“I have many houses for rent, come inspect them.”

You agree, only to realise along the way that the broker is calling other brokers, asking if anything is available nearby. In most cases, they had nothing lined up from the start.

Save yourself from this frustration by calling property agents days earlier and clearly describing the house you want in detail. Allow them time to find real options and only meet them when they confirm they actually have options. Do not trust a same-day promise on the first call. That is often where the trouble begins.

Let’s assume the first lie isn’t applied anywhere, and you meet a broker who actually has options. The next lie would be distance.

A typical Kampala house broker, whether on a motorbike or on foot, will have you trek distances you would never cover on a normal day. Every turn is ‘the next corner,’ and each promise leads you further in. Before you know it, you are far from familiar ground, drained and frustrated.

If you are house-hunting, clear your schedule for the day. Do not plan other tasks after inspections, as even morning viewings can easily turn into a full day of wandering and exhaustion. Some house brokers in Uganda are well aware of this pattern; they exploit your fatigue to lower your standards and prompt rushed decisions. When you are tired, you stop asking hard questions and ignore red flags you would normally catch. In the end, you agree just to be done with the process. In such a situation, remember that finding a comfortable house for rent demands patience, clarity, and informed choice.

There are two kinds of house brokers: office-based house brokers and those you contact when you are already in the area. Which one is more reliable? Honestly, neither. Your experience often rests on luck and the individual you end up dealing with.

Office-based brokers often demand full payment upfront, guaranteeing clients unlimited property inspections until a choice is made. They explain that if no house is selected on the same day, subsequent visits will only require covering fuel costs. In practice, this promise seldom materialises.

What usually follows on the next visit is hours spent waiting in their office for the broker you initially dealt with, who keeps insisting he is on the way. On a rare good day, he may send a junior broker instead, one who will lead you to worse and more distant houses. Some clients are even transferred to a different broker and asked to make a new payment. The cycle repeats, with the same frustrating outcome.

Always inspect and secure a house on the same day when dealing with office-based brokers. If that fails, forfeit the money and walk away. When possible, opt for freelance agents, requiring only a half deposit for inspections and the balance upon selecting a house. Another drawback of office-based brokers is that it’s unclear who is genuinely stationed in the office. Anyone can sit in the main seat and issue a receipt.

The most common deception is deflated rent.

Many brokers deliberately advertise much lower rent to lure clients into paying inspection fees. This is common on platforms like Jiji Uganda and popular property sites. A house that rents for UGX 800,000 per month is advertised at UGX 350,000. The target is usually first-time renters or newcomers to the city, who are oblivious to such tricks.

Consider this: fully relying on online property listings in Uganda isn’t yet a viable option. Many of the properties posted online are misleading; some are overpriced, and most are already occupied. If you want a real deal, genda ku ground.

Common, are cases of house brokers using photos of already occupied houses to collect the inspection fee, only to guide house hunters to properties that bear no resemblance to the description. The aim is to wear you down until you give up. By then, the money is gone, and refunds are not part of the conversation.

Before searching for rental houses online, understand that most decent houses for rent in Kampala and its outskirts rarely stay vacant for more than a week. By the time photos are uploaded to a site, another renter who went for a physical house hunt has already made a payment. Houses that sit unoccupied for extended periods usually have issues beyond the rent—often the location, property’s condition, or the strict landlord terms.

A further common lie unfolds once you’ve picked a house, yet you continue to raise concerns about a potholed access road. The broker won’t hesitate to assure you that residents held a meeting and the road will be fixed next week. That repair never happens; you could live there for years, watching the road deteriorate. If your concern is security, they may suddenly mention army generals or police officers living nearby. Anything to close the deal.

There is even a story of a man who rented a house in Kyaliwajjala, only to discover eight months later that an abandoned graveyard lay behind it. The broker had claimed the bush surrounded an army general’s home and posed no security risk.

One last lie you’ve probably encountered: when you are inspecting a rental with a house broker, and his phone keeps ringing. Answering each call, he is ‘on the way,’ but that caller is actually another client. Now imagine you are the one waiting for him somewhere else. How long would you wait?

What lies have you ever been told by a house broker? Share your experience in the comments.