How Nkwata works, and what we charge

We think you should be able to understand exactly what a service costs before you use it, so here is the whole model on one page.

For people looking for a house

Searching is free. Every house, every filter, no account required. You can browse the entire register without giving us anything.

When you find a house you actually want, you pay 500 FCFA to unlock it. That gives you the landlord's or caretaker's contact number, the walkthrough video, and the exact Plus Code pin to the gate.

If you are actively moving and expect to unlock several, 2,500 FCFA a month covers fifteen unlocks.

Why we charge to unlock rather than to browse

Two reasons, and both are honest ones.

The first is that charging to browse would exclude exactly the people who most need this — students, first-time renters, anyone counting francs. Search has to stay free or the platform is useless to half of Bamenda.

The second is that a small payment at the point of contact keeps the platform serious on both sides. Landlords receive enquiries from people who have committed something, rather than from everybody scrolling. That is why they answer.

For landlords and agents

1,000 FCFA per house per month, and you are billed only while the listing is actually live. Switch it off the day the house is taken and the billing stops that day.

That is deliberate. It means keeping a taken house listed costs you money, so the register stays honest without us having to police it.

How you pay

MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money. No card needed. We never see or store your PIN.

What we do not do

We do not take commission on any lease. We do not hold rent or deposits at any point. We do not negotiate for either side. Nkwata is a noticeboard connecting you to a landlord, and once you are dealing with them directly, that relationship is yours, not ours.

What happens when you unlock a house

• You pay 500 FCFA by MTN Mobile Money or Orange Money.
• The listing opens permanently for your account — you never pay twice for the same house.
• You get the contact number for the landlord or, where one is appointed, the caretaker.
• You get the walkthrough video where one exists.
• You get the exact Plus Code for the gate, which you can open directly in a map.
• You contact them. They do not receive your number until you do.

If the house turns out to be already taken, unreachable, or not as described, tell us and we refund you. Our full refund policy is published and we apply it generously — a refund tells us our review missed something, which is worth more to us than 500 francs.

Why the landlord fee works the way it does

Every other platform in this market charges a listing fee that runs whether or not the house is still available. That is why they fill up with houses that went months ago.

Ours stops the day a landlord switches a listing off. That single design decision means a landlord who leaves a taken house advertised is paying for the privilege — so the register stays honest without us having to chase anybody.

What we do not do, and why it matters

Where the money goes

Worth being open about. The unlock fee pays for a person reviewing every listing before it appears, hosting the walkthrough videos, capturing and checking the map pins, the verification work behind the tiers, and keeping the platform running on infrastructure that is billed abroad in foreign currency.

We are not a large operation and we are not venture-funded. The platform has to pay for itself, which is why the prices are what they are and why we would rather explain them than hide them.