₦airaland Forum

Every day I get phone calls and emails from people stating their intention to buy lands and ask me to recommend lands for them to buy that I think is a good deal and has no Omonile Wahala but we all forget something and that is the cost implications of purchasing a land. A lot of people think if they have one amount of money set aside in a bank, that covers the amount to purchase a land in Lagos and the rest is history.

But that’s where we are all wrong. Purchasing Land in Lagos is a Tough and difficult experience that requires skill, prayers, financial acumen and smartness. Many of the abandoned Lands scattered all around Lagos boils down to lack of proper budgeting and planning and that’s why so many Omoniles have the guts and opportunity to resell other peoples lands and today I want to us to learn from the experiences I have garnered over the years on how to properly budget and plan ourselves before we venture into the process of buying a land.


[size=14pt]1.Never buy a Land based on Emotional Reasons.[/size]

Just because your neighbor bought a Land or colleague or family member recently purchased a Land and you have that amount of Money and you throw it into purchasing a land too, you would run into a lot of futuristic problems and would be left with no choice but to resell it unceremoniously. You have no idea why they bought that land at that moment and how their account balance is compared to yours and what exactly they intend to do with that land. Follow Follow isn’t good without any concrete plan. Buy because there is a concrete reason not emotional buying.

[size=14pt]2. Always Plan Ahead and prepare your mind that you want to buy a land at a specific time.[/size]

Whether its during the dry season or raining season, choose the moment you intend to venture into it and stick with it. If you plan to buy a land in December and you have the money in July, don’t say because you have the money now, and its best you buy it now because it looks cheap, you will run into problems when you don’t have time to tend to the land, fence it and sort other unforeseen financial obligations you weren’t prepared for. Don’t let Agents push you to buy lands that you’re not prepared to purchase financially. Be firm and stick to your guns and budget because the Agent won’t help you in sorting out other financial issues once the land and his Agency fee has been paid.

[size=14pt]3. Set Your Budget:[/size]

Before you buy a Land make sure you research on the following before you venture out into buying a land.

a. Check for the cost of the Land. Always negotiate and price the Land. Land isn’t a loaf of bread being sold in a Supermarket. You can always cut a few kobo here and there because the Seller wants to sell. Don’t despair if you negotiate today and the seller doesn’t agree. There is still tomorrow to negotiate harder. That money you have saved can go along way into paying other bills that you didn’t prepare for. Just because you have N2Million Stored away in a Bank and they tell you that there is a Land for Sale going for N2Million, then you have to sink all that amount at once on the land, you will run into a lot of problems financially in future. If you have N2Million for a land, don’t buy a land more than N1.2 to N1.5Million. That remaining 500,000 NAIRA will assist you in paying for other bills.

b. Always visit the Land you intend to buy at some point or sent a representative to check the texture if the soil whether it is a Dry or Swampy Land.

Whether the Land is in Badagry of Lekki phase 1, once the land is Swampy just know you will spend triple the amount you spent on purchasing the land on sand filling and solid foundation. Don’t be fooled when Agents market swampy lands for you at a reasonable price that you think it’s a steal or bargain. Be rest assured when its time to build, you will spend a fortune. Always confirm the status of the land and if you think you have the financial capability to buy a swampy land to sand fill, then go for it but if your working on a budget, learn to scout for lands that won’t require you to spend too much on the land.

c. Research all the Cost associated with purchasing a Land:

Buying a land in Lagos comes with some hidden fees that you should be prepared to compulsorily pay before, during and after a transaction. Am always surprised a lot of people enter into landed purchases without being aware of these fees associated with Land purchases.

[size=14pt] (i)Search fees:[/size] Put between N50,000 to N100,000 aside To conduct a search in the Land. It makes no sense spending Millions to buy a Land without conducting a search before you throw away all your money foolishly to Scammers to purchasing Government acquired Lands.

[size=14pt](ii) Survey Plan:[/size] Every Land bought must have a Survey Plan in your name. Survey Plan varies according to the area. Depending on location of the Land, survey fees range from N150,000 to N250,000. Always set this money aside compulsorily because its your first line of defence to show you’re the owner of the land. A land bought without a Survey to back the land up shows you just want to throw away your money.

[size=14pt](iii) Agency Fees:[/size] Most Agency Fees are 5% of the Cost of the Land, so be prepared to pay 5% of the transaction fees to the Agent after you have paid the Owner of the land.

[size=14pt](iv) Legal Fees:[/size] Most Legal Fees are also 5% the Cost of the Land. A lawyer must be brought at this Moment to draw up the contracts and documents between the Seller and You. But like most Nairalanders know because of my affinity towards you guys I give a lot of discounts during the searches and Documents fees, so you can always get in touch with me when you get to this situation so as to save some few Naira.

[size=14pt](V)Document Signing Fees:[/size] This fee is linked with lands bought directly from Omonile families. If you buy a land directly from a private Seller you don’t need to pay this fee but its mainly associated with Family land. Depending on the Area you could end up paying between N50,000 to N1Million Naira. Always cross check and ask your Agent or the Seller how much it would cost to purchase a land in that area and what their Signing on Fees are. Most are Negotiable though so play tough.

