ijoseda
u kno wat,ur name sounds like 'dance just come'' ijo sese de,like my fello rightly said welcome to lagos but to be realistic with you we say to our new comers'THIS IS LAGOS'.

Its not too early to search for an apartment,if you have been following the thread this is what you have to consider 1.nearnest to the office
2.size of your pocket(enuff crude oil dollar in your pocket)
3.security
4.above all where your spirit is at peace(this is where the spirituality comes in)

better GOODLUCK as you start the search
regards

thanks peeps, that was a very warm reception i got! security wise, things are better in PH now o!but we have a whole batallion of police and soja men parading the streets, hmmmm, crude oil money, i dont know about that one o! i've lived in lagos before o!!!, for three months sha, dont laugh o!i'm looking at magodo estate, what do you guys think? office is on VI

ijoseda welcome o! make sure u bring boleh when coming!

magodo to VI can be night marish. and magodo is expensive. relatively peaceful and quiet, and expensive.

you've lived here for 3 months? no vex but i gotta laugh! it's a different ball game this time around

you can ask any of the reputable, estate agents (within PH) with nationwide branches to look out for a flat for you, at least until you're ready to move. them diya and ubosi and jide taiwo and co. i used diya and even though they're not perfect, it comforts me to know that when push comes to shove, i have an address i can take my fight to

@iceblue, pls pardon me o! but night marish no dey my vocab o, or does it mean what the pronouncation sounds like "NIGHTMARE"!!!! PLS shed more light on that. i think i agree with you on the issue of jide taiwo, diya et all, i've met lots of nairaland agents recently and i'm still trying to get comfortable with the ideaof working thru them, as for the BOOOLEEE, do you want ripe or unripe one! what of fish? what type of fish do you prefer! lol. cheers

i have to apologise. i still haven't had the time to go through that agreement. project i'm working on is consuming all of my waking (and most of my sleeping) hours. as i type, i'm practically dozing off.

you know how a house is when a part of one wall constantly grows mould on the inside of the wall, i.e. it's staring u in the face everytime u enter the room? i know it's caused by rain - the affected parts have no rain guard. i'm planning to put up some decoration (strips of ankara fabric or linen or something) so it isn't obvious. or perhaps someone has a better suggestion.

P.S. i don't mind the decoration at all. if the end result is lovely, who cares why i did it in the first place?  

@ijoseda

u never enter town u don begin discuss boli flavor,guy slow down o.LASTMA dey vex for lasgidi.


@ice

dependin on d weight of d purse,i know some buildin experts have a means of damp proofin walls so u dont get to see such sights.coverin it wit decor is a short term solution to a long term problem cos d water keeps soakin in and dat aint good for ur wall.prolly has somtin to do abt weaknin d whole wetin wetin.

@ ijoseda: yeah, nightmarish is derived from nightmare. i love english cos of those very handy prefixes and suffixes. they're like instant meals - just attach and u're good to go!  

about the boleh - hopefully my office will send me there soon and i won't have to wait for the FEDEX version   . in any case, roasted of course, with any grilled fish dia jare! that meal is the ish!

a friend narrated a horror story to me one time about landlords/agents plastering and painting a wall of a house that was cracked wide open!   . it looked very nice until someone did him a service and told him the truth behind the plastering. when he saw the crack, he almost shouted! lawdy!

something i did when house hunting was make a checklist of the things you want in a house and environs, and for each house u visit, u tick off each box that meets your requirements. it's the fastest, most practical way to see, at a glance whether it's worth the trouble or not.

@ masky
ahhh! those my stingy people no go gree! it's not major sha, but i'm finicky when stuff doesn't look quite alright. i will bear that in mind though for when i build my own house for now, the state of the wall isn't nearly enough to keep me from enjoying the place. like i said, it ain't major - just mild discoloring.

LASTMA nor dey chop boli??!! Na dem chop pass jare!

