When buying a property in Nigeria whether for a commercial purpose, to build your dream home or simply for investment purpose, there are certain factors that must be put into consideration. Ignoring these factors may put you at the risk of losing your investment in a market as lucrative as real estate. Below are ten things to consider when buying a property in Nigeria

1. The need to be satisfied: the need to own a property, to build a house, to start up a family, to move closet to work, the need for bigger space. Your choice of house should reflect your current need. Your future needs should also be taken into considerations. Will you be staying in the house for a very long time? If yes, then factors such as family size, career, retirement, future needs should be factored into your decision for a choice property.
2. Type of property: To look for the perfect property that matches your criteria, create a list of the kind of factory or house you want to build, whether a duplex, bungalow, storey-building, flat, etc.
3. Budget plan: Affordability is the key here. The purchase price and maintenance cost should all be put into consideration. It is important that you buy a house you can afford so as not to run into deficits.
4. Decide on a realtor to use: There have been cases of real estate investors being defrauded in recent time, in Nigeria. People tend to lose their investment because of the incidence of buying properties that are not genuine, hence the need for an investor to use a trusted realtor who will walk you through the process from making a choice, negotiating the price through to documentation and inspection. Realtors are conversant with real estate laws and know the rudiments involved in acquiring a property. You will also be saved the stress of property hunting. However, in picking a realtor, you must check for transparency, trustworthiness, availability and affordability.
5. Location of the property: Some factors to be considered here are type of community( rural or urban), soil quality and composition( whether swampy, rocky, highland, dry land, etc), proximity to the road, school, hospitals, nearness to market, water and power supply, nearness to your work or business place. The property should not be too far from places that drives traffic in Nigeria.
6. Possibility of Appreciation: As much as properties tend to appreciate over time, this depends greatly on the right location. Whatever the choice of location, choosing should be strategic. Ask questions around the neighborhood and make forecast of future resale value following past trend.
7. Security: Security is paramount and must be put into consideration when buying a property. Do your research to know if there are provisions for tackling security challenges by the government or the community where the property is located, whether the environment is peaceful or suffers harassment by the men of the underworld.
8. Documentation: Check to be sure the land is registered. Documents to look out for are the Certificate of Occupancy(C of O), Survey Plan, Deed of Assignment, Excision and Gazette.
9. Zoning restriction: The restriction planned on the area where the property is located must be looked into as this will have a direct influence on the structure you can put on the land. You can’t possibly build a resident in an environment that has been mapped out for industrial/commercial use and expect not to have problems with the government. Even if a property is indicted for residential use, building a bungalow where a sky-scrapper should be can also result in you having issues with the government.
10. Availability of business opportunities: Look out for opportunities that fuels business ideas, that is, needs by the existing populace that you can easily meets. This will provide an opportunity for business that you can exploit.