Mark Muiruri, popularly known as Mark Mansa because of his YouTube channel Mansa Plus, has toured some of the most expensive homes in Kenya. He doesn’t tour alone but with a camera crew that helps him put together a weekly show for his over 112,000 YouTube subscribers.

He has oohed and aahed over polished wooden floors, soaring ceilings, paneled walls, lush landscapes, private golf-padding section, koi ponds and infinity pools.

Mark, the 34-year-old marketing graduate from Kinangop, is not a wealthy buyer, but one of a handful of young people who, through their social media handles, are giving ordinary Kenyans detailed insights of homes previously accessed only by the wealthy.

Mansa means King in a West African dialect, and in the Kenyan market has also been taken up by Standard Investment Bank for their special fund Mansa X - but he tells me they are not associated in any way.

Videos by the enthusiast hiker and long-distance runner rake up thousands of views and inspire hundreds of comments, mostly in awe of the properties.

His most viewed episode is of a Sh47 million house in Kahawa Sukari, which has 707,000 views.

The most expensive house he has showcased is valued at Sh400 million ($3.1 million), and it has a viewership of 407,000. This is in a country with only 6,800 dollar millionaires, meaning the viewership isn’t from people with the ability to buy, but more for entertainment.

“We do not have many Kenyans who can afford that property, but we do have many Kenyans who are aspirational. So they watch this from a point of view that I would love that someday. Whether it will be possible or not is a question that can be debated, but they look at it from a point of view that this is beautiful and I wish or hope that one day I can have such,” says Mark.

He also notes that most people seek to get ideas on how to set up their own homes from the show, albeit on a lower budget.

But what benefit do developers get, if a majority of the viewers are not necessarily the buyers?

Mark reckons that YouTubers’ relationship with developers is symbiotic, even if the houses are widely viewed, creating fame for the content creator without effective demand.

“Most developers actually don’t have marketing budgets. So, for you to sell products valued Sh100 million or Sh20 million, you must have a marketing budget. So, we come and fill that gap. In that regard, I don’t feel that we owe developers,” he says.

For developers, the placing of the property on YouTube and other social platforms widens the net for potential buyers, especially those in the diaspora.

“It actually helps to gain traction because while one will imagine a buyer of property costing more than Sh100 million does not have time to actually view YouTube and make a decision, most of those people they use as agents view YouTube. Now, these agents are the ones that are sometimes targeted to view the property and then repackage it to the buyer depending on whether they are buying it to live in or as an investment,” says Johnson Ndenge, a real estate consultant.

Mark Muiruri Wangari, popularly known as Mak Mansa (left), presents the architectural features of a client's residence as videographer Willys Kihumba records exterior footage during a content production session in Ruiru, Kiambu County, on August 5, 2026.

Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group

Other renowned real estate YouTubers in the country include Fine Urban Real Estate, African Real Estate, and Martin Properties.

Fine Urban Construction and Interiors, which collaborates with Ugandan socialite Zari Hassan to feature ultra-luxurious mega mansions, enjoys the largest following with 153,000 subscribers.

Does home content creation pay well?

Mark says earnings from YouTube are not attractive, especially in Kenya, even for those with a huge following. This has seen Mansa Plus evolve to a realtor, selling houses that they feature for a commission.

“The payment per view is very little for the African market because they base it on the advertisements done on YouTube. YouTube argues advertisements in Africa are not that highly paid for like in Europe or the US,” he says.

“As African content creators, we don’t make much from (subscriptions), but it’s enough to keep the business running. The operations cover the small expenses, but the majority of the money will come from working with brands in real estate and selling the houses,” he adds.

How he started

Though the fame and glam that comes with being a content creator, Mark reckons it is not an easy path to walk. He started five years ago with his first video attracting 56 views, which were largely from family and friends.

He has faced rejection from developers and low confidence because of his heavy accent, but he persisted because he had a genuine passion.

Chinese developers were the first to open their projects to him and even made a suggestion to pay a commission for the content and more in case of a sale arising from the video.

“The Chinese are really welcoming. We didn’t even know that guys get paid commission for selling - they are the ones who told us. And because we were afraid to lose the opportunity of showcasing, we declined,” he says.

Over time, however, he realised the need to form a realtor through which he sells the houses to those who reach out to the company, based on the contacts he shares on the videos.

Developers are now willing to pay facilitation fees, which cater for the production of the weekly videos. He says that he does background checks on the developers to ensure he works with those who deliver their projects.

He has invested in production equipment over time, well north of Sh2 million, a contrast to his first videos, which were shot using a mobile phone by an amateur.

→ gngigi@ke.nationmedia.com