Insights
Practical writing on buying, renting and building in Nigeria, from the team that inspects the sites.
Buying Guide
Service charge is the least understood line in a Lagos tenancy. Here is how to read one, what figure looks reasonable per square metre, and the charges you should push back on.
Buying Guide
Off plan can be the best value in the market. It can also be the fastest way to lose a deposit. The difference is nine questions asked before you sign anything.
Legal
Everyone quotes three months. Here is what the process actually involves, where it stalls, and how to keep it moving without paying for speed you will not get.
Investing
Headline yields flatter Abuja and punish Lagos. Adjust for vacancy, service charge and turnover cost and two of the five segments swap places entirely.
Buying Guide
A working snagging list, ordered by how expensive each item is to fix once you have taken the keys. Walk the unit twice and do not sign until the list is closed.
Sustainability
We ran the numbers against diesel at current prices for a four bedroom duplex. The payback is shorter than most installers claim, and the reason is not the panels.
Legal
A title search at the Lands Bureau costs a small fraction of a deposit. Here is what to ask for, what the result actually tells you, and the three red flags that end a deal.
Renting
Lagos still runs on advance rent. Once you price the money you hand over up front, a cheaper annual rent can be the more expensive tenancy.
Investing
Short let headline returns in Lekki look extraordinary next to an annual tenancy. Then you add management, voids, wear and the service charge nobody mentions.
Neighbourhoods
The same budget buys a one bedroom in Lekki Phase 1 or a three bedroom past Ajah. Here is what changes besides the square metres.
Building
Build cost ranges for Lagos and Abuja in 2026, split by shell and finish, with the contingency that keeps a project from stopping halfway.
Renting
Abuja service charges range more widely than Lagos ones for reasons that are mostly structural. Here is what drives the difference and what to ask before you commit.
Neighbourhoods
The corridor floods unevenly, and the pattern is more predictable than it looks. What to check on a plot, and what a dry season viewing will never show you.
Finance
Developer payment plans advertise no interest. Compare the plan price against the outright price and the implied rate appears, sometimes above a mortgage.
Buying Guide
A structured inspection of a resale duplex, in the order that finds the expensive problems first. Bring a torch and be prepared to open things.