Hello,
I hope you can give me all the assistance and advice you can.

My wife has been asking her family and friends to assist her to purchase land.

She is considering, land or buildings in Abuja or anywhere igboland.

We hope to be able to rent out to companies or expat workers

Please advise us what prudent checks we need to make to ensure that we are not scammed.

Can property and land be purchased free-hold or are all property and land sold as leasehold.

What is the best process to locate genuine land or property for sale?

How is area of land meaured?

What are the hidden expenses if any?

Any advise would be highly appreciated.

Many Thanks in advance

I suggest you go there yourself if you want to buy land.
Then you will see all the transactions and viewings yourself.

I will not advise Long -distance buying of anything in Nigeria.

hackney:

I suggest you go there yourself if you want to buy land.
Then you will see all the transactions and viewings yourself.

I will not advise Long -distance buying of anything in Nigeria.

^^^^
THIS!

Plus, you'd need to make return trips, not just a one off.

I think our Nairaland Laywer will be very useful to u here, I have personally used him in some things and can attest to his character even though u cant trust people enough.
I trust he will give you more than all the advice you need.

don't try it oooooooo.

e hee, thank you very much for your question. how much do you have?

bros, even your brother will dupe u if he doesn't get duped himself. land matter na cross you fingers and pray to God. in abuja, the best bet is this mortgage stuff they are doing now. since you know the developer and they even return your money if you don't get shortlisted for a plot. plots of land in abuja are measured in square meters and the size vary like mad. from 400 to 2300 square meters, as per the one's i've seen.
don't buy cheap land, no authentic land is cheap. in fact if you can buy a house its better since before a land gets a house on top, a lot of nasty issues would have been cleared by the person that built the house.

there's the el rufai phenomenon, there is the double allocation (called double for the sake of simplicity because i have seen land allocated falsely to 5 people and yet was called double allocation), there is the 419 issue, illegal allocation. etc etc bros, we dey complete for naija.

if you cannot come down here by yourself, have somebody you trust link u up with all these estate managers or ,in abuja, agis or fcda staff who will then assist you properly. but even at that, you need to monitor them closely and don't drop any money unless you are sure. but how will u be sure? i leave that to u. good bye

Thanks for all your help thus far.

Lawyer can I get your input please?.

@GenBuhari in my humble opinion (as with many of the previous posters) you need to come down yourself. But I would advise you buy a property on one of the overly expensive estates in Abuja (there are similar estates in Lagos, Lekki & Ikoyi) The reason; these properties tend to have verifiable providence.
You appear to based in the UK, in the UK it's easy because all land/property is centrally registered and for relatively few pounds you very easily check who owns a particular land or property and as such these properties can be used as collateral.(ie get a mortgage or loan on the property)

For over 95% of property in Nigeria this is not possible, not only in our cities but also in villages, land is subject to family ownership, communal ownership and ultimately with the 1977 Land Use Decree all land belongs to the government (another vestige of OBJ first term), as such the possibility of fraud is very high with hundreds of on-going court cases.

When you purchase in reputable estate and the estate is funded by bank, the likelihood is that there will be correct paperwork (usually Governors Consent as opposed to a fully fledged C of O) this title enables you use the property as collateral hence the high price. The estates also protect you from 'omo nile' of the equivalent in Abuja - they are all over the country now, as well as an all round better neighbourhood. As such you can achieve a better rental yield.

Best of luck

@faithin9ja,

Better avoid something you are not sure about,
Land use act is 1978 not 1977.

@Agbo2 I stand corrected

Please in your best interest, if you can go and see and pay and fence the land by yourself.

I bought a plot of land in Abuja in 2008 while I was in France. And amazingly, I got the agent through nairaland. Although it was federal government allocation with R of O and AGIS certificate, it was affordable and I could actually risk the money. I asked my younger brother to locate the agent in Abuja and inspect the plots. He did all the transactions on my behalf while I insisted that every agreement and document must be faxed to me. Today my building is standing "gidigba" on that land and no one has come to harass me on the land since I got back in 2009.

