I recently decided to try my luck in joining home owners in Nigeria. I got a land through friends and started looking everywhere on the internet for what it would cost me from start to finish and didnt find anything. I would appreciate it if anyone with this experience could share with newbies such as myself. The proposed building is a four flat of 3 bedroom each.

@ topic,

I suggest that you dont look at the cost upfront. it might scare you. However, be realistic and be ready for the unseen stuff. For a 4 flat, to start moderate. Here's "some" expenses
You will need around 20-25k blocks to complete the house (around 5k for each flat, then foundation) . Block is N100 each. So u looking at 2.5mil
To fence 2 plts u will need about 5k blocks= 500k
Decking is around 1.5-2mill (Depending on when you do it. Dry season, cement is expensive, but u take risk in rain season of washout )
roofing should set u back another 800k-1.2million
Plumbing, Wiring, other fittings, kitchen, borehole, windows etc.

The beauty with naija is you can do it step by step. Be realistic wt yourself

Also, let me lie to you. If you live overseas expect to pay about 10-20% higher for services than people living in Niaja. No matter how prudent/careful u are.

Make sure you actually see the handwork of the bricklayer that will be handling your house! Put a trusted person like your parents in charge. Those ppl that really wanna see u make something for yourself in life.

I hope u are buliding this place to rent and not to let family live there. thats a bad set up. otherwise i suggest u save ur $$$ and build a bungalow. it saves u a loooottttt of troubles down d road. Giving a flat to little bro/sis/uncle etc doesnt always work out.

All in all, i will peg your expenses, moderately to around 10-14 mill depending on the type of standard u put into the house

@ topic,

what state are u building anyway? it SOMETIMES AFFECT costs also

Promise,

Thank you so much for the update. What actually scared me off and prompted me to start this thread was when I was given an analysis of almost 2m just for foundation. It really put me off and I thought to just sell the land off and keep my money at least, am not a guy and will get to live under my husband's roof anyway.

I actually intend to build and rent out. It's not for the family though I will be keeping a flat vacant for my trips home. The land is in Sangotedo.

@ gom,

The 2m price might not be too far to the truth to be realistic. As a matter of fact i just wired 1m home to my mom to start my house. its a 6bd, 2 living room, 2 kitchen bungalow. Already i am owning 50k now. My mom is doin her best to stretch the $$$ for me.

The breakdown.
3000 blocks=300k
100 cement=160k
10 load of sand=75k
10 loads of gravel=80k
Labor=350k (The guy is a well trusted man. He charged 300k initialy but changed it to 350k cos house is roughly 6,000 sq ft. ive known the guy since i was growing up. He helped my dad build his house)
Miscellaneous (Clearing, pegging, Water/Water tank etc etc) ??

This is only foundation. After that, about 50 loads of laterite will be reqd to fill the foundation. About 4-5k for each load. Then you will have to build the house to level. Dont forget fencing too.

I dont think they are ripping u off. Speaking from experience.

PLS WHATEVER U DO, DONT SELL THE LAND. IT WILL ALWAYS GO UP IN VALUE!!!

Are u in the state or UK?

Promise,

Thanks for the advice not to sell the land. He gave the estimates you have up here quite differently and more exhorbitantly. Also gave estimate for Iron-rods of like 500k. It is really scary and that was why I thought to opt out. I think I will just consult someone more trustworthy or get my brother to take over.
I am in the States.

@ gem,

try and get 2 or 3 estimated before you decide what to do. he might be trying to cheat you. i dont need iron rods cos its a bungalow.

@ topic,

unfortunately i dont know anyone in your area. how big is the lot? Do you have d plan already?

Promise,

Its 2 plots and I already have a plan. The guy who gave the estimate is actually the architect.

@promise72

thanks for the realistic narration of ur experience building a house in najia. It sounded as if u were reading off my own experience.

However, the difference is that i grew never to trust any one individual consistently and over a period of time. When I started sending money(messages) through my cousin, he was happy, and completed 90-95% of my instructions, then he dropped to 80%, then 65, and all the way down to less than 50%.
At a point, he wouldn't even answer the cell phone I bought for him to communicate.

I solved that problem by moving my project around members of my family and friends over the past 5-years. They were always happy to start helping, then they become too comfortable/lazy, and unable to acheive 70-80% of the instructions, when that happens, I easily move over to the next person.
At a point they were equally policing each other.