[size=14pt](vi) Ancillary Building and Community Fees:[/size] In association with paying the Signing fees another compulsory set of Fees to be paid includes the Money for Foundation which ranges between N50,000 to N500,000 depending on the Area. If you choose not to pay this fee, you will encounter a lot of difficulty with the thugs of the community who wont give your workers peace of mind to build. Other fees include COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FEES AND YOUTHS DEVELOPMENT. It varies from area to area so you must inquire thoroughly what the other fees are from your agent to ask the Sellers what your paying.

After you calculate all these fees from the cost of the land to the Omonile signing fees, you can then have an idea how much it will cost you in total to buy a land in Lagos effortlessly. Always make sure you have the money to make all these payment because when you start paying all these fees instalmentally, you are attracting problems. The land will not the transferred to you 100% till you sort the bills or you will get heckled by the Agents or the Omoniles to balance up and if they sense any delay they can now engage in foul play to resell your land or make it complicated for the land to be transferred to you peacefully.

My Next Article I will write will deal with the other fees which I think you should consider to secure your land and that Includes the fees and cost implications in Fencing your land, the Land Use Charge Fees, The cost of procuring either a C/O or Governors Consent and a Building Plan approval. Till next time I wish you the best in your future land transactions.

Cheers

Good day euro million. There is nothing like a gazette case number. It's either the gazette is under processing which means there is no gazette or the gazette is out and registered at the cabinet office. Ask your agents to clarify which is which.

Cheers

You guys have no idea how corrupt the CAC is and make thing difficult that they will destroy any plans or idea to make the business name available and I will expose all their tricks.

1. Have you ever attempted to visit a CAC of in any state especially the ones in Lagos? It's a mad house and the most disorganized place ever. For you to search a simple name, you have to leave your house to buy a form of N200 now N500 to choose a name. They dont care whether you live in Badagry or Epe, you have to spend more than N1000 to buy a form of N500. Now there is no database for you to view names that has been chosen previously, so all you have to do is rack your brain and pray your name is available. But because you have no way of knowing which name has been chosen, they will continue to reject your names till you get fed up. Imagine Cac having 36 branches and an average of 500 names per day, how would you know which name has been chosen? So they continue to reject and reject names till the lawyer and client gets so tired and a war emanates between the client and the lawyer that one person is not being serious with the other person's work. The worst part is that you have to wait for 2 weeks or more for the name to come out and they still reject it. By the time they release the rejected name, you will be told the name and year the person rejected it and what state. Why not tell me this before I pay or give us the opportunity to check the names that are available? How would a person in Owerri know one Mr Boko haram in Zamfara registered that company name you just put in 1992? I be winch?

2. The fastest way to avoid this scenario is to find someone inside within the corridors of power in the Cac, settle the person with N5k or more to search through the database within 72 hours and your name will be out. Everybody in the Cac is in it. Right from the guards down to the people arranging the name search. You complain about it, they either ignore or sideline you. It's really bad and that's why most lawyers add more money to company registration to make room for all these egunje. It's sad but that's the truth. The moment you make a database where people could search and pay the government directly via scratch cards means you have eliminated the middle men at the Cac and they won't agree. And am sure if it does happen, they will look for loop holes in the system to frustrate the company registration proper before your certificate comes out. I don tire for this country!

I read this article yesterday via mobile punch newspaper with respect to Houses being demolished by the Lagos State Government and i want to comment on some specific things regarding the demolition and property related issues: ( Please read carefully Line by Line)

Lagos demolishes buildings in Epe, residents groan

MARCH 6, 2013 BY SESAN OLUFOWOBI 17 COMMENTS

Residents packing their belongings
Lagos State Government on Tuesday demolished buildings allegedly occupying government land in Odoiragunshi community, Eredo Local Council Development Area, Epe.

The exercise carried out by the combined team of the state Task Force on Environment and Special Offence Unit and Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, left many residents in anguish, watching helplessly as bulldozers pulled down their structures.

Some of the affected residents claimed they possess necessary government documents to prove their ownership of the land on which the buildings were erected.

But government officials argued that the buildings were constructed on an industrial area as reflected in the state master plan.

Although some of the buildings have approved plans boldly written on them, the officials insisted that they were fraudulently acquired from government officials.

No fewer than 100 buildings were completely brought down, while many of the affected residents rushed to the scene from their offices.

Many fainted on seeing government’s bulldozers turn their homes to rubble.

The Chairman of the Task Force, Mr. Bayo Sulaimon, a CSP, said government would not sacrifice the land for selfish interest of some individuals at the expense of the larger public.

This place is meant for a project that will benefit Lagosians. How did they manage to acquire this land in the first place. Apart from that, they built without approval and government cannot allow individual interest to override public interest.

“Those who are building on government’s land, thinking that nothing will happen, should have a rethink. Government will rise up and take action one day. This is a message for land grabbers and unsuspecting buyers,” Sulaiman said.

Sulaiman added that the government had visited the area more than four times to intimate the residents on the new project.

He said, “They (residents) quickly erected the structures, thinking that once they are erected, government would have a rethink.

People should seek information from government on any land before paying for or building on the land.