My advice to you:

You can actually buy anything you want in Nigeria without having to come over yourself. Just get your trusted one here who would inspect and get a lawyer to sanction everything (might cost you some little extra). I don't know anything about the Eastern part of Nigeria, but if it is Abuja you want a property in then you can verify at the Development Control Office of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) which is located at Wuse Zone 6 Abuja or at the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) Office. Any trusted one can do this for you, may be your dad, mum, sister or brother or even your friend.

Don't wait until you come back home before you buy because there are other beautiful things that will distract you. If you are serious about owning a property, then don't be intimidated by all the negative things you hear about Nigeria; just follow my advice above.

And if you need the agent I used from nairaland here, just indicate here and I would have him contact you. I deliberately didnt put his name here so that it won't seem as if I am praise singing.

Wish you good luck!

@poster

Contact Our Lawyer here. He is the best person to advice you here. I have used him before and he is quite transparent and will advise you accordingly. I once had this problem while i was abroad and wanted to buy a property and was having issues with my family members trying to send them money to sort out a property issue for me and i was frustrated with all the hanky panky and lies emantating from Nigeria then and luckily for me i stumbled upon Nairaland properties, read lawyers blogs, contacted him, (Although i was scared at first trusting someone i met through the internet) but to be honest its the wisest decision i have ever taken and i thank God a million times for directing me to him. The rest is history and i wouldnt hesitate to trump his name and blow his whistle as someone that is transparent and honest enough to help you in your land problems. As for my own advice, trust in God and shine your eyes well when dealing with Nigerians and landed properties. They can kill their mother to scam you to death and its wise for you to come down yourself, meet lawyer and sort things out personally

[b]I am skeptical of all these responses promoting on so-called lawyer. I think if property is to be bought, the best people to consult are professionals in the field. And when it comes to distant purchase, it is wise to connect a professional here in Nigeria with another trusted person known to the buyer.

When I say professional, what i mean is that if you want to buy a house for instance, a Structural Engineer like me will need to be involved if not a Lawyer would not be able to distinguish between a house about to collapse and a structurally healthy building. This isn't determined by mere aesthetics. When it is purchase of landed property, a Town-planner/ Land surveyor will be needed or else you buy into a government acquisition with your hard earned oyibo money.

I always advise Nigerians in diaspora should link us with someone they sincerely trust who can be their eyes for checks and balances.

A lawyer will only be needed at the end to legally document the deal.

In conclusion, I've been helping many foreign-based Nigerians secure properties and even build houses to their taste. I am the MD of DAYSTAR SHELTER LTD, a consortium of Architects, Engineers, Builders and Surveyors.

For inquiries, call +234 8070809889 [/b]

Thanks again all of you.
I will email Lawyer and get his opinion also.

father ab, thanks for your contribution, but it appears to me that whilst saying people should not promote Lawyer, you are doing some blatant self promotion .

I am skeptical of all these responses promoting on so-called lawyer. I think if property is to be bought, the best people to consult are professionals in the field. And when it comes to distant purchase, it is wise to connect a professional here in Nigeria with another trusted person known to the buyer.

When I say professional, what i mean is that if you want to buy a house for instance, a Structural Engineer like me will need to be involved if not a Lawyer would not be able to distinguish between a house about to collapse and a structurally healthy building. This isn't determined by mere aesthetics. When it is purchase of landed property, a Town-planner/ Land surveyor will be needed or else you buy into a government acquisition with your hard earned oyibo money.  

I always advise Nigerians in diaspora should link us with someone they sincerely trust who can be their eyes for checks and balances.

A lawyer will only be needed at the end to legally document the deal.

In conclusion, I've been helping many foreign-based Nigerians secure properties and even build houses to their taste. I am the MD of DAYSTAR SHELTER LTD, a consortium of Architects, Engineers, Builders and Surveyors.

