Buying a home for your family is one of the benchmarks for success in our society. What makes buying a home harder is usually the lump sum required and the lack of knowledge of how the mortgage system works in Nigeria. Cost is the single biggest factor for the low house purchases among middle-income earners, as they would need to save for long periods to have enough money for an upfront payment. This’s where mortgages act as a better subsidy.
A mortgage lender loans a good part of the cost required to pay for a house, which you will have to pay back with interest over an agreed period of time. On the flip side, if for unforeseen circumstance reasons you’re unable to pay the mortgage bank when due, your home can be taken through a process called foreclosure.
The mortgage system is typically favourable for homeownerswho don’t have sufficient cash on hand to pay for a house upfront. However, taking up a mortgage typically takes you a step closer to home ownership compared to perhaps, renting.
There are different types of mortgage loans and depending on what plan best suits your budget and the amount of payment period, you should carefully assess which is best before opting for one. Mortgage loans are characterised by their time span, usually from 5 to 20 years in Nigeria.
Before opting for a mortgage loan, ensure you understand the following factors:
Consider your budget and monthly income. It’s preferable to have a relatively stable source of income. This is to prevent overstretching yourself to keep up repayments.
Keep in mind other than the cost of the owning a home, you’d need to cater to additional expenses like household bills, utility bills, insurance and maintenance.
Mortgage lenders will usually request to see proof of your bank statement to assess your income flow and expenses, and if you have any debts. This assessment is simply to prove you can keep up with repayments plus interest rates.
The mortgage lender can decide to refuse to offer you a mortgage if they think you can’t afford to keep up with repayments.
How Does The Process Work?
When compared to regular loans, mortgages typically have lower interest rates. Typical mortgage interest rates in Nigeria range between 7-25%. The lender requires the potential buyer to have a certain percentage of the total amount needed for the purchase available, called equity. This percentage should range between 30-70% of the total cost of the home. Ideally, your mortgage payments shouldn’t require above 25-30% of your monthly income to enable stay afloat with other bills and engagements.
As mentioned above, the length of time required to pay back the loan is important. In most cases, the maximum period of time given is 20 years.
The documents needed to get your mortgage loan to approve vary from institution to institution. They include the following:
A comprehensive statement of account (12 months or more)
Employment and confirmation letter (if employed)
Certificate of Incorporation of business (if in business)
Nationally accepted means of identification
Utility bills
Application form (provided by mortgage institution)
Original title deed of property (To confirm that property is not in contest)
In Nigeria, taking mortgage loans is increasingly becoming popular and it’s one of the surest ways to owning your own home. However, before considering a mortgage, keep in mind the following questions:
Is this the right time for me to buy a house?
What kind of property do I need? And where?
Do I need to take out a mortgage?
Can I truly afford to buy a house on a mortgage?
How much do I want to borrow and for how long?
What are the pros and cons of taking out a mortgage compared to renting?
We’ve got the best deal for you. Buying a house is a huge decision to make. There’s a lot to choose from and a lot of uncertainties and paperwork, not to mention they cost more. Let’s narrow it down for you. LekkiVale Estate located in the heart of the Lekki Peninsula encapsulates all it takes to give you a home. We’ve aligned all the factors necessary to give you the type of comfort and luxurious lifestyle you deserve:
A home located within the urban area of Lekki
24/7 electricity and water supply
Ample parking space
A valid C of O
What’s more, we’ve got all these for you at the most affordable price possible. Call in today at 09081234564, 09095757575. Send us an email at info@sevicpdc.comand let us give you the investment of a lifetime. So, why should you bother calling us today? …Because we understand what Home means to you.
For a first time home buyer, it might seem a little complicated buying your first house. Let’s face it, it can be tough out here sometimes. You have to deal with rush hour, long hours at work, school, meeting deadlines, achieving goals, dealing with colleagues, bosses and the many other factors totally out of your control. The one place in the world you can truly call yours is your home.
Tell me about the home of your dreams…
Studies show that the environment you live in greatly affects your well-being and longevity. Our homes reveal our true personalities. From the colour of the walls we choose to the texture of the sofa we sit on. However, you don’t need a study material to explain the joy that comes from owning a house, your own home!
Do you see your home as a sanctuary and a harbour of joyful of memories? Let’s help you find out.