The quote u get may be realistic or not, but even if it is, execution of the project as required becomes an entirely different matter.

@ topic: I won't advice you to build a 4 flat for the simple reason that it won't bring you much money in return! _{This is from experience!} Tenants are shit & its better to live alone! Anyway, a four flat of 3 bedroom each wast roughly 8m about 3yrs ago!

@ naijaking,

it always the same in naija. as soon as they know funds are coming from overseas the story is diff.

What u can do is that dont entrust all the project to one person. Roofing can ber for A, plumbing for B etc.

People always be on top of their game once they know that you have los of choices.

HOWEVER THOUGH, make sure you use professionals to handle your job, REGARDLESS of who's in charge of handling out the $$$.

Dont be discouraged, you can get it done. As my case, my Mom is on top of it. Shes more excited on the project than i am.
Guess im lucky

Building a house for rental is a dicey situation. You gotta look on your rate of return. If you put the house is a wrong part of time it might take 4ever to re-coup your $$$.

Lagos is about 12 years avg. Other areas might be as long as 20-25years depending on the rent. However, the good thing is that it is a steady source of $$$$. Unless you plan of leaving the earth before 25years the you can worry about the long Rate of return.

I am never a big fan of building 4 flat and living in one. its almost a recipe for disaster. Dont do it if you can afford to.

Why are you so knowledgeable? I quite agree with you!

Promise72
Good talk, ol-boy! Ur such a veteran.
Ur also blessed with ur mom around and capable. My mom is not available, and my mother in-law can't find her way around Abuja where I'm trying to start work on 2 plots of land.

Any information about the Karu or New Karu areas of Abuja/Nassarawa? My lawyer cousin tells me it's 15-20 miles from Aso Rock, but located in Nassarawa state. Unlike Lagos, PH, and Enugu I don't have much information about the success of building a rental property in Abuja and environ. Any idea?

@ Naijaking,

Sorry i cant help u there. Dont know much about Abuja. But like you said, if its 15-20mins to Aso Rock. Theres a good news and bad News. The good news is that there are LOTs of people working in abuja that cannot afford to live in the heart of abuja itself (Garki etc). So you place will be enticing.

The bad news it that it will not command the type of rent Abuja is known for. This in turn might stretch out your Return on Investment(ROI)

Also, pls make sure that it will not be a trouble piece of land down the road. Find out the rent and do your math. Like they say around here: "if it doesnt make dollar, it doesnt make $en$e "

You might actually find "safer" plots of land in "regular" areas of Lagos (Ogba, Surulere etc) that will make better ROI for you.

It your $$$$. My Ijebu side is working 24/7. Do the Math Take care.

cost too much to put a building up

na wah oh


why go thru the stress of putting up a building ?

why not sell the land and buy an already built house!

@ ikamefa,

People who sell building are doing it for profit. Profit sometimes tend to run about 2ce the cost of the building. Most of them dont use quality material. Hey they will be selling it. The "Nigerian factor" sets in.

Lastly, what if you dont find a befitting house whre you want? Whatta u gonna do?

@promise72
thanks a million for ur wonderful advice.

wow
promise72, have you actualy done this before or you have just researched it thoroughly, you can get a Phd with this your explanation o!

@ Disguy,

Researched. A lot. And im doing it presently. Just finished the DPC of my "bungalow" Just didnt realise how big it was on the plan until it started. As of date the DPC alone has gulped 3300 blocks, 100bags cement, 80 loads of laterite will be needed to fill and lot and lots of $$ for labor.

im actually getting scared already . But its too late. No turning back

does anybody know how much its gwaan cost to by land in ikorodu area of lagos this days?

or prolly epe

ikamefa, you want to live near me yard?

I just enquired myself cost from 150,000 upwards. the area is just developing.

does anyone have a good map of lagos, _{i no too sabi places}

THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING POST!

@ Promise - wow, I'm impressed, you seem to know your stuff and in great detail no less!

I was wondering if you could get me a breakdown on how much it would cost to build a duplex in lagos, abuja or port harcourt and if you could tell me more about what you experienced when building your home and ur mother's. Any details and advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

Ikamefa, A plot fi lan in those area a cus you nottin less than 1 mil, Mi a luk fi di same thing.
Big UP.