Here's a sample checklist (and is by no means exhaustive - each person's taste is different, and what is a deal breaker for one person may be negligible for another)

1. Good road (in front of house)
2. Security (a strong fence and gate)
3. Gateman
4. Cleared PHCN bill (ask to see the previous month's bill)
5. Strong building structure
6. Spacious rooms
7. Furnishings (bathtubs/wash hand basins/kitchen sinks/door knobs) are in good condition
8. Wardrobes present (extras like mirrors are a plus for me)
9. Bathroom and kitchen are tiled
10. Drains work
11. Running water (find out the source. a borehole is best, ensure that the pumping system is convenient)
12. Faucets work
13. Roof not leaking (an easy way to check is to look out for the tell-tale water stains on the POP and running down the walls
14. Pipes don't leak
15. Strong windows/doors
16. Space for extras - generator, gas cylinder
17. Parking space
18. Compound hygiene
19. Proximity/accessibility to major roads (ask the agent to explain what routes/buses you would take to work, availability, how many mins from each point)
20. Ask if they'll give the house a new coat of paint (diya painted mine b4 i moved in)
21. Floor types - some are difficult to clean, more prone to chipping, in desperate need of a rug.
22. Safety - emergency exits et cetera
23. Your neighbours - you don't want to live in the only high rise building in a rough area
24. the social life on the street - area boys/girls??

Do re-arrange according to your priorities, and add whatever is important to you in a house.

ahh yes, just remembered

25. Alternative water  supply (just in case! more often it's a well)
26. drainage system doesn't pose a health hazard
27. the compound flooring
28. compound drainage (for when it rains)

i say this cos some landlords and agents can distract you from those bad spots and rush u into paying for something u could regret.

back to work for me

thanks guys, @masky, LASTMA o lenu n be! won ti po to. ki won lo pose wa, but me too don san owo omogo once for lag o! you better ordey your own supply of booleee, going,
@ICEY, did i hear you say you'll soon be moving to PH?, or na me just dey imply am?, thanks for the check list. i'll divide them into absolute and relative, i wont be too rigid that way. btw, do you have any contact persin in diya, i want to start talking to them early. i want the best o!!!!!!
cheers!

i won't be moving to PH o! i just wan visit. however i expect that i'll be frequenting there in the near future.

typically they'll want u to do registrations and stuff. i'm sure you'll be able to work it out with those who don't have a PH office

http://jidetaiwoandco . com/home.php
they don't have a PH office but i'm sure u can look at their listings and call

DIYA FATIMILEHIN& CO
PORT-HARCOURT OFFICE
Valuation House,
206B, Aba Road,
P. O. Box 9282, Port-Harcourt
Tel: 08033042338, 08053217381, 084-57 9293, 462119
084-756801.
E-mail: pharcourt@diya-fatimilehin.com
http://www . diya-fatimilehin.com/v2/company/offices/branches.cfm

Ubosi Eleh
Port-Harcour Office
Leventis/Sunbean Building,
6, Nnamdi Azikiwe Road,
2nd Floor,
P.O.BOX.12612
Port Harcourt

Tel: 084-484244, 240049, 0802320543
http://www . ubosieleh.com/asp/default.asp

I'm sure there's others i've missed. also try http://www . castlesweekly.com/default . aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

even though you're unable to make a decision without having seen the place, castles will give u an idea as per prices in different areas and you can do your research on proximity vs. price

@ijoseda

ice stays in lasgidi,p/h berra go get a clone

as for diya contacts,just google it and see wat u get.m sure somewhere in there'll be a fone nos u can use.


p.s : hope u know d effect boli has on 'mr chairman'

jeez

she took em words right outta my mouth!

ice, you've not explained the nightmare of magodo to VI o!!! is it the traffic? would alaka estate in surulere be a better idea?

Nice thread here!!

Noise Noise Noise all over Lagos!!

How do you deal with noisy neighbours as in one that wont stop honking to get into the compound, had to throw a coke bottle at my uncles neighbour in anger, why cant people just get down to open the gate or call his obese wife to the door?
_{good thing is I don't live there}

Why cant landlords get a huge generator instead of making each tenant buy their individual generator or perhaps ban tenants with loud generators, they are only allowed a certain noise level 

abj in the house. . .lol, i grew up in lagos, so i have gidi blood in me though.