One of the affected landlords, Mr Tajudeen Debo, said, “I obtained all my papers validly from the government. When they began threatening us we went to Alausa to have a meeting with them but we were told the permanent secretary of Land Bureau was not around, so they rescheduled the meeting for March 13, but today March 5, they are demolishing our houses.”

Meanwhile, the state Assembly has summoned the Commissioner for Physical Planning, Environment and the Permanent Secretary Lands Bureau over the exercise.

A lawmaker, Segun Olulade, who raised the motion under Matter of Urgent Public Importance during a plenary, reminded his colleagues that the Assembly had ordered a “Stay Action” on the land, pending the end of an investigation into the issue.

The Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, said it was better that the commissioner and the officials appear before the House on Tuesday to shed light on this issue.

First and foremost condolence to the families who lost their houses in this demolition. Whether the Government is right or Wrong, it isn't a good thing to hear of somebody's house being razed down either by fire, flood or by demolition. But this demolition has raised some pertinent issues real estate wise which i want to bring out because something fishy is going on in the Land Bureau at Alausa and we must get to the bottom of it. I want to treat some parts that i highlighted boldly from the article and see where we can find a solution to this crisis.

Firstly:

Some of the affected residents claimed they possess necessary government documents to prove their ownership of the land on which the buildings were erected.

But government officials argued that the buildings were constructed on an industrial area as reflected in the state master plan.

Although some of the buildings have approved plans boldly written on them, the officials insisted that they were fraudulently acquired from government officials.

1. If the Land owners had necessary Government Documents to prove ownership, why didn't they present it before their houses where demolished?

2. Also if we take the defence of the Lagos state Government that the buildings where constructed on an industrial area as reflected in the state master plan, how many people knew that area was designated as an Industrial area? The problem here lies squarely on the feet of the Lagos state land bureau because they are known for hoarding Information. Who in their right senses would buy or construct a house where he or she has been told that it has been designated for Industrial purposes and is under acquisition? How many people know they have to do a thorough search before they buy lands. What medium has the Lagos State land bureau taken to educate people on the pros and cons of buying lands in area under acquisition.

Everything is shrouded in secrecy. Even an experienced Property investigator like me still has to navigate the murky corridors of Alausa to get these informations and daily i hear new places that are under acquisition which they hide from the public. For you to even get this information, you have to give kick backs to civil servants to tell you your right talk less of people that have lived in a rural area like Epe all their lives that have no idea what it means for a land to be under Government acquisition or not.

Finally how many people can confidently raise their hands to say they have seen the Lagos State's Masterplan? If i Google New York or the borough of London's Master plan i will get it immediately within seconds and it will tell me which areas to buy and places to avoid. Can the same be said of the city of Lagos? How many people know the areas in Lagos that are zoned for Industrial estate or Government Schemes etc. Personally i think the Lagos State Land Bureau has scored an Own Goal and still scoring it because they fail to inform people about these things. These information are public information that every citizen of Lagos residing here should know. That's why Omoniles reign supreme in Lagos because of this lack of information and its really sad.

3. Another issue is that the Government officials said that the Building plans where fraudulently acquired. First question that comes to my mind is this: Isn't it the Same Lagos state Town Planning Office that approved the building plans? Can somebody procure a building plan from the road? How many people know the process of acquiring a building plan and cost? How did they know the building plans were fraudulent? Did they see the signatures of who approved it? What happened to the fees paid to the Lagos state Government to get this building plan? Are they going to return it? Government fraud and Omonile fraud = Fraud ( Plain and Simple) You cannot rob peter to pay pay and now call the money illegal money. This is a high level scam that i know of that has being going on for years in the Town planning Office. They refuse to educate or divulge information and make the buyer of the land spend so much money stupidly to acquire a fake Building plan and after they have chopped the buyers money, they will now appear and say the land is under acquistion. This is very bad and honestly God will punish these people causing this kind of pain and anguish to homeowners. How do you fraudulently acquire Title documents from GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS? Isn't that double speak of the highest order and extremely contradictory? Where else is a prospective builder supposed to get his document from? Isn't it from a Government official of the relevant Government office responsible for it?

Finally my ranting ends with this quote:

“Those who are building on government’s land, thinking that nothing will happen, should have a rethink. Government will rise up and take action one day. This is a message for land grabbers and unsuspecting buyers,” Sulaiman said.

Bottomline do your land search thoroughly. Now Millions of Naira worth of Houses has been thrown away and demolished if only these people did a thorough search. I will feel sorry for them because they are in Epe and they probably where not exposed to Land searches back then but a prospective land buyer now in Lagos especially in Lekki/ Ajah who ignores this warning should read the above quote properly. Government has left you in the hands of Omonile to deal with you mercilessly and if you fall into their trap, the Government will add more pains to your sorrows.

What a sad world we live in! Pls shine your eye and may God not allow what happened in Epe be your portion

I read this article yesterday via mobile punch newspaper with respect to Houses being demolished by the Lagos State Government and i want to comment on some specific things regarding the demolition and property related issues: ( Please read carefully Line by Line)

Lagos demolishes buildings in Epe, residents groan

MARCH 6, 2013 BY SESAN OLUFOWOBI 17 COMMENTS

Residents packing their belongings
Lagos State Government on Tuesday demolished buildings allegedly occupying government land in Odoiragunshi community, Eredo Local Council Development Area, Epe.

