittance

Not sure which of these fits your situation? Message us and we'll advise.

Compared honestly

Self-manage, local agent, or Goldstay?

An honest look at how the three options stack up against each other for a diaspora landlord with property in Nairobi.

Lives in Nairobi, visits your property in person
Self-manage
You're abroad
Local agent
Sometimes
Goldstay
Paid to you in USD, wired to your overseas account
Self-manage
Manual FX
Local agent
KES only
Goldstay
Responds to tenants within 48 hours, 24/7 for emergencies
Self-manage
Local agent
Office hours
Goldstay
Monthly statement with receipts for every expense
Self-manage
If you ask
Local agent
Goldstay
Runs long-term and short-stay under the same roof
Self-manage
Local agent
Goldstay
Vetted tenants with employment and reference checks
Self-manage
DIY
Local agent
Inconsistent
Goldstay
Transparent fee with no kickbacks or surprise deductions
Self-manage
Local agent
Opaque
Goldstay
Your time spent every month
Self-manage
10 to 20 hrs
Local agent
5 to 10 hrs
Goldstay
Under 30 min
A fair comparison: some landlords are genuinely better off self-managing or with a trusted local agent. If that's you, we'll tell you.
New

Know your property's real yield.

Two minutes. No sign-up. Based on what our managed portfolio actually earns in Nairobi. Get a working estimate now, a specific one within 48 hours.

Sample output
$1,850/ month net
≈ $22,200 annual net, paid in USD
ModeShort-stay
CityNairobi
Bedrooms2
TierPremium
Occupancy72%
Why Goldstay

Built for diaspora landlords. Operated on the ground.

We combine local presence with international financial infrastructure. Nothing falls through the cracks.

Based On The Ground

We are physically present in Nairobi. Not remote agents who've never seen your property.

USD Remittances

Rent collected locally and wired to your foreign bank every month in US dollars. No conversion headaches.

Full Transparency

Monthly statements showing every shilling collected and every expense incurred. Access your dashboard anytime.

Diaspora Specialists

We were built specifically for landlords living abroad. We understand your situation because we've lived it.

What we guarantee

Promises, in writing. Enforceable.

Everything below is written into our standard management agreement. If a clause matters to you and isn't there, we'll add it before you sign.

48-hour response, or you stop paying us

Every tenant issue, landlord question or maintenance request gets an acknowledgement within 48 hours. If we miss that window on any request, we waive our management fee for that property for the month.

Written into every management contract

Paid on the 5th, in USD, without chasing

Your rental net payout clears to your overseas account on the 5th of every month. If a bank holiday pushes the wire, we cover the delay charges. No reminders, no calls, no excuses.

Applies from your first full rental month

Full cost transparency

Every expense over USD 50 arrives in your statement with a photo receipt and a vendor reference. Every expense above USD 250 is pre-approved by you in writing before we spend.

No exceptions, no surprise deductions

Tenant-vetting insurance

Every long-term tenant is employment-verified, referenced and ID-checked. If a tenant we placed defaults in their first six months, we replace them and absorb the placement cost ourselves.

Applies to long-term management clients

No kickbacks. Ever.

We don't take commissions from contractors, cleaners or listing platforms. Our fee comes from you, and that is the only money we make. You see every invoice we pay.

Codified in our operating principles

Cancel anytime, keep everything

30 days' notice, that's it. No claw-back, no exit fee, no hostage-taking of deposits or tenant relationships. We'll hand you a full onboarding pack for whoever takes over.

Your property, your call, always
Transparency by default

You see every number. Every month.

A clean statement, wired to your bank in USD on the 5th. No chasing. No translations. No surprises.

  • Line-by-line breakdown

    Gross revenue, platform fees, cleaning, maintenance, our fee and net payout. In that order.

  • Receipts attached

    Every cost over $50 comes with a photo receipt and vendor reference.

  • Bank wire, not promises

    Paid on the 5th, every month. If we're a day late, you hear about it from us first.

Statement · April 2026
Property
Westlands 2-bed · Short-stay
Nairobi · Unit GS-0142
Occupancy
78%
Gross rental income$2,450.00
Platform fees- $343.00
Cleaning (3 turnovers)- $195.00
Minor maintenance- $60.00
Goldstay management fee (20%)- $490.00
Net to landlord
Wired 05 May 2026 · USD
$1,362.00
Illustrative statement preview
Live owner dashboard

Open the app at 2 a.m. in Dubai. See exactly where you stand.

Every collection, every payout, every active lease. Live, not monthly. The same dashboard your statement is generated from — so the numbers can't disagree.

  • Net month-on-month, per currency, charted from real transactions.
  • 30-day vs. prior-30 comparison for the KPI that owners actually ask about.
  • Per-property occupancy and active-lease state, so you spot a vacancy the day it opens.
  • Every rent collection, expense, and payout — searchable, exportable, with the receipt one click away.
goldstay.com/owner
Welcome back, Asha
Your portfolio, at a glance
All collections current
April rent collected
KES 1,420,000
≈ $11,000
vs. March
+8.2%
net of fees
Occupancy
92%
11 of 12 units
Next payout
May 5
USD wire
Net per month · KESlast 12
May '25Apr '26
Recent activity
  • Rent collected · Westlands · 4-bed
    Apr 28 · M-PESA
    + KES 1,420,000
  • USD wire to HSBC London
    Apr 5 · Reference GS-04-118
    - $9,820
  • Quarterly service charge · Pinetree
    Apr 3 · Receipt attached
    - $740
Open the live dashboard
Local currency, international comfort

We collect rent locally in KES. You get paid in USD.