i live in an estate close to the games village, lived here for around 3 years, it's one of those, all the houses are the same style and same colour(colours are according to type of house though. . .as in no. of rooms). . .first off, the owner of the estate is a former senator and present vice chairman*(south east) for PDP(<---the estate developers never fail to remind us ). . .the internal road network is deteriorating, apart from that er'thing else is not bad, security-wise we have mopols that patrol the place(heck the mopols even named their part of the estate guantanamo bay. . .lol), electricity-wise, we're the largest feeder on in our 11kV station so that means light isn't sooo bad, at least it's sure there'll be light at some point in time everyday. . .as per water, we have a tank that'll last at least a week so that's covered.

my major grouse with the estate is that the houses are badly built, cos when you pay for the house, you're introduced to the contractor that'll build your house(that was a couple of years ago). . .the estate is large >2000 houses and the guy was giving the contracts to his people(not necessary builders) so our house was practically built 2ce cos my parents didnt like it so they had the guy redo most of it. . .the walls have/had rising damp(@iceblue thats what you call the mould thingy) it's due to some defect in the foundation, but there's this chemical that's supposed to help sha. . .we're trying that out.

as for neighbours, i have no idea who my neighbours are. . .lol, i'm serious.

as for traffic, this is abuja. . .there is no traffic (ok though i must admit traffic jams are creeping in though, my parents always say it's these lagos drivers that are causing it. . .lol).

lastly, we're building a new house so i'll prolly paste some of the goings-on here from time to time. . .

@ Ice. Nice list you got there. For me, the most important when we went searching for a house was few no of tenants in the same compound. Having got the bad experience of living with a bully in our previous abode, I was not keen at all on sharing compounds. But God so good, we got a house with just one neighbor, aside from the landlady, and a good neighbour at that.

My second most important consideration was that it had to be a new house, which in effect, eliminated a lot of the hassles listed above. For e.g, everything was working when we moved in, tho, in naija fashion of course, we later found out that most of the fittings were fake, and needed replacement only after just a few months of usage.

@Ijoseda,
Magodo is nice, but the problem is the traffic situation to and from the island. I guess to is bearable, but the fro aspect could be terrible, especially if you leave the island anytime after 5pm. Alaka on the other hand is ok. If you mean Alaka Estate, I think the place is really nice and quiet, at least, looking at it from the road. Me, I no know the internals of the place. Surulere is generally a nice place to live in. You could also try Gbagada/AnthonyMaryland. Their accessibility to all other parts of Lagos is key.

thanks bisowo, i'll bear all these in mind. alaka estate is a place i'll love. i think my madam would like the place too.

Let me boast here jare. My area, Ajao Estate, is also a nice area (i.e. if you don't mind a few bad roads sha, which is everywhere neways). It is nice and quiet, not over-populated. It is quite accessible to other areas like Okota, Isolo, Oshodi, Mushin, Ikorodu Rd. Anthony/Gbagada/Maryland, and of course, Murtala International Airport, Ikeja

One very good thing I've observed is the low crime rate here. We've been here 3yrs+, and I'm yet to hear of the first incidence of armed robbery. Even with the popular Aswani Tuesday market, there's still a modicum of decency even on market days.

Light is very stable, tho, there are the days of total darkness, which would take the intervention of the almighty PHCN officials to fix. And they do try sha, given that they respond to our SOSs anytime within a 24-48hr period Indeed, we've been having free-flow power supply in the last one week, with an average of 18-20hrs daily. This is however not always the order of the day o. _{[/sub]I hope the winshes at Igando no dey hear my boast o[sub]}

@ Fiver,
Generally, the landlords are not responsible for providing alternative power supply for their tenants. Everyone takes care of their needs according to their 'abilities' to generate the much needed power. That's why we have different categories of 'power pullers', ranging from those with large and noisy gen sets, to the not-so-large but equally noisy sets, to the small, petit, and wildly noisy ones. The 'I-better-pass-my-neighbors' generally fall in the last group. This is Las gidi. Wetin man go do na.