The cost of building a house varies from area to area within Lagos. The texture of the soil structure is a major factor. A poor soil structure could require a pile or raft foundation. Raft foundation is however more common for residential buildings. The costs of the foundation determines to a large extent how much the building will cost in the long run. Areas such as Okota, Lekki, Ajah, Amuwo Odofin requires raft foundation depths which could range between 0.6metres and 1.2metres or more depending on the storeys of the structure. From my experince, a raft foundation of about 1.2metres will cost between N1m and N1.5m with owner's supervision. Others areas (such as ikorodu, Iyana paja etc) may not require as much expenditure on the foundation because the soil structure is more compact.

For a building consisting of 4 units of 3 bedroom flats, it will cost you between N10m and N15m depending on the quality of the materials you used for your finishings The skeleton (raft, german floor, block works, concrete slabs) of the building will gulp between 60%-70% of the total cost The finishing takes the rest i.e plastering, aluminium roofing, aluminium windows, doors, electrical fittings, burglary, flooring, tiling, plumbing, painting etc.

One thing to guide against is the exargerartion by some dishonest Nigerian Architects and builders, they tend to blow the bill of quantity out of proportion with the intent to defraud the owner. For example, they may give you a costing for 1.2m raft foundation and put in place 0.8m for you, they pocket the difference because they know you cannot verify their claim if you are not technical. Watch out also for the granite sellers, they sell you 20tonnes of granite at the cost of 30tonnes.

I think the proper way of determining the cost of such a project is to secure the services of profesionals. This may cost you a little in cosulting fees but could save you a ton of cash and grief on the whole.
Get an Architect to draw up a plan for you.
Decide where you intednd to put up your building and try to get details of the soil structure in that location. This will determine the type of foundation to be put in place.
A builder can easily draw up a bill of quantities (BOQ) based on the architectural drawing if its a flat or bungalow. For a duplex or multistory building, you need a structural engineer to draw up a structural detail for the proposed building. The builder will then draw up a BOQ based on all these.
This will give you a better estimate of the cost of errecting the biulding. To reduce your consuting fee, you may have your structural engineer draw up the BOQ along with his structural plan for a little extra. Most competent structural engineers can do this.
Please avoid relying on non-proffesionals even if they have done it over and over in time past. Their methods are ussualy un-economical since they have to overcompensate for many things "just to be on the safe side". This shots up your expenses. Their is also no gaurantee of the structural soundness of your building since no load analysis was carried out.
The menace of "collapsed building" is real.

Hello Guys,

I need your help - I am Yankee base and in the process of venturing into Naija real estate market. I recently got a quote for a plot (960 sqm) of Land in Lekki Phase 2 for 7.5 M Naira. Is this price reasonable for that area, I have heard a lot of stories of non naija base being reaped off by family members supervising their real estate projects? I am just trying to minimize my risk. Thanks a lot GURUS

@Gom,
A quantity surveyor is learned in estimating your project.
However other building professionals do estimate based on experience, so you can try one if you aren't satisfied with your Architect's recommendation.

@Gobi,
Lekki is considered now a choice area, so buying at 7.5m may even be too small, afterall single plots of land are now being sold in Magodo for N25m.

@Promise 72,
Nice lecture you are doing great.
But 80 loads of laterite will be needed to fill the building? confirm this when you are ready to fill.

@Others,
Cost of building your house varies based on a lot of factors,
it could be nature of  land, taste, social factor e.t.c
Using non-professionals is like going round a circle, you will pay more at  the long run, just look for reputable ones.

http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/bcsprof.htm
http://www.buildingcontractorsecrets.com/bcsfactor.htm

Ikorodu has been on the JUST DEVELOPING list since I was a kid. I lived all my life in Ikorodu and that place has not really changed for the better. I mean land is still really cheap there, around the Ijede/ebute side. a close friend just built a house in front of LASPOTECH.

--thirdeye,
Please advice, what should be the estimate (cost),to build a twin duplex in festac area.

thirdeye - we need guys like you in this forum, all your answers are very educative. Update about the lekki phase 2 land , i was told after paying the 7.5m naira there is going to be another fee "Development fee" before i can start my project. Please my brother in a lay man's term what is the meaning of Development fee. thanks