Break the Record of Real Estate, Land Scams Even if You Sound Like a Broken Record
This is one of those times where it’s allowed to sound like a broken record, actually very necessary. This cat that’s been over flogged, it’s very much alive and thriving. It can often seem that land scams and falling victims to unverified, inauthentic land, by purported sellers is farfetched and can never
happen to “me” …Until it does happen to you.
A recent case in question that comes to mind is the scenario reported in Punch Newspaper, October 20th 2018, about a couple who were defrauded of the sum of Two Million, Six Hundred Thousand Naira (N2,600,000) for six plots of land in Lagos. The account has it that they paid the said sum to the consultant who issued a “receipt” and a “survey plan” as a supposed valid title.
However, the couple discovered they had been defrauded when the title of the land could not be verified at the office of the Lagos State Lands Registry.
There are lessons to be learnt, hopefully not that of a personal nature, so as not to become a target of such financial mishap and losses.
Sometimes a deal might just be too good to be true: Granted, there are certain parts of Lagos (Far end of Ikorodu, Mowe, Ibafo, and Epe inwards), where one can bag up a good deal for a plot of land or more. However, it is the course of wisdom to keep your naysayer, critique radar and antenna up, treat every offer with a pinch of salt, until due diligence is carried out. If someone is making you a “too-good- to-be-true offer or buy right away or lose big with an intense amount offer and 10-other-clients are-on-the-line-for-this-deal-but-I’m-trying-to-make-an-exception-for-you type of pressure”, half the time chances are something is amiss, and most likely things will go awry if you hastily proceed to cash in on the deal.
Stick to and work with established companies and experts: It is true that investing in land can mostly be a slightly, cost- effective, out-of-pocket experience when you try to buy from a friend of a family, a referred real estate agent with a kiosk for an office, someone telling you he’s got great connects with a certain royal family, or that he’s besties with an omo onile who has the entire properties in Ibeju Lekki in his palm. However, bear in mind that your hard earned finances, peace of mind and tranquillity is greatly at stake here. If anyone has ever been through the ordeal of trying to reclaim funds or a land asset after being scammed or even the feeling of being conned itself, you’d know that nightmarish doesn’t even begin to describe the gutting process.
Hence it makes sense to pay a slightly higher premium by working with trusted, reputable real estate companies with a proven track record of experience, integrity, and delivery of promise and get a premium worth of investment commensurately – gainful, safe, verified, appreciating investment minus the anxieties and hassles of fake paper work, documentation, government acquisition, 100% legit. Your investment is yours and no one can take that away from you.
What the right title is: regardless of the ton of information available out there, it’s still with dismay to see that a huge number of people still get various documents and their carrying power mixed up, and think they are all interchangeable or one and the same. These documents are namely: Survey, Gazette, Deed of Assignment (Governor’s Consent), and Certificate of Occupancy.
So just to be clear, the only valid, working titles for a land are either a certificate of occupancy, (c of o) or a registered deed of assignment carrying the governor’s signature (Governor’s consent). Only a deed of assignment registered and which has the Governor’s signature is a Governor’s consent. It is absolutely mandatory that BEFORE you purchase land, you take the title on the said land to Alausa to verify and see if that title is genuine and valid.
Even if it’s a gazette (document that authenticates excision made by the Governor to the owner of the land) that the land you’re interested in carries, this title must also be verified at Alausa BEFORE purchase.
Please note that the survey plan is not a title document but enables you get coordinates so you can confirm the area of coverage of your land and match it up to what is covered and carried by the governor’s consent or any other title.
In all of these, we live in times where sadly, almost anything can be falsified, so much so that it looks like the real deal. But do not be misled. Take great care and painstaking effort to verify all claims, titles, documents, and ownership of land before you go ahead to sign on the dotted lines. Established real estate investment companies assist you with this bulk load of activity, and make the roadmap to owning genuine land shorter.
Land business is serious business. You can never be too careful or be overly diligent. Sad to say that these trysts of sour patch experience try to give the business a bad name and dissuade many from lurching into this most lucrative investment, but now the alarm has been sounded.
Due Dilligence. Saying never gets old. This is not the last you’d hear of it, not from us at least.
What’s your experience when it comes to land investment? Ever been dealt a dirty hand? Share your experiences in the comment section, it’d serve as an eye opener for many.
Looking for safe secure investments in land? Talk to us today on 0700 0526 3939 and get a seamless land invest experience