For inquiries, call +234 8070809889

@ father Ab
I laugh in Swahili and Ecuador , 

You are skeptical about someone and u want the same people to entrust their ‘oyibo’ money to you Mr MD, How are we sure u are not some crook What is your record on NIRALAND I only recommended Lawyer because I know and have had transactions with him several times. It may interest you to know that I didn’t know from Adam, I only  met him here and contacted him, since then I have been using him for my deals and have not regretted one bit, it is me that have sometimes  defaulted.

So tell me why shouldn’t I recommend such a person  You said u always advice Diasporans to link u up and u have purchased properties for so many Who are they? Please they should come out and speak. I hate it when people tends to run others down when they can’t be even be trusted.

Why don’t you just go ahead and advertise your services to these fellows instead of runing others down. meshewwwwwwwwww

Thanks again  all of you.
I will email Lawyer and get his opinion also.

father ab, thanks for your contribution, but it appears to me that whilst saying people should not promote Lawyer, you are doing some blatant self promotion.

@GenBuhari,  that was spot on. Thank goodness you noticed it too
The man is just so annoying, I wonder how he is able to head a company, I hope this is not an
arm of the DAYSTAR church we know otherwise pastor Sam Adeyemi should have a rethink.

Word of advice Mr MD, if you present a business proposal with such attitude just start counting your loss even before you leave there cos no one is gonna consider your  company.

rochefort:

I bought a plot of land in Abuja in 2008 while I was in France. And amazingly, I got the agent through nairaland. Although it was federal government allocation with R of O and AGIS certificate, it was affordable and I could actually risk the money. I asked my younger brother to locate the agent in Abuja and inspect the plots. He did all the transactions on my behalf while I insisted that every agreement and document must be faxed to me. Today my building is standing "gidigba" on that land and no one has come to harass me on the land since I got back in 2009.

My advice to you:

You can actually buy anything you want in Nigeria without having to come over yourself. Just get your trusted one here who would inspect and get a lawyer to sanction everything (might cost you some little extra). I don't know anything about the Eastern part of Nigeria, but if it is Abuja you want a property in then you can verify at the Development Control Office of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) which is located at Wuse Zone 6 Abuja or at the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) Office. Any trusted one can do this for you, may be your dad, mum, sister or brother or even your friend.

Don't wait until you come back home before you buy because there are other beautiful things that will distract you. If you are serious about owning a property, then don't be intimidated by all the negative things you hear about Nigeria; just follow my advice above.

And if you need the agent I used from nairaland here, just indicate here and I would have him contact you. I deliberately didnt put his name here so that it won't seem as if I am praise singing.

Wish you good luck!

@Rochefort,


Could you kindly send me details of the Estate Agent to my email address <insight2004@yahoo.co.uk>


Thanks

People sef! Why promote urself in a thread u claim others are promoting another person and you even have your lines in bold.As far i am concerned, your company hasn't got anything to do with buying a land, you only come in handy when the land has actually been bought and it's time for building. Can you handle the omonile issues? If i were you, i wouldn't come here and run another person down, rather i would collaborate with him and take charge of the building/structural aspect of properties for "been to Nairalanders".Cheers!

@insight04

Check ur mail box.

@father ab

Lawyer is an honest person. He has built a name for himself on Nairaland. He has worked for me and i have never set my eyes on him.
For your information, the Lawyer guy only does the legal part of any transaction and he is never a jack of all trades like your company.

You need to pay your dues to earn respects and recognition like he did.

@rochefort pls can i get the contact too?? am in the process of doing the same as u said u did couple of years ago. pls help me i will need every help possible angel_koho@hotmail.com

In conclusion, I've been helping many foreign-based Nigerians secure properties and even build houses to their taste. I am the MD of DAYSTAR SHELTER LTD, a consortium of Architects, Engineers, Builders and Surveyors

new something was for sale b4 i read the last para.of your post.

please i need the contact number or email of Nairaland Lawyer