The exercise carried out by the combined team of the state Task Force on Environment and Special Offence Unit and Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, left many residents in anguish, watching helplessly as bulldozers pulled down their structures.

Some of the affected residents claimed they possess necessary government documents to prove their ownership of the land on which the buildings were erected.

But government officials argued that the buildings were constructed on an industrial area as reflected in the state master plan.

Although some of the buildings have approved plans boldly written on them, the officials insisted that they were fraudulently acquired from government officials.

No fewer than 100 buildings were completely brought down, while many of the affected residents rushed to the scene from their offices.

Many fainted on seeing government’s bulldozers turn their homes to rubble.

The Chairman of the Task Force, Mr. Bayo Sulaimon, a CSP, said government would not sacrifice the land for selfish interest of some individuals at the expense of the larger public.

This place is meant for a project that will benefit Lagosians. How did they manage to acquire this land in the first place. Apart from that, they built without approval and government cannot allow individual interest to override public interest.

“Those who are building on government’s land, thinking that nothing will happen, should have a rethink. Government will rise up and take action one day. This is a message for land grabbers and unsuspecting buyers,” Sulaiman said.

Sulaiman added that the government had visited the area more than four times to intimate the residents on the new project.

He said, “They (residents) quickly erected the structures, thinking that once they are erected, government would have a rethink.

People should seek information from government on any land before paying for or building on the land.

One of the affected landlords, Mr Tajudeen Debo, said, “I obtained all my papers validly from the government. When they began threatening us we went to Alausa to have a meeting with them but we were told the permanent secretary of Land Bureau was not around, so they rescheduled the meeting for March 13, but today March 5, they are demolishing our houses.”

Meanwhile, the state Assembly has summoned the Commissioner for Physical Planning, Environment and the Permanent Secretary Lands Bureau over the exercise.

A lawmaker, Segun Olulade, who raised the motion under Matter of Urgent Public Importance during a plenary, reminded his colleagues that the Assembly had ordered a “Stay Action” on the land, pending the end of an investigation into the issue.

The Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, said it was better that the commissioner and the officials appear before the House on Tuesday to shed light on this issue.

First and foremost condolence to the families who lost their houses in this demolition. Whether the Government is right or Wrong, it isn't a good thing to hear of somebody's house being razed down either by fire, flood or by demolition. But this demolition has raised some pertinent issues real estate wise which i want to bring out because something fishy is going on in the Land Bureau at Alausa and we must get to the bottom of it. I want to treat some parts that i highlighted boldly from the article and see where we can find a solution to this crisis.

Firstly:

Some of the affected residents claimed they possess necessary government documents to prove their ownership of the land on which the buildings were erected.

But government officials argued that the buildings were constructed on an industrial area as reflected in the state master plan.

Although some of the buildings have approved plans boldly written on them, the officials insisted that they were fraudulently acquired from government officials.

1. If the Land owners had necessary Government Documents to prove ownership, why didn't they present it before their houses where demolished?

2. Also if we take the defence of the Lagos state Government that the buildings where constructed on an industrial area as reflected in the state master plan, how many people knew that area was designated as an Industrial area? The problem here lies squarely on the feet of the Lagos state land bureau because they are known for hoarding Information. Who in their right senses would buy or construct a house where he or she has been told that it has been designated for Industrial purposes and is under acquisition? How many people know they have to do a thorough search before they buy lands. What medium has the Lagos State land bureau taken to educate people on the pros and cons of buying lands in area under acquisition.

Everything is shrouded in secrecy. Even an experienced Property investigator like me still has to navigate the murky corridors of Alausa to get these informations and daily i hear new places that are under acquisition which they hide from the public. For you to even get this information, you have to give kick backs to civil servants to tell you your right talk less of people that have lived in a rural area like Epe all their lives that have no idea what it means for a land to be under Government acquisition or not.

Finally how many people can confidently raise their hands to say they have seen the Lagos State's Masterplan? If i Google New York or the borough of London's Master plan i will get it immediately within seconds and it will tell me which areas to buy and places to avoid. Can the same be said of the city of Lagos? How many people know the areas in Lagos that are zoned for Industrial estate or Government Schemes etc. Personally i think the Lagos State Land Bureau has scored an Own Goal and still scoring it because they fail to inform people about these things. These information are public information that every citizen of Lagos residing here should know. That's why Omoniles reign supreme in Lagos because of this lack of information and its really sad.

3. Another issue is that the Government officials said that the Building plans where fraudulently acquired. First question that comes to my mind is this: Isn't it the Same Lagos state Town Planning Office that approved the building plans? Can somebody procure a building plan from the road? How many people know the process of acquiring a building plan and cost? How did they know the building plans were fraudulent? Did they see the signatures of who approved it? What happened to the fees paid to the Lagos state Government to get this building plan? Are they going to return it? Government fraud and Omonile fraud = Fraud ( Plain and Simple) You cannot rob peter to pay pay and now call the money illegal money. This is a high level scam that i know of that has being going on for years in the Town planning Office. They refuse to educate or divulge information and make the buyer of the land spend so much money stupidly to acquire a fake Building plan and after they have chopped the buyers money, they will now appear and say the land is under acquistion. This is very bad and honestly God will punish these people causing this kind of pain and anguish to homeowners. How do you fraudulently acquire Title documents from GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS? Isn't that double speak of the highest order and extremely contradictory? Where else is a prospective builder supposed to get his document from? Isn't it from a Government official of the relevant Government office responsible for it?

