One area of modern investments is investments done concerning real estates. An investor can purchase tracts of lands, whether several plots or acres or hectares of land at affordable price and wait for 2 or more years for capital appreciation. A plot of land purchased today with NGN 300,000.00 can escalate to NGN 500,000.00 within an average of 24 months. Similarly, where large expanse/tracts of lands are purchased, say at a very affordable rate, each part or plot can be sold thereafter at huge amount with guaranteed profits. Individuals, groups, entities, corporations, associations, churches, mosques, government, cooperative societies, NGOs can take advantage of real estate investments for their collective benefits.
For instance, cooperative societies can acquire real estate assets which thereafter can be sold at considerable amount to members of the cooperative, and this will engender further trusts and unity among members. Companies can with a considerable amount purchase assets in stock for staff welfare development; governments can do same especially for those in civil service to ensure their sustainability and housing affordability while and after discharging their civil duties. One example of government’s acquisition of real estate was the recent acquisition of Elephant Cement House, at Alausa Ikeja, by His Excellency (as he then was) Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, (SAN). Churches, NGOs etc are not left behind in this trail.
However before buying or acquiring real estates, you need to consider certain factors:
Purpose/Goal – first and foremost you consider what and why exactly you intend to buy or acquire such land. The purpose could be that you need the land for personal use such as for residential, farming, grazing, events, and other purposes. If you live in rural area, of course, you might need the land for agricultural purpose. If you live in the urban region, it could be that you intend having a housing estate, residential apartment, for economic reasons, for business, religious purpose and so on. So you first determine your reason(s) for acquiring the lands which will thereafter serve as the baseline upon which every other action will be founded. If you are wealthy, you can choose to purchase lands and use it for residential schemes in the future. You may intend to have a shopping mall, shopping complex, recreational centers, events center which is now common in Lagos State owing partly to the prohibition of public schools in the State for social occasions among other reasons.
Price – This is crucial as this will determine the strength of your purchase. If you intend long-term investments in real estate, you could opt for lands with little or affordable price but with the potentiality of capital appreciation in the nearest future. For instance, a friend of mine in Port Harcourt purchased about 2 acres of lands (12 plots) in Ifo Area of Ogun State 5 years back. He purchased the entire acres of land at about N100,000 per plots then. In 2016 he sells each plot for about N600,000.00. The same plot he purchased at N100,000.00 is now sold for N600,000.00 (imagine the profits!). Yet he is unwilling to sell all plots for now. The in-thing is “Lands Appreciate” and hardly “depreciate” in value. So, if you don’t have much for now, consider buying where lands are still affordable. E.g. I have some plots of lands for sale at Ifo, Mowe, Ikorodu, OPIC, Ewekoro, Ijoko, Ikeja, and others now currently sold at roughly N300,000.00 per plot, but that price definitely is not static. That of OPIC is 4Million per plot with all title documents intact.
Location & verification – another thing you need is the location where the lands are. You will need to consider if the surrounding communities or areas where the land is situated is conducive and hospitable. Are there government amenities, necessary infrastructures in place? Is the land close to your working place so that you can shuttle between work place and residential place? Is the location not under Government Acquisition or Government Requisition? Is the location covered with general survey plan or individuals will have to do his or her survey plan? Is the location not water-lodged or subject to periodic flooding? Is the location not Government Residential Area or under Government Schemes with General Master Plan or General Government Layout for the area? I will implore you to make adequate consultations especially as regards areas where Government has or hasn’t drawn up a general layout to avoid taking risks. Is the location not exclusively meant for industrial, agricultural, mining, grazing and other purposes? Is the location friendly, peaceable, with good-intents neighbors? These and many others you will consider before buying that land(s).
Root of title – yes this is important legal requirement before you part with that money you hard-earned. First, let the vendor proves to you by evidence his root of title or certificate of title aligning him/her with the land/house. The root of title is very essential as it tends to show originality and will thereafter be used for further conveyances. These may be by: Deed of Conveyance (otherwise known as Deed of Assignment); Certificate of Occupancy; Deed of Legal Mortgage; Deed of Gift; Land Information Certificate; Excision; letter of allocation; Family Receipt; Certificate of Titles; among others. Before you hands the vendor the money, let him/them give you copy of their root of title upon which you will then carry out a verification to ascertain the genuiness of the root of title and to avoid any surprises that might spring up owing to defective or unexisting titles. You may also give it to a firm or scan it your processing officer who will conduct the search for you. E.g. if you live in Abuja, and purchase lands in Ogun State, with C of O as the root of title, you don’t need to travel down to Lagos to do searching, just instruct your consultant or processing officer to carry out the verifications/search and forward his/her report to you.
There are equally trusted processing firms such as Aman Royale Partner in Alausa Ikeja Lagos that does processing jobs for clients from the initial stage to the final stage of the entire transactions. The contact details are also included in this blog. They will help you carry out any necessary verifications/search on the root of title and get back to you asap. Sometimes, the root of title can be by way of government excision (we will dwell more on this subsequently). It should be noted that where the root of title is found to be legitimate and or valid, you may simply pay a little sum and obtain a Certified True Copy (CTC) for your personal and other uses. Again, consult the firm for getting a CTC of Root of Title without hassle.
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