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Central Bank of Kenya also monitors large financial transactions and can hold onto them pending investigation of the source - something to be aware of.

Thank you Longonot62.

I feel I need to keep all the documents derived from the whole process of transactions when I buy a property in Nairobi.

SWIFT payments are a method of making an international money transfer sent between two banks which have commercial accounts with each other and allows you to send and receive financial transaction information in a standardized, secured and reliable environment. International money transfers are effected with the help of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) messages. A six digit Bank Identification Code (BIC) is assigned to each bank and transfer of fund is effected with the help of SWIFT messages.

It is highly recommended that you get yourself a lawyer to handle the transaction of buying property (an apartment). This will ensure that records are well maintained and that your money is legally protected. As Longonot62 has mentioned, any transaction above $9,999 will be flagged by the Central Bank of Kenya, a lawyer would be helpful to explain to the Kenyan government about the use of funds.

I have in the past transfered some funds from UK to Kenya through the banks hassle free and with no questions.If the money is from One bank to another in  whichever country, I doubt you will have any problems. Just talk to your bank and negotiate a favourable rate. You do lose a lot of money on the exchanges.

Separate question:
Say I have funds in Kenya and someone has funds in the UK, is it illegal for the person in UK to give me the money in UK, then I give them the money in Kenya? All through bank transactions.
This way, you can /might avoid the astronomical exchange rates etc.
Are there any other pitfalls apart from trust?

"It is highly recommended that you get yourself a lawyer to handle the transaction of buying property (an apartment). This will ensure that records are well maintained and that your money is legally protected."

I recommend that you do get a lawyer, as you may well not understand the legal process.  The lawyer can arrange legal searches, check that there are no outstanding financial obligations attached to the property, draw up a sales agreement, co-ordinate the completion of the sale and registration of the property title. 

Here's the things to be aware of, about getting a lawyer in Kenya. 

The fees for conveyancing a property (which doesn't involve a lot of work) are completely unreasonable at around 2 - 3% of the sales price of the property (in the UK lawyers charge a fixed fee of a few £00).  Unfortunately, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) have determined these charges and lawyers are not in a position to negotiate for fear of action against them by LSK.  You need to budget for the sales price plus this fee.

Money.  In my home country (UK), the deposit for a property is generally held by your lawyer, as a neutral party in the transaction.  A few years ago, we transacted on a property (purchase) and the agreement was that the deposit would be held by our lawyer (who we had used before and thought we knew well).  He immediately headed for Mombasa and spent most of it on a new car, hoping that incoming work would allow him to recover the deposit.  The incoming work did not materialise, and so at the point of completion, the whole amount of the funds was no longer available.  It all got very nasty and we almost lost the sale and our money.  Fortunately, the seller was also a lawyer and kind of understood what had happened. 

We have NEVER given another lawyer a shilling beyond their fees.  We have done things like open a joint holding account for the deposit (both parties to sign to release the money) and we have also transacted the cash in the UK (where the seller was British).

The title deeds and copy of the sales agreement will be given to you if you wish to personally hold them.  You need both when you come to sell.  You will also need a PIN from Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to carry out a property transaction.

When selling there is a tax of 4% on any capital gain (profit).

"Separate question:
Say I have funds in Kenya and someone has funds in the UK, is it illegal for the person in UK to give me the money in UK, then I give them the money in Kenya? All through bank transactions.
This way, you can /might avoid the astronomical exchange rates etc.
Are there any other pitfalls apart from trust?"

I can't see why this would be illegal, as its an agreement/contract between two parties.  Beyond the usual international money laundering checks, I can't see that there would be an issue here.

Thank you @Longonot62 for your reply. You are right about the ease, transparency and cost effectiveness of buying a property in the UK, especailly in conveyacing.

In Kenya, I have transfered the depoisit to the developer's account ( I have never dealt with a personal sale)  I have then sent proof of payment to both my solicitor and that of the developer thus avoiding the issue with the solicitors using the money for their needs. (Learnt the hard way) All in all, NEVER buy a property in Kenya without involving a good honest solicitor and staying smart.

At one point several years ago, we were going to buy an apartment off plan essentially, but it became apparent that the layout of the site and other details of the property were going to be different in the finished apartment and not in positive way, so we didn't proceed. 

All the properties we have purchased have been houses, or bungalows in their own compounds.  When we rented an apartment, there was too much noise from upstairs and the service charges were high (and the controls over these seem limited).  It was new when we moved in and around a year later cracks were appearing everywhere.

We were recently (last month) considering purchasing an apartment in Nairobi, for various reasons.  Our property agent advised my wife to steer clear of new apartments, particularly if the developer is a Chinese company.  He raised concerns about general building standards and quality, fit and finish.

I can give you the details of the lawyer we employed for the last two transactions.  She is absolutely honest, and this includes sticking to the LSK requirements on commission.