Buying Land Or Property In Lagos State : Common Mistakes To Avoid

With the high demand for property in Lagos State, securing land can be profitable but risky without proper legal guidance. Many buyers, eager to secure a land, bypass a thorough investigation into the property’s history, ownership, and legal status, leading to land disputes, fraud, or other legal complications that could have been avoided.

In this article, we highlight some common mistakes people make when buying land or property in Lagos State. These mistakes can be summed up into three (3);

1. Failing to engage real estate professionals, and
2. Failing to conduct due diligence, and
3. Failing to perfect your title after purchasing the land.
4. Failing to Engage Real Estate Professionals: One of the common mistakes a lot of “Lagosians” and Nigerians generally make when buying a land or property is that they do not realise the importance of paying real estate professionals to guide them throughout the process. This mistake stems from the belief that engaging a lawyer or surveyor in the process is not worth the cost. This, however, is a huge mistake as lawyers, for instance, are trained in the art of negotiation and legal drafting with the risk of future disputes in mind, and are the only professionals authorized by law to draft land-related agreements.

Surveyors, on the other hand, are needed to verify the survey plan, and only registered surveyors can approach the surveyor-general’s office to verify that the seller’s survey plan was registered. Surveyors are also needed to take the coordinates of the land and chart the exact boundaries of the land in a subsequent survey plan.

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The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.