Comfort: First off, your house is a familiar space. Although joy, peace and happiness cannot be bought, you can certainly buy comfort and you should. Imagine having 24/7 electricity, constant supply of treated running water and ample parking space, and the freedom to revel the beauty of rich horticulture.
Identity: My cousin recently got herself a two-bedroom apartment. She instantly transformed her bedroom into a haven colour. She even painted her ceiling purple. She explained there’s an amazing feeling that comes with buying a house. A place you can transform to suit your taste without having to explain yourself to anyone.
Security: One of the few things you can guarantee yourself and your family is having a safe place to lay your head every night. You and your family deserve security, if not, why even bother working so hard? Your own bed is usually always the best of all. If you’ve ever travelled, you can tell the agony that comes from sleeping on a bed that’s not yours. For me, my bed is one of my best places on earth.
Happiness: You cannot buy happiness, literally. But, you can buy a beautiful apartment, where you can be yourself and have your family and friends over. Home is where you can create memories that will last a lifetime. Home is a happy place!
Here’s a deal you shouldn’t say no to. Buying a house is a huge decision. There’s a lot to choose from and a lot of uncertainties and paperwork, not to mention the cost.
Let’s narrow it down for you. LekkiVale Estate located in the heart of the Lekki Peninsula encapsulates all it takes to give you a home. We’ve aligned all the factors necessary to give you the type of comfort and luxurious lifestyle you deserve:
A home located within the urban area of Lekki
24/7 electricity and water supply
Ample parking space
A valid C of O title
What’s more, we’ve got all these for you at the most affordable price possible. So, why should you bother calling us today? Because we understand what Home means to you.
Thinking of buying a home? Your first home perhaps, here are the factors to consider before buying a house for sale.
Buying a house is a big deal but after the initial excitement passes, it might seem a little overwhelming. There are factors you need to take into consideration to ensure you make the best deal available to you. Below is a list of factors you can consider to make your home buying process effortless and exciting.
Find a Real Estate Agent
You’ve probably never considered this but before making a move to buy a house, getting a professional real-estate agent decreases the burden of finding the right house in a favourable location at the right price. Getting an efficient real-estate agent can save you tons of energy and time, which would have been otherwise spent tracking down information.
Even better, you can seek the services of a real-estate company, who owns or market real-estate properties. There are a good number of reputable real-estate firms you can work with here in Lagos.
Here are some tips to help you get started:
Choose a real-estate firm that has built a reputable brand name.
Choose a real-estate agent or company who’s willing to share all the information you need in detail.
Work with a firm or agent you’re comfortable with. Sometimes trusting your guts when it comes to choosing who to work with counts.
One of the main reasons for buying a house is such a huge deal is largely due to the financial commitment required. Once you’ve decided to purchase a house, determine which mode of payment suits your budget. If you’re going for a full down payment (which is typically cheaper comparatively) bargain for the best deal possible.
Find out if there are any other fees required other than the cost stated.
If you’re opting for installment payments, get your account in order and set aside funds for prompt payment.
It’s quite common for people to borrow funds to pay for a house. Before opting for this option ensure you’ve taken into consideration the interest rates and how much the loan actually costs.
Most real estate companies offer flexible payment options for up to 12 months. Seek out options that suit your budget.
Let’s face it when it comes to making home buying decisions; what we want, what we need and what we can afford are three different things. First, identify what you need to make your home comfortable.
Here’s a head start:
Constant treated running water
Constant power supply
Security and access control
Proximity to the workplace, hospitals, schools, etc.
Is the property on a flood plain?
Available rooms
The list varies depending on your specific needs. Answers like, how big your family is, would determine the number of rooms you should be looking for.
Questions like, how long would you like to live in a particular area? What is your necessary level of privacy? Are you buying as a means to invest? All these and more, ensure the house you’re planning to buy has all it needs to become home for you.
Make sure the property you’re looking to buy has the appropriate land documents. Ask for copies of the documents from your seller or realtor and make proper inquiries. Needless to say that, you shouldn’t pay for any property in Lagos without verifying the authenticity of its land documents.
Let’s Get You The Perfect Home
We understand choosing the right home means so much to you. Here’s a house you’ll absolutely love. LekkiVale Estate located in the heart of the Lekki Peninsula encapsulates all it takes to give you a home. We’ve aligned all the factors necessary to give you the type of comfort and luxurious lifestyle you deserve.