Finally my ranting ends with this quote:

“Those who are building on government’s land, thinking that nothing will happen, should have a rethink. Government will rise up and take action one day. This is a message for land grabbers and unsuspecting buyers,” Sulaiman said.

Bottomline do your land search thoroughly. Now Millions of Naira worth of Houses has been thrown away and demolished if only these people did a thorough search. I will feel sorry for them because they are in Epe and they probably where not exposed to Land searches back then but a prospective land buyer now in Lagos especially in Lekki/ Ajah who ignores this warning should read the above quote properly. Government has left you in the hands of Omonile to deal with you mercilessly and if you fall into their trap, the Government will add more pains to your sorrows.

What a sad world we live in! Pls shine your eye and may God not allow what happened in Epe be your portion

Learn More on How to prevent such things happening to you:

https://www.nairaland.com/1113905/lagos-real-estate-omonile-land

https://www.nairaland.com/859159/2011-land-property-scams-swindles

https://www.nairaland.com/595696/land-fraudsters-tricks-learnt-2010

Who is this familiar Barrister_at_Law that is seasoned, smart and experienced? . . . hmmm let me think! Ah it's me! Lol

Anyway let me just give you my 2 cents briefly and show you how it can be done legally to avoid pitfalls.

1. Anyhow you look at it, its a business to make profit, so you must guard yourselves against any unforeseen liabilities or issues that will crop up.

2. Be very realistic and don't compare yourself with other real estate developers that have done this or that. You neither know how they obtained funds to build theirs and how they intend to offset their debts. All that glitters is not gold.

3. Going back to point 2 above, set your expectations and budget to the barest estimate so you don't over shoot your income mid way and be stuck with a still born project and every other subscriber will be calling you a fraudster for no fault of yours.


4. Give yourself a detailed calculations for the essential things and follow it judiciously. I saw your above calculations and i know from my experience that it is some million Naira short because you didn't take into account so many things e.g:

1. Cost of land, 2. Agency Fees 3. Legal Fees 4. Omonile Signing fees + their youth development and all the idiotic side fees they collect 5. Survey fees 6. Foundation and Roofing fees 7. Buying of block from them and other materials plus community laborers 8. Omonile fees so that they wont disturb you when your building 9. Perfection of the Documents which could cost up to a million Naira depending on the area and the time frame to get it when you factor Alausa bottle necks and 10. Cost and time of Getting the Approved building plan.

The above 10 costs has nothing to do with even building the property and all the attendant costs and i make no pretense that am an expert there so i leave that to you to provide a proper estimate in building your property.

5. Also look at the place you intend to buy a land because nobody will buy a property that has no accessibility, no life, up and coming area or a place they generally don't feel comfortable.

6. Are you going to sell a property that has no proper government documentation? What if you finish building the property and the C/O or Governor's consent isn't yet out? What exactly would you be transferring? NO DOCUMENT!!!

7. What about contribution and the members they your soliciting to join you? How many members are you looking at? What is the share ratio each member is to drop? If the whole project is to cost N 25MILLION, How many people do you need to make up the N 25Million? 25 people at N 1Million each? Are they all going to pay at the same time and date? What if 16 pays on time according to your deadline date and the remaining 9 stagger their payments along the line and out of the 9 who promised to pay,2 rescind in their promises to redeem their N1 million each, how do you coerce them to fulfill their promise? Any contractual obligation drawn out to hold them liable and if they still choose not to pay up, are you ready to sue them for specific performance? Are you going to take out of the 16 Million Naira to pay legal fees for a case that could take 5 Years or more to decide?

Are you going to tell the subscribers to pay more money as time comes to fulfill the project because some members defaulted in their pledges or the instalmental payment cannot finish the job on time? What if an act of God occurs? Rain, Storms, Flood, Arson, Omonile fight and the structure is demolished half way or poor materials etc, what happens? Who pays who and what?

The above is not meant to sound like a dooms day scenario but actual legal cases i have handled or handing based on simple things people neglect when planning a project this big. To most of you its one house so nothing catastrophic should happen and all should go well. Well, if it doesn't go well, what next? Who is responsible for fees and money spent? Besides if all goes well and some people pay money as investors with different amounts and you end up not selling it quickly as envisaged, how do you contain the uproar and how do you share profits without wahala of fraudulent complains?

These are the reasons you hear of so many developers abandoning their projects or collecting money instalmentally and not delivering the property to the buyer. Greed, lack of planning, lack of proper budgeting, high unrealistic expectations and mostly lack of experience in this field leads to the above problems enunciated.

The Solution to this to make your project very feasible and realistic is as follows:

1. Register a real estate company that deals with construction of properties for buyers. With that,as individuals you are covered from any liability and people can only sue you as a company and not individually except 1 person chopped the money and they will lift the veil of incorporation.