Transparent wholesale FX. Wholesale wire fees absorbed into our management fee. You never touch the local banking system.

01

Rent paid in KES

Tenants pay by local bank transfer or mobile money. We reconcile daily.

02

Converted at wholesale FX

No margin hidden in the rate. You see the rate on your monthly statement.

03

USD wired to your account

Monthly transfers to your Europe, UK, US, UAE or Canada account.

How it works

Three steps. Zero admin on your side.

01

Contact Us

Message us on WhatsApp or fill in the form. We'll call you within 2 hours during business hours.

02

We Assess Your Property

Virtual or in-person assessment. We advise on pricing, furnishing and the optimal rental strategy.

03

We Handle Everything

Tenant sourcing, management, maintenance and monthly USD remittances. You do nothing.

Kenya specifics

Tax, licensing and the bits of Kenya law you need to know.

Do I need a KRA PIN to rent out my property in Kenya?

By Kenyan law, yes. If you don't already have one, we handle the registration for you end-to-end. Send us a scanned passport and proof of ownership and your KRA PIN is live in roughly a week, with no visit to Kenya required. The reason we insist on this isn't paperwork. It's to protect your title from any future KRA action on undeclared income.

Who handles the 7.5% monthly residential rental income tax?

Kenya charges a 7.5% MRI (Monthly Rental Income) tax on gross rent for residential landlords (reduced from 10% under the Finance Act 2023). We calculate it, withhold it from each month's collection, and remit it to KRA by the 20th on your behalf. The tax line appears on your monthly statement with the KRA receipt reference.

What about land rates, service charge and SRA levies?

All paid from your collected rent, all handled by us. Recurring charges like service charge to your apartment committee, annual land rates to Nairobi City County and any SRA (Special Rating Area) levies such as Karen or Westlands are set up once at onboarding and run on auto-pilot after that, so you're not approving the same bill every month. Anything new, one-off or above USD 250 comes to you in writing first. Every payment lands on your monthly statement with the receipt attached.

Do I need NEMA or county licences to run my property as an Airbnb?

No. When we operate your short-stay, the licensing sits with us, not with you. Goldstay holds the Nairobi City County single business permit, the Tourism Regulatory Authority registration and any NEMA clearance required for the building. You hold ownership; we hold every operating permit the property needs. Nothing for you to file, renew or worry about.

FAQ

Straightforward answers for Nairobi landlords.

What is your management fee?

For long-term management we charge 10% of rent collected. For Airbnb and short-stay we charge 20% of revenue. Tenant finding only is a one-time fee equivalent to one month's rent. No hidden charges, no surprise deductions.

How do you remit rent to my foreign account?

We collect rent in Nairobi in KES, convert at a transparent wholesale FX rate, and wire USD to your bank account in Europe, the UK, USA, UAE or Canada. You receive a statement every month showing every shilling collected and every cent remitted.

What currency do you collect and remit in?

In Nairobi we collect in Kenyan shillings (KES) and remit in US dollars by default. We can also remit in EUR, GBP or AED on request. FX is done at wholesale interbank rate with the spread disclosed on every statement.

Do I need to be in Kenya to sign you on?

No. Everything from the first call to contract signing happens remotely. Documents are signed electronically and witnessed under Kenyan law where required. Your first visit to the property can be long after you've started earning.

How do you vet tenants?

Every applicant goes through ID verification, employer confirmation, income verification, referee checks and a face-to-face interview. For corporate tenants we verify the entity and signatory. We only present shortlisted tenants to you for final approval, and nothing is signed without you.

What happens if a tenant doesn't pay?

We chase on day one, not day thirty. Our lease agreements are enforceable and we have Kenyan legal partners in Nairobi who can serve notice and begin eviction proceedings within the statutory window. You'll know within 48 hours of the first missed payment.

What happens to my property if Goldstay closes?

Your property is yours. Your tenant relationship is yours. Your bank details stay on your own accounts. If we ever wound down, every landlord would receive a full onboarding pack within 14 days: tenant contact, lease, statements, vendor list, keys. No lock-in is built into our operating model.

Do you manage Airbnb properties?

Yes. We run full short-stay operations including listing creation, dynamic pricing, guest communication, cleaning and maintenance. We pay only the portion of our fee that corresponds to revenue actually collected. We do not guarantee a specific revenue number, we guarantee the execution.

Can Goldstay help me buy a property in Nairobi?

Yes. Our Property Sourcing service is built for diaspora buyers who want to buy in Nairobi remotely without getting burned. We search to your brief, run in-person inspections, negotiate the price, verify the title with our Kenyan property lawyers, and hand you a turnkey asset at completion. The service is free for you as the buyer.

Who pays for repairs and maintenance?

You do. It's your asset, after all. But the job is entirely ours. We source quotes, supervise the work, pay vendors directly from your collected rent, and send you the receipts. Anything under USD 50 is handled without disturbing you. Anything between USD 50 and USD 250 appears on your statement with a photo receipt. Anything above USD 250 is pre-approved with you in writing before we spend a shilling.

How is Goldstay different from my current Nairobi agent?

Three things: we live in Nairobi full time, our entire operating model is built around diaspora reporting and USD remittance, and we take zero commissions from contractors or listing platforms. If your current Nairobi agent offers all three of those and you're happy, we'd genuinely tell you to stay.

Get started

Ready to stop worrying about your property?

Join diaspora landlords across Europe, the UAE and North America who trust Goldstay.