Land and Land Title
Before you purchase a land, it is very essential to do due dilligence. To do this, it is advisable you go with a trusted surveyor to chart the portion of land and take it to the surveyor general’s office to do a land information to confirm whether or NOT it is under acquisition and whether it is safe to buy. You can also involve your lawyer to confirm more details such as if there is a court case on that land, or if a loan has been taken with the C of O of the land. For example, if the land has a C of O, your lawyer can help you confirm whether or not a loan has been taken with that C of O.
PS: C of O is Certifcate of Ocupancy and it is one of the land titles in Nigeria.
No, there are other land titles asides C of O. There is Deed of Conveyance or Registered Conveyance, Excision, Governor’s Consent etc. To learn more about this, kindly subscribe to our weekly newsletter where we share up to date real estate news and information in Nigeria.
C of O is for a small portion of land while Global C of O covers a large expanse of land.
After buying a property with C of O, you will apply for Governor’s Consent for your property. C of O is given to only the first owner of a property. Subsequent owners will get Governor’s Consent.
Just like after you acquire a car, you will need to register the vehicle, get insurance and other documents for the car, that is the same way you will need to get some documents after you buy a land. The extra fees paid in addition to the land price are called statutory fees (not hidden charges because they will be stated on the land application form you will fill). The statutory fees consist of Documentation fee, Survey and Development fees.
Documentation fee is for the deed of assignment (this document transfers ownership to the new owner), contract of sales, receipt etc.
Survey is the document that maps out the portion of land paid for and it is required by the government for every land purchased.
Development fee is for infrastructure that will be put in place in this estate such as drainage system, street light, perimeter fencing, green areas, pipe borne water, recreational facilities (like swimming pool, gym, children’s playground) etc.
Before the advent of many real estate companies, after people buy land, they do survey and they also pay omonile fees which is very unpredictable. Omonile can charge money for foundation decking, roofing, fencing, borehole etc. The person will also have to pay to draw light, as they call it, to CDA. He will also have to do front drainage for his house which can cost 100k or above. Also, if the person doesn’t develop his land quickly, there is the possibility of omonile selling that land or they can sell that land to someone else and take the person to another land to swap (this other land is usually fatther than the initial land gotten. There is also the possiblility of the omonile demanding payment of the price twice. For example, a case of person who bought land from omonile, then after sometime the children came and said they were not aware that their father had sold the land and so the person would have to pay again for the land or forfeit the land. This person had to pay again so as to avoid issues. This means the person paid twice for the same portion of land.
On the other hand, a real estate company will ask you to pay statutory fees so they can get everything done for you and you go to sleep with your two eyes closed. They will handle omonile for you ( they saved you 200k to 3m and above), good road, drainage system (you would have paid 100k or above to get this done), perimeter fencing (fencing an entire estate gives you security), documentation ( some lawyers charge up to 5% of the cost of the land), survey and more. Acquiring land from a reputable real estate company gives you this.
A Gazette is an Official record book where all special government details are spelt out, detailed & recorded.
A gazette will show the communities or villages that have been granted “excision” and the number of acres or hectares of land that the government has given to them.
It is within those excised acres or hectares that the traditional family is entitled to sell its lands to the public and not anything outside those hectares of land given or excised to them.
House Enquiry
If you can afford to pay instalment payment to acquire a house or to buy a land and start building, then buying is much better. But if you are just starting out and you have not really got much in your savings, then you can rent and in the meantime, you can save towards investing. Do keep in mind that property appreciates so the price of a land or house could have increased by the time you are ready to invest. So it is advisable to save towards investing and invest as soon as you can.
To have a document that maps out the portion and boundaries of your own land and to prevent your land from being encroached on by other individuals.
Every individual has his/her own unique taste. So you need to know the kind of house you want and the features you desire in it. Some of the things to look out for when viewing a house are the electrical fixtures, plumbing, drainage system, foundation, ceiling and roofing, tiling, the neighbourhood and ofcourse the property title and dcouments etc
Payment Plan
Yes, many of the properties have instalment payment plan. Kindly call or send a whatsapp message to us on +2348135593206 to find out the specific instalment plan available for the property you are interested in.
Site Inspection Booking
You can fill the "Contact Property" form where the details of the property you are interested in is. OR you can call or send a whatsapp message to us on +2348135593206 to book your site inspection.
Buying a Property From Abroad
For clients based abroad, you can get a representative (your trusted family member or friend) to come inspect the property on your behalf. OR you can book a virtual inspection and our realtor will take you on a live tour of the property via video call and you can ask questions.
Once you make up your mind to invest in that property, you can go ahead to do background check on the property. You can get an experienced and honest property lawyer to do this for you.
After the result of the background check comes out positive (meaning the property is not under government acquisition or other encumbrances and it is safe to buy), then the next step is to contact our realtor and get the subscription form and FAQ (frequently asked questions). Our realtor will send it via whatsapp or email. You are to go through the forms and ask questions if you are not clear on any part. Afterwards, you are to fill the subscription form and make payment into the company's account. Then, you will send the filled subscription form, FAQ and proof of payment to our realtor and your documents will be processed.
After this, the softcopy of your receipt, contract of sales and other documents will be sent to your email address. And if you have someone in Nigeria that you would like your hardcopy documents to be delivered to, we will deliver to that person.
The final step is allocation of your property. Your representative in Nigeria can also come represent you on the day of your allocation or our realtor can represent you and send you pictures and video.
So when you are in Nigeria, you can contact us and we can easily take you to see your property or your representative can take you there (if you prefer).