2. The Company will specify the share ratio of each director and will spell out how many percentage they should all contribute to make this business work. The bigger the share ratio, the more that director or shareholder will pay out to complete this job.

3. If you plan for N 25Million, please raise almost N 30Million cash before you embark on anything. The moment you receive N7 Million and say ' Lets start with this or do something, the rest will come', is just the beginning of problems for you. Its not your private project for your family that you can use 20 years to build brick by brick. Don't do it or be tempted to. Police or EFCC will carry you guys for fraudulent misrepresentation.

4. Finally engage professionals, such as lawyers, accountants, architects, builders etc, let them give you an exact quote and estimate for the next 1 year so that you know whether its a feasible thing to do or not. Houses are not built on the pages of Nairaland.

5. Continue having your meetings, get your subscribers on Nairaland who are ready to invest, let them know the pros and cons of this project, build the crowd and amount. Meet them, discuss with them, raise the right amount needed and the rest is a piece of cake.

Cheers

Who is this familiar Barrister_at_Law that is seasoned, smart and experienced? . . . hmmm let me think! Ah it's me! Lol

Anyway let me just give you my 2 cents briefly and show you how it can be done legally to avoid pitfalls.

1. Anyhow you look at it, its a business to make profit, so you must guard yourselves against any unforeseen liabilities or issues that will crop up.

2. Be very realistic and don't compare yourself with other real estate developers that have done this or that. You neither know how they obtained funds to build theirs and how they intend to offset their debts. All that glitters is not gold.

3. Going back to point 2 above, set your expectations and budget to the barest estimate so you don't over shoot your income mid way and be stuck with a still born project and every other subscriber will be calling you a fraudster for no fault of yours.


4. Give yourself a detailed calculations for the essential things and follow it judiciously. I saw your above calculations and i know from my experience that it is some million Naira short because you didn't take into account so many things e.g:

1. Cost of land, 2. Agency Fees 3. Legal Fees 4. Omonile Signing fees + their youth development and all the idiotic side fees they collect 5. Survey fees 6. Foundation and Roofing fees 7. Buying of block from them and other materials plus community laborers 8. Omonile fees so that they wont disturb you when your building 9. Perfection of the Documents which could cost up to a million Naira depending on the area and the time frame to get it when you factor Alausa bottle necks and 10. Cost and time of Getting the Approved building plan.

The above 10 costs has nothing to do with even building the property and all the attendant costs and i make no pretense that am an expert there so i leave that to you to provide a proper estimate in building your property.

5. Also look at the place you intend to buy a land because nobody will buy a property that has no accessibility, no life, up and coming area or a place they generally don't feel comfortable.

6. Are you going to sell a property that has no proper government documentation? What if you finish building the property and the C/O or Governor's consent isn't yet out? What exactly would you be transferring? NO DOCUMENT!!!

7. What about contribution and the members they your soliciting to join you? How many members are you looking at? What is the share ratio each member is to drop? If the whole project is to cost N 25MILLION, How many people do you need to make up the N 25Million? 25 people at N 1Million each? Are they all going to pay at the same time and date? What if 16 pays on time according to your deadline date and the remaining 9 stagger their payments along the line and out of the 9 who promised to pay,2 rescind in their promises to redeem their N1 million each, how do you coerce them to fulfill their promise? Any contractual obligation drawn out to hold them liable and if they still choose not to pay up, are you ready to sue them for specific performance? Are you going to take out of the 16 Million Naira to pay legal fees for a case that could take 5 Years or more to decide?

Are you going to tell the subscribers to pay more money as time comes to fulfill the project because some members defaulted in their pledges or the instalmental payment cannot finish the job on time? What if an act of God occurs? Rain, Storms, Flood, Arson, Omonile fight and the structure is demolished half way or poor materials etc, what happens? Who pays who and what?

The above is not meant to sound like a dooms day scenario but actual legal cases i have handled or handing based on simple things people neglect when planning a project this big. To most of you its one house so nothing catastrophic should happen and all should go well. Well, if it doesn't go well, what next? Who is responsible for fees and money spent? Besides if all goes well and some people pay money as investors with different amounts and you end up not selling it quickly as envisaged, how do you contain the uproar and how do you share profits without wahala of fraudulent complains?

These are the reasons you hear of so many developers abandoning their projects or collecting money instalmentally and not delivering the property to the buyer. Greed, lack of planning, lack of proper budgeting, high unrealistic expectations and mostly lack of experience in this field leads to the above problems enunciated.

The Solution to this to make your project very feasible and realistic is as follows:

1. Register a real estate company that deals with construction of properties for buyers. With that,as individuals you are covered from any liability and people can only sue you as a company and not individually except 1 person chopped the money and they will lift the veil of incorporation.

2. The Company will specify the share ratio of each director and will spell out how many percentage they should all contribute to make this business work. The bigger the share ratio, the more that director or shareholder will pay out to complete this job.

3. If you plan for N 25Million, please raise almost N 30Million cash before you embark on anything. The moment you receive N7 Million and say ' Lets start with this or do something, the rest will come', is just the beginning of problems for you. Its not your private project for your family that you can use 20 years to build brick by brick. Don't do it or be tempted to. Police or EFCC will carry you guys for fraudulent misrepresentation.