However, there's a new emerging trend of inverter users who are helping to reduce this wild competition, (at least at night) These days, we sleep better in our house since the generators have been given the red card with the advent of our precious inverter. I tell you, GET ONE TODAY![size=8pt][/size] lol

@ Ijoseda,

One very important thing you must look out for when scouting for an apartment, especially in Lagos, is to visit the properties on offer during the rainy seasons. You don't get to notice the hazard of living in a flood-prone area until the rainy seasons, and you bet, the agents won't tell you jack. You must take it on yourself to do this check so you don't end up being sold a lemon. Never ever take the agent's word for it. Visit the prospective house, and see if the street is flooded, and so also the compound. Many properties in Lagos still have this challenge, so please, look well before you part with your hard-earned dough. BTW, Lagos State Govt. has recently warned residents about the heavy flood to be expected this year. So pls be guided

suddenly suddenly

dis 'family' is gettin larger.even abj peeps in d house(welcome netotse).

na wa for naija o.see d blueprint on rentin an apartment.it looks more like a covert CIA op than somtin which shld ordinarily be very easy.props to d 'openess' and 'sincerity' of d lagos landlord and caretakers

big ups for all d tips,make pple shine their eyes wella

this site is getting much more interesting by the day,blieve it or not its quite educative and infortainment,its great,
my collegue had my giggle now and had a look on wat i tickled my fancy(landlord buying big genset for the house and share it with the neighbors) gues wat his reply was, all fingers are not equal,some can afford to use their gen set all nite whil;e some its just 4-5 hrs a day etc.

Ijoseda
let me scare you a bit, have you ever had of the house of the SCORPION(haven't seen one though) but based on what i heard that such houses have some kind of unique design at the vent to the ceiling/roof (some houses have on them 3 hollow block that allow vent intyo the roof).The spiritual thing about such houses is that one pack in full and leaves the house, u kno wat i mean(that will not be your portion.
I advise that you take iceblue advise by doing biz with the coperate surveyors/agent.
ANYONE HEARD OF THIS SCORPION THING?

Weekend
i am about to leave the office now its going to be a busy weekend, got me some family appointment to keep.atleast man go sleep and wake up without the thought of OFFICE.
house do have a blissfull weekend

@iceblue

well my sister at least even if na patch at least e go better small because i heard that originally my landlord single handedly repaired the road in the beginign when he just moved into the house then, but people went to kobalize him at work that a junior officer where will he get such money to repair the road. and also the road is sloppy, at least make them sha repair am small jare so okada go fit dey reach my gate and no go dey complain and also before my car land so i no go dey go weld silencer every time. lol

@maskuraid

sure say weekend bam well well for you. lol

@iceblue and maskuraid
this one wey una dey talk of tennancy agreement, i don ask my landlord like twice now but the guy no gree answer me at all ooo. just dey say ok him go send him wife to me, and i got talking to my neighbour wey don dey the yard for over 6yrs, ended up telling me no point asking as since he moved in after asking them continuosly for 3yrs and no answer, he just forgot about it.

anyway my landlord is ok sha, afterall when the whole scaffolding holding all the water tank collapsed and broke all the 3tanks na only am repair am withing 3days without asking us for any 10kobo, i just hope say after expiration of my 2yrs he no go increase am. lol

Bisowo:

@ Fiver,
Generally, the landlords are not responsible for providing alternative power supply for their tenants. Everyone takes care of their needs according to their 'abilities' to generate the much needed power. That's why we have different categories of 'power pullers', ranging from those with large and noisy gen sets, to the not-so-large but equally noisy sets, to the small, petit, and wildly noisy ones. The 'I-better-pass-my-neighbors' generally fall in the last group. This is Las gidi. Wetin man go do na.

However, there's a new emerging trend of inverter users who are helping to reduce this wild competition, (at least at night) These days, we sleep better in our house since the generators have been given the red card with the advent of our precious inverter. I tell you, GET ONE TODAY![size=8pt][/size] lol

Yea I told my uncle to get one maybe next time I'm around

If the landlords don't get it the Tenants themselves can just come together to get a big one instead of having different buzzing noise at different hours.

this site is getting much more interesting by the day,blieve it or not its quite educative and infortainment,its great,
my collegue had my giggle now and had a look on wat i tickled my fancy(landlord buying big genset for the house and share it with the neighbors) gues wat his reply was, all fingers are not equal,some can afford to use their gen set all nite whil;e some its just 4-5 hrs a day etc.

