You are probably thinking right now, “I have enough money saved and it’s time to realize my dream and buy my own land, so what do I need to do now?”

Well, join me on a journey of discovery as you make that dream a reality!

The first step is to have a clear cut budget for the land you intend buying. Be sure of how much you are ready to expend on that land, so as to work within the budget and not be financially stranded afterwards.

The second step is to get information of available lands within your budget. The different sources for such information includes the estate agents’ offices, property law firms, the internet, traditional landholding families, government agencies and through friends close to the land.

The third step, having gotten the list of available lands within your budget from any of the named sources is to go on physical inspections of the lands. In the course of inspecting the lands, it is important that you look out for certain features such as each land’s nearness to major points of contact like school, hospital, market, church, work place etc; its physical conditions such as the soil texture, firmness, gradient and slope; cost of connecting the site to social services and the rate of development or potential development of the community where the lands are located.
Phew! So now you have concluded the inspections and have finally decided on a particular land. It can really be an exhausting task to undertake, but undertake you must! So, what next?

The fourth step is to ask for a copy of the title document of the land, if it is a land with a registered title such as Certificate of Occupancy(C of O), registered conveyance or governor’s consent in order to conduct a search on it at the land registry. The essence of the search is to verify the identity of the person purported to be the owner of the land and also find out if it is free from any encumbrance, burden or defect such as a mortgage, charge, caveats, leases or warnings. This you do through the services of your lawyer whom you must have engaged from the moment you decided to embark on this journey. However, if the land has no title document, or has only a survey plan, then your lawyer needs to apply to the Surveyor- General’s office to conduct a land information on the land in order to find out if it is free from government acquisition or not.
It is very important to state at this juncture that where the land is held by traditional landholding families, you must ensure you are dealing with the recognized members of the family who have the power to authorize the sale of the property. This you must do by conducting a social search, where you carefully ask questions from residents of the area to confirm the identity of the persons claiming to act on behalf of the family or if the family even intends selling any portion of their land in the first place. This is to avoid falling victims to fraudsters who pose as representatives of landholding families.

Once the land is found to be free from any encumbrance/burden or government acquisition, the fifth step is to request a meeting of all parties concerned, which includes the landowner, you, your lawyer and the agents to conclude on the price for the land. Once there is an agreement on the price, your lawyer will draft four to six copies of deeds of assignment, which is the basic document that evidences the transaction between you and the landowner.

The sixth step is request another meeting with the land owner to make payment for the land, have the deeds of assignment signed by you and the landowner and collect the original title document of the land from the land owner with your lawyer present to guide you through the entire process. One of the safest means of payment is a bank draft but whatever means you choose to make payment, ensure it is well documented and recorded by your video recorder or smart phone to avoid any future allegation of non –payment by the landowner and also get a receipt as proof of your payment. A copy of the deed of assignment duly signed should be given to the landowner while you keep the other signed copies and the original title document to the land.

The seventh step is to get a competent surveyor to carry out a survey on the land and draft a survey plan covering it. The survey plan gives an accurate measurement and description of the land. The surveyor must lodge the official/ record copy of the survey plan with the Surveyor- General’s office and give the other copies to you.

You must think by now you are finally off the hook but not so my friend, but I can rightly say at this point “you are pretty close”. Now after payment, signing of the deeds of assignment, carrying out a survey of the land, the eighth step is to have a perimeter fence constructed around the land and write boldly on it “THIS LAND IS NOT FOR SALE”.Please, do not think you are acting crazy by carrying out all these preventive measures, there are too many bitter stories recounted by victims of fraudulent land purchase. So, better safe than sorry, right?

I must tell you that in spite of all the above steps, what you have at best is an equitable title (secondary) and not a legal title (primary).To acquire a legal title to the land, you must undertake the ninth step which is to apply to the Land Registry for a Certificate of Occupancy(C of O) or Governor’s Consent, whichever the case may be. The essence of the application is to notify the government of the transfer of land to you by the landowner and to obtain its consent on the transfer. The release of the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) or Governor’s Consent to you is the government granting its consent to the transfer of land to you. The process of obtaining Certificate of Occupancy(C of O) or Governor’s Consent might take a while, depending on the State of application, effectiveness of the lawyer handling it and the bureaucracy common to government bodies (although Lagos State is pretty fast with processing applications), but at least you can sleep with your two eyes closed knowing you have done all that is legally required to secure the land in your name.

Let me state at this point again: NEVER! I repeat NEVER!, start this journey of land purchase without consulting a professional and competent lawyer to guide you through the entire process.

Now I am confident you are armed with the necessary information to commence this long awaited journey. I wish you a safe and smooth journey all the way!

www.summitsolicitors.com