Allocation is one of the major challenges faced by lots of Nigerians who are trying to secure plot(s) of land from real estate companies in Lagos. Very common in Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos State which is the most sought after area at the moment. Lots of real estate companies selling lands at Ibeju Lekki are operating on “Get Rich Quick” mentality. They are largely out there to grab out of the Lagos cash cow axis with little or no care about their clients. Before you buy land, marketers would be sounding as if they care about your future, but the moment you have made 100% payment, you would be forgotten and almost ignored. Most companies don’t care about developing their estates. Allocation is usually a problem too.
This is because, most companies are rushing to own large part of Ibeju Lekki/Free Trade Zone areas. Their primary aim is to buy and sell lands and make profits. Furthering all necessities that would help to increase the value of land in the estate is like pulling a bull with a goat rope. You will beg for everything, starting from allocation of your purchased plots to grading the major roads and driveways inside the estate for easy transportation of building materials from one point of construction to another. Some companies will take up to 6 years to allocate a land you have fully made payment for.
Although some companies do not allocate lands to investors or buyers who are not ready to build, some others claim their allocation is based on first come, first serve basis. A plan which they hardly practice.
Professionally, plot allocation is supposed to come after roads and driveways creation. This means, once a property is sold out, road and drive way creation and possible grading follows next and then plots allocation. Some companies do not have what it take to become a real estate company, they jumped into the trend, just to make the highest profit without any show of professionalism.
Recently, we were opportune to witness a team member’s plot allocation, the land was bought 4 years ago from one of the famous real estate companies operating in Ibeju Lekki. At the place of plot allocation, the surveyor was throwing stones to different areas of the bushy land to show buyers where their piece of land starts and where it ends. About 12 clients were on ground for the “physical allocation” and they were very disappointed. One of the client asked the surveyor not bother with her own plot allocation because there was no way she could remember such allocation of plots done with throwing of stones and using dwarf palm trees on the land to describe her plot of land. The land allocation happened after 4 years of her full payment for a plot.
Few Reasons Your Company Is Yet To Allocate Your Purchased Land(s) To You.
Land Dispute: sometimes you may face allocation challenges due to land dispute between the company you bought land from and the families that sold the land to them. There is no exception to Lagos Omonile challenges. Even the government do face these challenges a times, so the company you bought land from might not be an exception. A lot of times, after buying hectares of land from a particular family, another family can come to claim the whole land or a portion of it. Some land disputes between families can also be planned so more money can be extorted from the buyer.
In a scenario like this, your company may stand to lose a large portion of land which would cause land shortage for buyers’ plot(s) allocation. It may cause your company to delay allocation till they secure another land within a close proximity. It could be named the EXTENSION of the original estate. Some companies will not discuss about this with their buyers, they will just take them to somewhere that is different from where they were taken to for inspection. Land dispute is one of the major reasons for delayed allocation and during this time some companies will never invite you for land allocation until June-July-August so they can use rain and the road not motorable due to heavy rainfall as excuses. It is really common in Eleranigbe area of Ibeju Lekki, Lagos state.
Disorganization: you must be very careful with some of these companies when investing in real estate business. Some companies do not have good sales record of their properties. You must be sure you keep evidences of the size of the plots they claim they are selling to you. Some companies will sell more than they have for a particular estate and in order to accommodate new requests, they will decide to reduce the plot sizes sold to their clients and if their moves are being discovered and challenged, allocation would be delayed.
Dream: Although many companies are claiming to be real estate and development companies, a lot of them are nothing but common land sellers. You really need to know what drives the company you are buying land from. Forget about their offices in high rise buildings, forget about the number of branded cars they have, yes, forget about their numerous independent marketers often called consultants or marketers, lots of these companies selling lands in Ibeju Lekki are driven by money and not by values. These are similar companies that heard Badagry was the next destination of new airport, deep sea, golf course and more in 2006 and they all moved there and started making noise like they are doing now in Ibeju Lekki. It is 13 years since the time of Agbara – Badagry and lots of people who invested in estates owed by terrible land sellers that are branding themselves as real estate company end up not getting allocated, and development of the sold out estates have been abandoned till date. A company that is driven by value would be more focus on developing their sold out estates than buy newer ones and continue marketing while buyers of previous estates are left to battle with uncertainties. A company driven by values will be fast in allocation and development, while you may experience serious allocation and development issues with companies driven by money.
Ready To Build: these estate companies do not promote instant allocation or allocation after full payment has been made. It doesn’t matter if you are the first or last to buy from their properties. If you are not ready to build, your land will not be allocated. If you want to resell, the person you are reselling to will not also be allocated until they are ready to build. This is because these companies have strong desire for values. They control the real estate market and land bought from companies with great desire to render good services and value always appreciate faster than their competitors’. Their ready-to-build terms always force buyers to start building.