4. Finally engage professionals, such as lawyers, accountants, architects, builders etc, let them give you an exact quote and estimate for the next 1 year so that you know whether its a feasible thing to do or not. Houses are not built on the pages of Nairaland.

5. Continue having your meetings, get your subscribers on Nairaland who are ready to invest, let them know the pros and cons of this project, build the crowd and amount. Meet them, discuss with them, raise the right amount needed and the rest is a piece of cake.

Cheers

All this private jet this, private jet that gossip talk is getting out of hand and is nothing short of beef talk! Work hard and someday you will either cruise in a private jet or have the money to buy one for yourself. The fact you complain and gossip about people who own private jets daily won't change the fact that they own one and are probably enjoying the ambience of one now, while pepper body de worry you! Free them abeg and work hard to own yours!

Thank You madam Blank! I really appreciate your assistance so far. You the unofficial assistant property Moderator of Nairaland. Please dont relent in helping us weed out difficult users of the forum and ignore their criticisms.

Cheers

@taharga

The Registrar-General said the Companies Regulation 2012 has also been approved by the Minister of Trade and Investment in pursuant to Sections 16, 585 and 609 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, which he said would assist the Commission to meet the expectation of its customers and standardize its processes and procedures in line with global best practice. The new regulation, he said, include the removal of restriction that only Lawyers, Chartered Accountants, and Chartered Secretaries could register Companies with CAC, explaining that under the new Regulation, the first Directors/Subscribers can now register their Companies directly, saying that the new system is expected to reduce the cost of registering a company by at least 50%.

but we are still operating under the Companies Regulation 1990, and the new one hasnt being passed into law, so the above is irrelevant.

Also you cannot register a company without your CAC/IND Number and sign an affidavit in court stating your a lawyer, so that restriction that lawyers cannot do it again is not true. i just purchased a set of forms and the lawyer's form to register a company is attached.

okpara ugo: I dont know what you are talking about.

I have registered 2 company names, all by myself. Am not a lawyer. Only uneducated traders employ laywers and pay N50,000 to register Okonkwo and Sons Nig. Ltd.

Thats not true, you cannot have two companies registered by yourself and not be either an accountant, lawyer or chartered secretary. pls get your facts right. you probably have a business name and anybody can register a business name.

@ topic! A very misleading headline! The company registration fees has not been reduced. Rather it has been increased by the CAC by an extra 30% or so. What the Fg has reduced is registration of companies under the nigeria investment promotion commission. The NIPC is a branch of government for foreigners who intent to invest in Nigeria, it aims to reduce their taxes and encourage them to invest more in Nigeria. So the fees they pay to the NIPC to grant them waiver and tax rebates to invest in Nigeria has been reduced and not the company registration fees. The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is the body responsible for the reduction or increment of company registration fees not the (NIPC) and there is no circular or information that they reduced the company registration fees rather it has recently been increased starting this January 2013

Please understand the differences and clear the air on the misleading headline

Makes no sense? You cannot register your company with the Nigeria Investment promotion commission without first registering a company with the corporate affairs commission ( CAC) and the CAC has just increased the registration of companies and business name fees recently. So what's the gain? How many ordinary Nigerians even register their businesses with the NIPC? That's coupled with the bureaucracy to register a company that should take less than a week turning into 3 months to register. This country self!

watchdog2013: Having learnt so much about omonile land scam,you and your accomplice conned me into procuring 2 plot of land in Ajah through you Matthew and it was resold,you are definitely one of them,I fear for those who will contact you for any land deal what so ever.

I resold your lands Interesting! Since your out to tell everybody am a scammer, please shed more light on the proposed land scam I have been involved in. Please also name my accomplice and how I resold your land, so that I can personally invite the police to come and arrest me! You registered today, you posted only 3 topics aimed at me to discredit me and I blocked 2 for violating the forum rules but i conned you to buy some lands some years back but its today you remembered to register to claim i scammed you.You call out my name as a person who scammed you but you fail to state the whole details of the supposed scam but I am the person who resold your land or lands

Please feel free to exercise your freedom of speech but once you castigate any body without any proof, you will be banned. One more thing, I don't sell any land; I only recommend you to the seller whom i have no dealings with financially so that i can fight on your behalf and if something goes wrong with that land I recommend, I will try my best to fight to get your land restored either legally or through the omonile street fight style and hundreds of people here on NL would confirm that, so why is yours the exception?

So coming here to try and discredit me when I have hundreds of Nairalanders that can back me up shows your either a faceless coward trying to seek attention and if truly i scammed you and resold your land, why don't you tell the whole world the full story if there is any? At least every complaint must have a defense anyways. So if you have beef for me for trying to assist Nigerians the little way I can, then am sorry your attempts at discrediting me won't make me change for you and I won't give you that satisfaction, but if you choose to hide behind a keyboard to lay false claims without stating any intelligent fact just to be noticed, then your as shallow as your grammatical blunders and pisspoor sentence construction attempts in your post.

I won't reply you again until you state facts and only facts if I have in anyway scammed you, but if you continue to violate the forum rules by dishing out misrepresentation, I will exercise my moderating powers and continue to ban you for peddling rumors.

