HOW TO BUY A GENUINE AND PROFITABLE ESTATE LAND IN ABUJA

By Andrew Onoja - 08189848548

Abuja is a well-planned city, with a well-designed and maintained roads and clean streets , attracting a huge influx of tourists and investors from all over the globe. The city is strategically located at the center of Nigeria, Abuja also has an excellent access to the wider road network to the rest of the country.

Abuja is known for being one of the few purpose-built capital cities in Africa, as well as the wealthiest. Its good infrastructure attracting investors and expansion of businesses, which has led to a crucial need for more housing. Real estate investors focus more on “Abuja Real Estate Investment” due to rapid development and high returns on investment.

Before making a buying decision on that estate land, it is important to know There are land fraudsters, parading themselves as land owners/ developers with the aim of defrauding unsuspecting investors, but so long you follow this guide, you will not fall a victim of their selfish intentions.

The two basic factors you need to get right in order to make a right choice of investment in the Abuja real estate market are;

LOCATION: Understanding the current information and influx, of a certain location is key, it triggers your sense of reasoning to make a better investment decision. There is a quote by Bill Gates which says “Discover where the world is going and get there first” this quote is supper effective in real estate investment. The level of rush in land demand in a location, determines how soon such location will develop, plus the level of development determines how much a property would worth overtime.

You want to get the best value for your money, and this often translates to the best return on your investment. With this in mind, you want to evaluate the growth of a particular location before you throw your hard earned money into it, why settle for 2% profit when you could realise over 100% profit within 2years?

Investing millions on just one plot of land in eyebrow locations such as Wuye, Katampe extension etc; is not well done for an investor, at least not currently, when there are plots of land on the airport road selling between N2,000,000 – N4,000,000 per plot with high prospects. These eyebrow locations are almost at their peak level in appreciation, due to that the profit margin is very tiny. Don’t feel reluctant to buy an undeveloped “BUSH” land, especially if its situated in a strategic location, as a matter of fact, real estate developers, with their level of expansion even to the outskirt of the city, have thought us to understand that, there is no land where so ever, that will eventually not develop and spring up houses someday, irrespective of its location, it’s just a matter of time.

KEY THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR WHEN SEARCHING FOR A LOCATION TO BUY YOUR LAND.


Take Note Of Commercial Areas – Commercial area are usually the first plots/ properties you see on the major road by both sides, where we you usually have Fueling Stations, Shopping malls and so on, they are called ”COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES”, those area are majorly for business.
An undeveloped commercial plot is a potential avenue, positioned for future unexpected boom rise in value, because you never can tell, a massive edifice might just be erected around your estate, which will automatically lead to a tremendous growth in value on your property.

Avoid Estates On Commercial Areas – One major reason why you see demolition of houses is simply because, these structures were erected at wrong spots. Avoid buying your land in an estate developed on a commercial space, it is illegal, someday the “Development Control Authority” will come for development inspection, and when they find out it is an illegal development they will demolish the entire estate without compensation, which will cause a total loss on your investment.
Although, it is possible to convert a commercial land to a residential land, but personally I feel it’s not 100% safe for the future.

2. DOCUMENTS VERIFICATION: There are lots of illegal lands currently in the Abuja Real estate market, the very first thing you need to find out, is whether such land is committed.

A Committed land is that land the government has set aside to carry out a particular project, either to construct road, school and so on. Lugbe – Kuje is a place where the government have so much interest in, so there are lot of committed lands on the airport road, but people out of greed end up selling those committed lands to unsuspecting investors, so, it is important you scrutinize a land before committing into it.

WHAT YOU NEED TO VERIFY WHEN BUYING AN ESTATE LAND


DEVELOPER’S AUTHENTICITY: Some estate developers are not genuine, Confirming if an estate developer is duly incorporated with Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC) will so much help. When you locate a genuine estate developer, it becomes very much easy to move further in your journey of owning an estate property with total rest of mind.

ESTATE’S DOCUMENT: All estates usually have just one title document guiding all other plots of land in the estate, so , if the estate document is not solid or has litigation, the entire estate plots are at stake. In order to ensure the estate is safe for you to invest in, it is wise to do your due diligence, you can achieve this by requesting these important documents from the estate developer.

DOCUMENTS NEEDED FOR LAND SEARCH IN ABUJA.


SURVEY PLAN / TECHNICAL DEED PLAN (TDP): This is an important title document that helps to reveal the true ownership status of any land and landed properties. It helps to reveal if such land is not under any government acquired or committed lands/area. This title document also reveals the actual size and shape of a Land.

CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY (CofO) / RIGHT OF OCCUPANCY (RofO): This is one of the most important land title documents that is used to certify the legal ownership status of any land in Nigeria irrespective of its usage. It is usually delivered to the owner of a parcel of land by the government, attesting to the owner’s interest to the land where such interest is in accordance with the applicable laws. It is a legal document indicating that a person who has acquired an interest in land has been granted a statutory right of occupancy by the governor.

The above mentioned title documents are basically what a prospective land buyer needs in order to verify the authenticity of a land at the registry. However, it is necessary and wise to involve a legal practitioner when you intend buying a landed property.

RIGHT PLACES TO VERIFY LAND DOCUMENTS IN ABUJA.

FEDERAL CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (FCDA).

ABUJA GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (AGIS).

ABUJA MUNICIPAL AREA COUNCIL (AMAC).


Once you or the legal practitioner certifies it is fit for purchase, you can then move further to make payment.

3. DOCUMENTS OF CERTIFICATION: Upon completion of payment, there are certain documents you ought to be given by the estate developer/ company, such documents legally certifies you as the legitimate owner of your plot in the estate. whenever you then decide to sell off such landed property, it is same document you will present to the prospective buyer in future. Such documents includes;

SALES RECEIPT: This is a customers proof that a purchase was made, what they bought, when they paid and how they paid.

SALES AGREEMENT: This is an agreement letter between two parties regarding the purchase of a property in reference to the legal terms and conditions mentioned in the legal agreement letter.

DEED OF ASSIGNMENT: This refers to a legal document that records the transfer of ownership of a real estate property from one party to another.

ALLOCATION LETTER: It is a legal document indicating the land parcels allocated to an individual, it also reveals the specific purpose of such land.

SITE PLAN: This is a large scale drawing that shows the full extent of the site for an existing or proposed development.

BUILDING PLAN: this are the set of drawings which consists of floor plan, site plan, cross sections, elevations, electrical, plumbing and landscape drawings for the ease of construction at site. It is called “Architectural Design”. Most estates in Abuja have an approved building plan by Abuja Development Control (DC), to avoid later demolition of houses in the estates. Aside that, making the houses look uniform makes it more beautiful and well planned.
These are the basic procedures needed to be taken, when searching for a legal and profitable estate land in Abuja.

Working with a trusted and professional real estate Consultant/ Broker also saves you a lot of trouble, as they have more experience in dealing with all that has to do with property acquisition and selling, they will guide you towards buying genuine land in Abuja to avoid the risks involved.