Every aspect of LekkiVale Estate radiates a lifestyle of sheer relaxation and soft elegance, well deserving for you. From the designed buildings to our unmatched amenities offering:
• A central connection of treated running water
• 24 hours centrally generated power supply
• Well paved roads and covered drainage
• Top notch 24 hours security and access control
• Sewage treatment
• Ample parking lot
• Green areas and Kids Park
• Swimming pool
• Clubhouse
For more detailed information about getting the best real-estate deals in Lagos, call us today at 09081234564, 09095757575. Send us an email at info@sevicpdc.comand let us give you the investment of a lifetime.
Land flipping is a type of real-estate investment that involves buying lands at a low price and selling at higher prices to make huge profits. This type of real-estate investment is profitable when land buyers buy land in an area that’s rapidly growing. You can make up to 300% on your investment in a few months or in some cases a few years.
Why land flipping is an incredible form of reaping profits:
Value Appreciation Of Land
The value of land compared to other forms of investments like cryptocurrency or stocks doesn’t fluctuate over time. Preferably, the value of land appreciates by day. In Lagos in particular, the value of land (depending on the location) can increase by up to 30% in one year. Certain areas like Lekki Phase 1 have seen a 500% value appreciation in the cost of land in just five years.
Lower Maintenance Cost
Land unlike other forms of real-estate investments require minimal maintenance. With buildings, you’d need to renovate frequently to maintain the integrity of the property. With land, you can let it sit fallow for years without spending much in maintenance and it will still appreciate in value. Land flipping is the ideal business for people who have low start-up capital and still want to reap huge profits within a short time period.
Ease Of Managing The Investment
One of the downsides of other forms of real-estate investments like rental properties is dealing with tenants, tax issues and other issues associated with maintaining buildings. We all know the stress that property owners face when it comes to relationships with tenants, government, etc. One bad tenant could cause a landlord to incur unnecessary expenses or deal with delayed payments. Flipping lands cut off all these contingencies. Plus, it’s easier to sell lands.
With lands, there’s relatively no need for special effects pictures or need much advertisement before selling the land. All you need is buy land in a fast developing area and wait for buyers to come knocking at your door, plus it’s easier not to have any emotional attachments on lands. It’s possible to resell land without the help of a realtor. You can take advantage of the many websites available to get the deal closed from the comfort of your room. The simplicity and stability that comes with owning the right piece of land, bought at the reasonable price, surpasses a wide range of problems that come with other forms of problems involved in other types of real-estate investments.
Very Little Competition to Deal With
Buying land spares you the stiff competition that comes with every other property on the market. Plus, as a land investor, you can call your own shots.
How To Make Money Flipping Lands
The key to making money from land flipping is determining the most advantageous location. Like we said earlier, people generally procrastinate doing important stuff like investing in areas that are developing. Most people would rather wait until the area has attracted value and relatively more costly before investing. Significant examples of this is the current rush to own property in areas like Lekki, V.I, Ikeja and many others.
What makes a smart land flipper is the ability to identify potential high viable areas and buy lands while the prices are still relatively low and then wait for the ‘procrastinators.’
Olatunji discovered this the easy way, and he has this to say,
“By this time five years ago, I had a pump in my salary, and I was actively looking for opportunities to invest. After going through a couple of options, I decided to invest in buying two plots of land at Ibeju-Lekki at N 800, 000 each. At that time, it seemed odd, all my friends asked why I would go so far to buy land. I reasoned that, if a Free Trade Zone was taking root there, it was only a matter of time before the value of lands around there appreciates. Anyway, I recently resold these two plots for N 5, 300,000 each. That’s an ROI 662.5% in five years. If I waited for a little over two years, I’d have undoubtedly made a 1000% ROI. I’m going further down to acquire more lands and wait.”
To make huge profits in flipping lands, follow these tips:
Research thoroughly, pick out areas that are rapidly developing, have the potential for developing in future or already developed areas. Depending on the location and economic viability, certain areas mature faster than others. If you’re opportune to acquire land in a more developed area at a fair price, go for it. More developed areas are the easiest to flip in a couple of months and earn profits compared to developing areas. Developing areas may require a couple of years to fully appreciate.
Ensure that the seller is the rightful owner of the land and has complete land documents including a Certificate of Occupancy or a Governor’s Consent. Avoid lands with inconclusive land titles like Excision in Process or Gazettes. Since you’re reselling, you must avoid getting caught up in land title issues. Go for clear, genuine lands with the appropriate land titles.
