We picked up Joseph on Saturday morning at the Total garage. We’ve just moved to Dar es Salaam and Joseph is our estate agent, known locally as a dalali.
Joseph would take us around and show us houses and apartments available to rent in Tanzania.
Getting this sort of information on the internet before you move to Tanzania’s capital is limited, as only a handful of formal estate agents in the city use web-based platforms. The vast majority of accommodation is rented out through an informal network of dalalis.
We met Joseph through a local friend. On this occasion Joseph didn’t have access to the houses we had in mind and so on the way we collected another dalali, Peter, who came with his own portfolio.
The dalalis expect the prospective renter to drive them around the city as most of them do not have cars and rely heavily on their cellphones to receive and pass information on to customers. The cellphone is the dalali‘s office.
For Joseph’s services we have to pay him about 5Â 000 Tanzanian shillings (TSh) — about $4 — to take us around and show us places for a few hours; his rate is considered reasonable by local standards. If we clinch a deal, he’ll also be paid a commission by the owner.
As in many African countries, the colonialists carved up the city along racial lines. Today this pattern continues with class instead of race being the determining factor. In Dar many of the houses in the once ”white” areas were taken over by the state and now belong to government employees. They, in turn, rent them out for high prices, which only the expatriates can afford.
The housing market here is small and expensive. Unfurnished two- to three-bedroom houses go for upwards of $2Â 500, excluding services. Demand drives the prices and the supply is limited. More often than not these houses are in a terrible state of repair.
It’s not unusual for an owner to demand an advance of six to 12 months’ rent and use the money to paint the house or fit it with a new kitchen. The concept of maintenance for the occupants’ comfort is unknown.
The tick-boxes for a house in Dar are particular to climate and local circumstances. Thanks to temperatures that soar into the 30s and high humidity from September to February, air con is an essential. Also vital are a reliable water supply, a water pump and a working generator. For the latter one needs to ensure a constant supply of diesel is at hand. And, while one would expect these essential items to be in every house, one quickly learns to add them to a ”to-do” list. Most houses stand on large-size plots. Three to five bedrooms are common, as is a porch, housing for domestic workers and, of course, large gardens.
Having recently arrived from South Africa, security is constantly on my radar. I felt anxious moving around in a car with complete strangers and I felt it again when examining potential accommodation for the security must-haves we’re used to — locks, gates, electric fencing, alarms and rapid responses. But in Dar at most you’ll see burglar bars and, very occasionally, electric fencing. It’s not that break-ins don’t happen here, but the scale and style are tame by comparison.
People here move about freely without fear or intimidation and this is particularly liberating for women. Tanzanians are renowned for their friendliness and are gentle in their manner.
This morning a meeting with Grace, a female dalali, proved fruitful. The house shown to us seemed in a good state of repair and is in a neighbourhood close to the city centre. This means less time spent in the horrendous traffic. We hope to meet the owner to formalise the deal this week. Then starts a new chapter that will involve getting papers sorted and waiting for our container to arrive from Durban. They say it can take months before clearance is granted. But this is a challenge for the future. Securing a decent roof over our heads is all my system can take for now.
Dolar Vasani is an international development consultant, born in Uganda, who recently moved from South Africa to Tanzania
