Friday, May 25, 2012

Diary of a Lagos Island Property Agent - May 25th



Light, Water, Housing!

Monday
These three things, power, clean water and good quality housing, are essential for the well being of man and for the progress of any nation. Unfortunately these three seem to be lacking in this country!
What I have noticed is that a lot of developers who build good quality properties, are ensuring that there is water provided to the homes by digging boreholes and putting in a water treatment system as well as ensuring that there is provision for electricity, whether directly or indirectly. Directly by installing one or two large generators to power all the properties, or indirectly by providing connections for generators to individual homes.
I recently met a developer who did not want to be bothered by service charges and the hassle of collecting diesel payment, so he instead provided points for each flat (12 in total) to connect their generators to and service their generators themselves. The problem with this hands off approach though, is that 12 generators or more being put on at the same time, will give rise to complaints from the neighbours, especially if not sound proofed. Also fuelling 12 generators in a compound is a health and safety hazard. The developer/landlord has effectively handed over the responsibility of light provision to the occupiers.

Tuesday
There is an estate along the Lekki Express ay, that has fallen into disrepair and ruin, through lack of maintenance and neglect. This estate is inhabited by people who were relocated from their original places of abode beside Victoria Island, about 25 years ago. Although the estate is in ruins, it still houses many families who struggle daily to maintain a roof over their heads. One of the most popular markets in Lagos resides in this estate, so traffic there is high. The roads during the rainy season are impassable, gutters and drainage have broken down and flow freely into the streets
I understand plans may be underway to relocate these people again, much further from where they are now and this estate demolished as it sits on prime land. This seems to be a case of carrying the same old baggage and lack of maintenance and dumping it elsewhere, until that too deteriorates and is moved elsewhere.

Wednesday
I received a call from a lady today, who said she was acting on behalf of her clients who were abroad, and wanted to see a property we had on our books.  She wanted me to guarantee that it was what she as looking for and that it would be suitable for her clients!  I explained to her that I could send her photographs so she could decide if she wanted to take the next step of visiting, as I could not guarantee her clients taste.  After receiving the photographs, she rang me back to ask if I could give her the street name as she felt she had seen it before, but wanted to confirm.  I told her I could arrange for someone to meet her there, but she insisted she wanted to see it herself.  Methinks she is a speculator and wants to see what is out there.  I have unfortunately been through this too often.

Thursday
A developer I know rang me to say his new development of 16 units which he was preparing to let out had been broken into and all the air conditioners and light fittings stolen! How could this have taken place on a busy road full of gatemen and people? The police were called, but nothing gained from this. It seems the operation had taken place over the course of the night and no one saw anything! More than 40 air conditioner units were stolen.

Friday
I got an invitation to visit the garden city (Port Harcourt) to look at some new developments! I am not sure I want to travel that far although I am aware that there are interesting property opportunities outside of Lagos State. I will ponder on this a while!
Until next week!

Friday, May 18, 2012

Diary of a Lagos Island Property Agent - May 18th



Infrastructural Decay!

Monday
We see so much decay in national monuments like the National Arts Theatre in Lagos. The decay is so bad that a lot of its facilities have been rendered useless.  The National Stadium is another structure that has decayed due to lack of required maintenance and update. A lot of these buildings now resemble war torn bombed out structures.  Even residential accommodation for Army, Police and Naval staff, are not maintained and wear a dejected air of total decay. When you drive past some of these barracks, you have to wonder if they are still inhabited, windows are missing, plumbing and sanitary facilities are nonexistent, the buildings have not been painted in decades, possible since they were built
 Games village, a small estate comprising blocks of flats off Eric Moore street in Surulere, built to accommodate athletes, for the National Sports festival in 1973, is on the verge of collapse and ruin. No maintenance has been carried out on this estate whatsoever.  It is a shame that so many national structures that were built to better the nation, are being left to decay.
Tuesday
Squatters at Apapa had a shock this week when bulldozers moved in to demolish their makeshift homes under the Marine bridge and surrounding areas. Under orders from the Lagos State Government,  7 days notice had been given to squatters, some whom did not take this seriously and were shocked when their temporary homes were destroyed. Apparently some people have lived and conducted businesses under the bridge for over 20yrs! It is not clear if alternative accommodation was provided for these thousands of now homeless people

Wednesday
PHCN seems to be tightening up their work practices and customer service delivery. Their subsidiary company Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) have advertised information in all media detailing how and where consumers can complain and what to expect from their staff. They even go as far as providing names of persons to contact for each area and their phone numbers/ email addresses! Should you not be able to contact any of these regional officers, you can ring the head offices to speak to the manager!  They go further to advice on payment methods and charges for prepaid meters. For further information you can visit their web site www. ekoelectricityng.com .  I was pleasantly shocked by this show of improving customer delivery in a government institution. Well done!

Thursday
I was invited by a developer to come to Ibadan to see some new developments springing up in the city. I decided to brave my phobia for road travel and go along. The state of deterioration of the Lagos ibadan expressway is being accelerated daily. The condition of the road is so bad that I don’t think you can drive a few yards without entering a pot hole. Thousands of tankers are dangerously parked on either side of the road narrowing the road. The government should take hold of the maintenance of this road and do something urgently.