If you’ve secured the perfect land at an ideal location, do some work on the land. Clear the land, create a path or road to the land. Get a surveyor to get the area marked and craft a brilliant description of the area; highlighting advantages to cajole a potential buyer to opt in.
If you cannot write professionally, employ the services of experts in the field and then, run adverts on the land, utilizing the numerous social media sites and other forms of advertisement.
Avoid getting attached to any property, so it’s easy to let go and sell to someone else. Always keep in mind that it is business, and you’re out to make a profit.
Conclusion:
Interested in investing in real estate? Here’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to invest in Ibeju-Lekki. LekkiVale Estate located along the Lekki-Epe expressway opposite the proposed New International Airport with a valid C of O is our fastest selling estate with ROI of up to 150% in the next three to four years.
This is a story based on a businessman who failed to verify the land title on the property he bought.
SegunAbejuis a businessman who decided to invest in real estate. His decision was based on the need to securelong-term investment and a retirement plan. After talking to an oldfriend about his plans to buy a few plots of land, his friend claimed to know a family who was selling offparts of their large estate at a give-away price at Sangotedo.
Segunsaw this as an excellent opportunity to cash in and immediately bought into the idea. He was confident that his friend was handling the transaction. He went ahead to make the first deposit of N4,000,000 to his friend’s account.Later that week, his friendscheduled a site visitation to inspect the land.Segunnoticed the shabby signboard at the entrance, but his friend argued that since itwas a family property, they hadn’t bothered with maintenance. Segun didn’t mind, after all, the land reportedly had a C of O. He didn’t know much about verifying land titles. He didn’t want to bother himself with the stress.
Two weeksafter the site visitation, Segun didn’t hear anything from his friend. He tried calling him several times yet no response. It was one excuse after the other with this said friend. After a month of no headway, Segun decided to takematters into his hands. He went out to checkthe land for the second time, in an attempt to get in touch with the family that ownedthe land.
To his surprise, everything had been an act. There was no signboard and even the man who had posed to be the first son of the family was a paid actor.Itturned out the landbelonged to the government. For months Segunstruggled to get a hold of his friend but to no avail. He later found out had travelled out of the country.
Segun couldn’t believe he had been scammed. In his words, “God will punish all those people, it will never be well with them. I cannot believe my own so-called friend did this to me.”
As sad as it sounds, Segun is just one out of the many Nigerians that fall into the trap of fraudsters. When itcomes to acquiringproperty, verificationis a crucial process.It doesn’t just end at inspecting the property.Youneedto ensure the land you inspected is owned by the seller.
Recently, we hadanotherclient who had been previously cajoled into buying a propertyhethoughthad a C of O. It turned out the land document he had seenbelonged to anotherproperty, completely different from the propertyhe had inspected.
Benefits Of Verifying Land Documents:
It shows proof beyond doubt of the validity and ownership of the property.
Itacts as a form of insurance.
Italsogivesyou the freedom to do anything you want with the property; either construction or re-selling.
Don’t just go for a site inspection.Always ask for a copy of the land documents. Take these land documents to the The General Surveyor’s office at Alausa, Ikeja.
How to Confirm the Authenticity of a Property Title
Ask for a copy of a survey plan and get a Surveyor to ensure the site you’ve visited fall within the stipulated survey plan.
Ask for a copy of the land document. Check the authenticity of land documents at the Land Bureau at Alausa.
Use the coordinates to cross-check what the plot of the land has been set aside for at the Master Plan in the Ministry of Physical Planning. Avoid lands that have been set aside for agricultural purposes or allocated for government use. Stick to lands allocated for residential purposes.
Demand to see the layout plan and pick a suitable plot.
Find out if there’s an ongoing dispute or litigation over the land.Find out if the land was inherited or bought.
Make sure dates check out. Cross-check documents to ensure they aren’t fake.
Document every single part of the transactions involved in buying land in Nigeria. From the cost of land to the survey fees.Treat every land transaction as it should be, a business transaction.
It doesn’t matter is the personyou’re buying from or interfacing with is your uncle, aunty, boss, friend, pastor…make sure they provide all the documentationyouneed before proceeding to makepayments. Also, take the time to read the documentsyou’re given carefully.
Great! We’d loveto help Call us today to find out more about investing in real estate in Nigeria. You can call us right now to book a land inspection at 09081234564, 09095757575 or send us an email at info@sevicpdc.com