150 meters from the beach! Anything close to that will not be approved

After the constitution has been drafted, the forms filled, the Names set, all other documents, applications etc have been done by the lawyer, the next thing he must do before he presents it to the CAC Is to publish the aims and objectives of the NGO in at least 2 Newspapers for objection. 1 Local and the Other National. This is where the money also fluctuates because these Media houses change their prices arbitrarily, so the Lawyer has to charge according to the fees of the Media houses at that given moment.

The NEWSPAPER PUBLICATION OBJECTION is a 30 days Objection notice to the formation of the NGO and once that flies through, the Lawyer can now take the documents for verification and after verification with all the receipts and fees, the CAC will take another 2 weeks or so to finalize everything before a certificate is Issued.

One note of warning, please avoid using touts or unregistered people to register your NGO. You will suffer for it in future. If you think its expensive using a professional, wait till you hire an amateur. Standard Price today By most Legal Practitioners is N150,000

I hope this thread from the top to bottom has finally solved all the mystery of registering an NGO and i wish you the best in your endeavours all of you who have either registered an NGO or are about to register one. God will reward you abundantly because your NGO is to help people progress in Life and becoming each other's brother's keepers. As for the ones who want to register an NGO as a Church to Hammer and cruise Private Jet to the detriment of your fellow man . . . hmmm . . God is watching you on 3D oooooo! I CANT SHOUT . . . LOL

All pictures, names and samples are for educational and illustrational purposes only and are not a representation of the owners intentions

Below is a sample copy of a News paper Publication

After the Minutes of the Special clause has been drafted then the main issue is drafting THE CONSTITUTION of the NGO. This part requires so much skill by the Lawyer to get it right because every NGO has its own peculiar needs and input for the Constitution for it to be relevant for that particular NGO. This is where lawyers earn their fees and charge. (I get alot of people calling me to draft constitutions for N20,000 or N30,000 alone and i just ignore. Rather i tell them to go and copy and paste other people's constitution. After making 2 or 3 trips to the CAC For queries, they will finally come back to meet me and pay me the right sum for the Constitution drafting). Make no mistake about it; Drafting a constitution is a specialized subject taught at the Law School and no matter how good you are as a lawyer, once you can't draft a constitution peculiar to the situation at hand, your as useless as a Vulcanizer that didn't finish his freedom . So please understand where all these fees arise from when a lawyer charges you to register the NGO.

A sample Constitution for the fictitious Nairaland Foundation is below:

There are a host of other forms to fill but the most important ones are the ones i have shown you. Leave the rest for the lawyer to sort out. Also there is a very important part of registering an NGO That always causes confusion and that part is the SPECIAL CLAUSE. The SPECIAL CLAUSE States that the NGO and its Trustees Have agreed to acquire property and the way and manner Income received by the NGO will be documented and has been properly agreed and accepted by all the trustees via a vote.

This must be done via a special meeting where all the trustees must be present to vote on the adoption of the special clause and the copy of that meeting must be presented to the CAC for verification coupled with an application letter that the NGO Intends to be registered. A sample copy of the Meeting of where the Special Clause was adopted for the fictitious Nairaland Foundation is stated below including their voting patterns

After that Section has been completed, the next Form to fill is the part of the seal. Every NGO MUST HAVE A SEAL and the CAC must sight that Seal physically to know it exists. It's the Symbol of the NGO AND MUST BE PROTECTED AND GUARDED AT ALL COSTS. The Seal must be in a Metal Form not those yeye Stamps that you need purple Inks. You must provide this Seal to Your lawyer before he presents all the Documents to the CAC for verification but if you don't have the capacity to do so, the Lawyer will add it to your bill.

The section of the Form that provides for the Seal, provides for a very large space in the middle of the form where the impression of the seal must be stated and placed. It must be visible and legible enough for the CAC to accept.

Samples of the form and the Seal are stated below and how to place the seal correctly on the Form:

After the OBJECTIVES OF THE INCORPORATED TRUSTEES Section has been properly filled, the Next Form to fill is the Section where all the names and personal information of the Trustees must be stated including 2 Passport photographs each (White background) of all the Trustees.

Also there is a part whereby the NGO Must undertake that it will acquire land in future within the next 2 years of its registration to pursue the aims and objectives of the NGO. If the NGO Disagrees to acquire land, the NGO will not be registered. So its a compulsory section to fill. ( Now technically you don't have to acquire land immediately within the next 2 years in reality but there must be some form of intention in future to purchase land so that you can build your club house or operate from there in future)

And for those that haven't seen the real pictures of Mukina and Suraj, they have been kind enough to send their passport photographs as stated below ( just joking ooo . . . Mukina no ban me ooo) lol

After that Form has been filled, an important form that must be filled that will either make or mar the registration process is the Section where the AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE INCORPORATED TRUSTEES must be spelt out. The CAC is very strict with the Aims and Objectives and will not register any NGO that has a stupid aim that does not conform with the objectives of the Organization. For example an NGO that intends to assist people living with HIV Should not have one of its objectives as an Organization to provide its members with unlimited beer or encourage promiscuity! It should be associated with providing a better life for its members and the society at large.

Below is the Form for the AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE INCORPORATED TRUSTEES SECTION