Friday
The development in Ibadan was of a very high standard comparatively to what you would expect in that area. It is a development of 4 bed homes and 2 bed apartments in one of the nicer areas of the city, Agodi. The developer already has experience of developing in Lagos, in the Ikeja, VI and Lekki areas so has transposed his experience and quality to Ibadan.  Of course rental prices are much lower and what you would pay N3m pa for in Lagos, is only going for N1.5 or less there. Ibadan needs more developers like this as the city is largely run down and full of old houses. There is potential here.
Until next week!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Diary of a Lagos Island Property Agent - May 11th



Fire Hazards in Properties

Monday
Over recent weeks I have heard and witnessed incidences of fires destroying homes, in one of the incidents almost all the family members died. All these incidents were due to either illegal wiring or power surges causing sockets to catch fire. I have written in a past article about taking precautions not to overload sockets with adaptors or very powerful electrical equipment. We are all guilty of going out and leaving our sockets on with all our appliances plugged in. We leave our televisions on standby and even the air-conditioner is remotely operated, meaning it is never fully switched off
One of the fires was started from an air-conditioner socket which was remotely switched off.  Unfortunately the owners were at work, so the fire had time to climb up the curtains, to the beds and spread over the whole house. What was not damaged by the fire was smoke damaged. Neighbours who were at home could only watch in horror as the fire shattered windows and spread more and more. No one could gain entry through the fire doors or burglary bars. It took the resident being called at work, and getting to the house almost an hour and a half later, before any attempt could be made to stop the fire.

Tuesday
Still on the topic of fires in properties, It is wise that homes are fitted with smoke alarms, so that if a fire starts at night, you can be woken up by hearing the alarm. As we all know, smoke is a silent killer and does not wake you up. You inhale the smoke and die in your sleep, simple as that! It is frightening, but simple measures like, having a fire extinguisher or fire blanket in the house, so that you can put out a fire immediately it starts and prevent it from spreading.

Wednesday
There was a round table meeting in Abuja recently on Mortgage Financing in Nigeria, and the findings from the meeting were that approvals for mortgage financing in our country was the lowest on the African continent!! This of course is no surprise despite the growth property market. Figures show that the rate of borrowing in South Africa was 30%, Namibia 20% and Nigeria 4%

Thursday
I saw on the news that the Lagos State Government is taking steps to remove all illegal shanty dwelling in the state and in return provide low cost housing for displaced individuals. I certainly hope that the low cost housing is put in place before the demolition commences.
What was amazing and amusing was that In the process of removing one of the illegal shanties, an illegal oil refinery yard was discovered in the heart of Apapa. What was even more amazing, was how huge and well stocked this yard was, all surrounded by wooden fences and a padlocked wooden gate. Suffice to say, all necessary oil and investigative agencies will be brought out into the public domain in another round of enquiry panels, which may or may not yield answers as to how this was all funded and supplied!

Friday
We are still awaiting rains that will clear away this unbearable heat for a few weeks. Heavy rainfalls were predicted over a month ago, which everyone prepared for and even looked forward to, yet apart from the odd couple of hours rainfall, nothing has manifested.
For those of us who have to be out on the road for our daily bread, visiting sites and taking clients on visits, it is a nightmare conducting visits between the hours of 10am – 4pm when the sun is scorching. I have had to reschedule many viewing on clients requests (thankfully) due to the extreme heat.  We shall continue to pray that the rains start soon.
Until next week!

Friday, May 4, 2012

Diary of a Lagos Island Property Agent - May 4th



Lack of power and contaminated boreholes!

Monday
How long does it take to build a house? I had an interesting conversation with some developers today, and by some estimates, you can build a bungalow anywhere between one week (if you have all the funds available, materials and workmen on site 24/7) Some have completed their bungalows in years due to lack of available funding or land disputes. The same goes for any construction really, it all depends on both unforeseen problems ie land disputes, illness, lack of funding etc and foreseen issues ie, channeling funds into other projects, and bad workmanship. The reason for this conversation was that the owner of a property was marketing his uncompleted building for sale, which he had started building two years ago, but never completed.
A lot of developers are selling off their uncompleted buildings due to lack of funding or being worn out by bureaucracy and delays.

Tuesday
I had introduced another agent to a client of mine who had a luxury apartment to sell. Over the last 4 weeks we had arranged meetings both at the property and at the client’s office, agreed terms of the sale and submitted relevant paperwork. The clients have been waiting for completion for the last two weeks. The other agent has not been taking or responding to calls and finally sent a text saying the purchaser had put his money for the property back into a fixed deposit account until further notice!  One can never predict how transactions will go, even up till the last moment.

Wednesday
Everything seems to be working in slow motion today.  I prepare my article and adverts to go out, I ring a few clients to arrange viewings and send staff out to scout around for more properties. I read in the newspapers that the property market in Nigeria, may not be as buoyant as the last year. It was pretty depressed last year anyway and looks set to continue being depressed for a while longer... we must be realistic.

Thursday
I get into the office to find that the generator is not working and we are therefore unable to do the printing of letters to go out to clients. I tell the staff to get the clients email address and email this to them in the mean time. 
I have lunch with a good client who is refurbishing a block of flats in Ikoyi and wants to know what the market rates for services and leasing flats in the area. He will of course pays for lunch!

Friday
I manage to interest a small oil and gas company in taking a look at some new luxury apartments in a development in Ikeja in the hope that they will take it. It fits their specifications and client profile.  It has been a fairly dull week and am looking forward to the weekend. I am showing some interested buyers a house in Oniru, tomorrow morning. The house has been on the market for a few months, so I am hoping it will be sold soon. The asking price may need to be lowered as we can all see that investors are being cautious with the amount of money they are spending now.  Houses for sale are spending much longer on the market.