It can work if everyone contribute a minimum amount then keep the Gen on till about 10pm max then individual flats can use an inverter till the next morning= quiet night for all

I am looking for a 'quiet' holiday flat somewhere central to all the fun places in Lagos

@fiver

very interesting, i remember a gen i bough of a nairalander on here as he states they were importedgen and were 4.5kva.
the gen has been a nightmare i had it for 1month andd i changed the avr like 5times, and currently now sef the thing will just work for a few minutes and then trip off again. i have just decided to abandon it and look for another 60k and buy elemax. for day and tiger i better pass neighbour for night to minimize the noise.

sorry my neighbour directly above me dey complain say my gen too dey make noise, and anytime it trips off in the middle of the night there are always happy, but not for long as i get u to start it again. lol.

but na all my neighbour like me sha. u can imagine, good looking bobo, 6girls living in the 4bed flat beside me, 3sweet ladies also living in the flat above me, and my other air hostess co tennant as well.

e dey pain my madam well, when i dey lagos and i tell am say i dey jist wth my neighbours, she dey always want me to say I LOVE HER over the phone so dem my neighbors go dey here to erase any bad thinking for their mind, but me dey like am sha. am free to have breakfast, lunch and dinner if i so wish incase my madam mess up, no need to worry about helpers.

Good Neighbours.

@kingboy

yes oo, my neighbour them were jisting me about a family who moved into a compound with 2cars and alot of goodies and living ok, but now, the cars are abandoned as no longer functioning, and infact thery are so broke now to the extent that they cant even leave the compound as they have no money to go anywhere else. recently the mans wife gave birth and the man dey look for just 5k or 10k to bring mother and child home.

abeg that guy wey dey find house, do research well well ooo, from other tennants before mving into the compound. ooo. make God dey guide all of us oo. and na us wey dey rent now go also be LANDLORD OOOO. (AMEN)

@all

appi nu week!

wknd was good,any opportunity to stay 'away' from work is alws good(as long as i get paid) .most important was dt i had d chance to bond wit my boy a bit.work has almost made me an absentee dad.d guy was shocked wen he woke up,called my name and i answered him.u shld have seen d smile on his cute face.i felt terrible but wat can i do?a man's gotta eat sigh!

@ axeman
lucky u o.nice pweety neighbours to carouse wiv.just make sure say nobody offer u 'fegetable' soup o.make u no go eat super glue .concernin ur gen matter,stop usin petrol.just pour holy water for d tank and all d spiritual attack go vamoose.

@ kingboy

scorpion house ke??odeshi+blood of jesus.jump and pass go be our portion o.no weapon,

p.s: u should have seen d mess a quack tiler made of my new kitchen.i was so mad.d guy obviously had a bad dose of double vision.once u dnt supervise workmen,na gbege.m contemplatin re doin dt nasty piece of work if cash permits.aside from dt little mess sha we r on course.pepper permittin,all is well


nice day y'all

@maskuraid

no worry jare my broda. God pass them. i dey buy another small tiger generator and dey repair this one so he go work well well. lol.
i agree with you jare those handywork men need to be supervised well otherwise they will just do a shady and very useless job. they just messed up the painting for my house, not painted well to standard after spending25 or 30k on it, but na my wife supervise am so na she take all the frustration. so now have to call someone else to do the job and i will sit and monitor to make sure its done to standard and well.

Good to hear you had a good tinme with you son. thats nice, as for me very busy week ahead, waking up and being at work from 8am and getting home at 9pm, fun isnt it. anyway dem dey pay me sha so no shaking. lol. have a fruitful week ahead men and women.

fiver
no go catch fever with dem girls, take it from the highness this girls no get nthing to loose(the yorubas will say that a man with leprosy cannot make cheese but he can throw it away, abeg of you wat God has join together let no man put asunder.if you really love your wife bring her back or go visiting her as frequent as possible.
my female single neigbhor was throwing a pass at me while spreading my clothe unfortunately for her my wife came out and introduce me to her as her husband(bad luck, try again)

Did anybody notice the fog/bad visibility yesterday, i kinda scared
Great day and i believe its gonna be a great day

god day pple,

hope ur nite was aight,mine was though i got home kinda late.today is anoda day sha,hope d fog thingy won't bother much today sha.

where's icey

lol.meant good day pple,but its still a God day so nothing spoil.