Finding Houses For Sale in Lagos, Nigeria

In Lagos, Nigeria, there is a tourism boom about to be unleashed following development efforts and economic growth that promises many opportunities to investors. The result of this is a rapidly expanding real estate sector offering unlimited opportunities to reap bountiful harvests from. Take for instance 5 years ago undeveloped land in the Lekki axis of Lagos Nigeria and Ikoyi areas sold for less than half its current market value with developed properties selling in some cases for less than one third of the current market price. This is indicative of a real estate boom and unlike the stock market boom of 2004 – 2008 the real estate boom is an investor’s haven.

This brings us to some of the issues that will naturally be encountered as a result of people preferences and choices with buying houses. A number of problems are associated with buying and selling of houses in Lagos Nigeria and it is only proper I mention some of them before listing out places to find houses to buy or sell.

One of the major problems will be the omooniles (descendants of the land owners or original occupants of various communities in Lagos Nigeria). These are usually idle and Lazy people who want to lay claim to almost any major development taking place on Land they may have already sold to people. By extorting money and collecting illegal fees these omooniles make life difficult for home owners or people desiring to build their own houses. Be on the look out for them whenever you decide to buy a house in Lagos Nigeria. Your best protection against omooniles is to buy directly from reputable real estate companies or acquire land directly from the government and build as quickly as possible. Another problem you face would be real estate fraudsters who could go as far as faking contact details of some reputable real estate companies in order to hoodwink home seekers and other real estate investors. Many of these fraudsters make offers that are too good to be true or unrealistically attractive in order to get at your money. Always insist on patronizing reputable real estate agencies and companies and ensure that you visit their offices to verify their authenticity.

In 2009, and onwards there are many places to start your search for houses available for sale in Lagos Nigeria. Here is a compilation of a list of places to find houses for sale in Lagos Nigeria;

1. Online Classified Adverts

Classified online adverts such as those on nairalist.com, nairaland.com and several websites of real estate companies is a major channel for finding houses and other property for sale in Lagos Nigeria.

2. News papers and magazine publications

A number of newspapers run dedicated editions for advertising or informing the public about opportunities to buy and sell houses in Lagos Nigeria. The most recognized of these is the Guardian Newspaper which runs a Monday Edition dedicated to the real estate sector. Another well known publication for finding houses for sale in Lagos Nigeria is castles magazine. There is also Properties and Homes magazine among others. The draw back is that these publications can only be bought in Nigeria as they do not circulate globally hence people living abroad may not find this option convenient.

3. Recognized real estate companies and Agencies

There are a lot of real estate companies in Nigeria but a few well known include Jide Taiwo and co, Ubosi Eleh and Co, Diya Fatimilehin and co, UAC Properties Limited and Unions Homes among others. Contacting any of these companies is search of houses for sale is another way to go about it. This option covers you although not completely from the activities of omooniles.

4. Enquiries on on-going projects

You could also make enquiries about on going projects such as construction of housing estates and other similar projects directly through the contractors who could refer you to the real estate agency or company handling the project or possibly the owner in order to meet with and negotiate a deal if possible. However not all housing projects have options for selling houses as some of them might actually be tenement projects in which case the owners are only interested in letting out.

Conclusion

Be warned that not all adverts or information made available on channels for sale of houses in Lagos are credible and reliable, you are advised to still carryout some investigation into the claims because some real estate fraudsters are on the prowl looking to defraud unsuspecting buyers of houses in Lagos Nigeria. Also possible for locating houses for sale in Lagos Nigeria is the option of word of mouth from people within your social network although this is hardly as reliable as the other earlier options.