6 Ways To Not Lose Money In Real Estate In Nigeria
We discussed 6 ways to not lose money in Real estate in Nigeria and therefore increase your chances of making a success of Real estate investing.
Like every other investment opportunity that enables you grow your money, Real estate comes with some risk and that risk unfortunately cannot be completely eliminated in Nigeria simply because we don’t have control over government policies, and according to Nigeria laws the government owns all lands and are only giving us the right to occupy them, hence we apply for Certificate of Occupancy (C of O).
So that means they can take possession of any land at any time if they deem it necessary to provide public infrastructure, like was the case with the Lagos-Calabar coastal road construction. You’re probably aware that some people lost private and business properties because the government changed their minds about using the path they previously marked for the road construction. So because of this fact, that the government owns all land and can therefore take any land for public infrastructure at any time, some risk remains investing in properties in Nigeria.
However, if you follow these ways I discussed below to avoid losses investing in Real estate, you would be taking charge of your investments and controlling what is within your control, which will greatly minimize for you the risk of Real estate investment in Nigeria.
1. Ask the right questions before making a Real estate investment
Why are you buying the property? What is your end goal? What is the right property for the goal you’re trying to achieve? If it’s land banking for example, the location where you are buying the land to bank does it have great potential for near future return on investment? While any land anywhere will eventually appreciate in value, some will take too long to do so. There are locations where you will buy a land and 2 years later the cost of land in that area is still the same, whereas your money that is sitting on such land has lost value in that 2 years. You shouldn’t be investing and yet your money losing value like it’s sitting in a bank.
2. Buy properties, land or houses, with proper title
That’s C of O or Governor’s consent, especially if you’re buying such property in Lagos. A proper title protects your land legally so only buy properties with proper titles. Also endeavor to perfect titles on properties you buy, especially if it’s a property you intend to keep , such as a land you want to build on or a house you want to live in. If the property came with C of O or Governor’s consent, you want to make sure you eventually complete the process of putting the title in your name. We recommend you do that even before starting construction on any land.
3. Do your due diligence
Always do a document search on a property before putting your money on it. We at TrueMandate Realty Ltd do our best to bring you only verified properties, however we applaud buyers who do their independent verification. It is your responsibility to verify the authenticity of any property you want to buy before buying.
4. Do not make Real estate payments through a third party
Do not send the money that you want to use to buy a property to a third party like your agent or broker, yes that’s including us at TrueMandate Realty, siblings, friends and relatives. You may say you trust your people but remember that a lot of people who trusted a friend, sibling, relative, even their parents, have been disappointed.
We know there are some people worthy of our trust, we have a few of them around us. However it’s just best not to test them. Sometimes not everyone who spend the money you sent them for something else other than what you sent it for is a bad person. Some do it hoping to replace it later only not to be able to. This brings to mind the experience of one of our clients who said his cousin was owing him the N15million he sent him to help him secure a plot of land in the popular Amen estate phase 2, this was some years ago. He didn’t buy the land and he didn’t refund the money. And his parents told him to not make trouble since he’s family. That’s why for his next investment he chose to use our services, unfortunately his mistake already cost him N15m.
5. Stay away from any Real estate offer that sounds too good
If something sounds too good to be true, it usually isn’t. Don’t be deceived by cheap properties. If you know the going rate of properties in a particular area and now you see someone advertising it for more than 50% less, don’t rush and buy. Instead ask questions. Be wary of such offers. Consult with us for free and we’ll expose the truth behind such offer. Don’t fall for scams because you’re trying to save money.
6. Work with a Real estate broker
You won’t have to worry about all of the things we have discussed if you work with tested and trusted Realtors like us. We’ll first discuss your Real estate needs and then recommend safe options that meet your needs.
Kindly use any of the numbers on our website to call or send us a Whatsapp message and we will be glad to discuss your Real estate needs and goals. Do not wait to lose money investing in Real estate in Nigeria before contacting us.
