Welcome to Built-Advice Nigeria

  I believe a number of us will agree we do not have the best housing and real estate practices within Nigeria and Africa, as there are so many elements that contribute to our living satisfaction and frustration asides location, when renting or buying a property, we ask questions like; oh how is strength of the GLO or MTN network here? How much power supply does the area get? Is the Landlord or lady staying within the same compound? the best of us will ask about the inflation rate on rent, honestly these are all important questions, but there are a few other things that need to be addressed that contribute greatly to your living peace and tranquility . This is why we at builtadvice have decided to draw out 10 very important discussions you need to have with your real estate agent or landlord before renting or buying a property, you could pose them in form questions or just sit and talk about them, whichever way, do not be passive or brief about getting an answer, if your recipi...

IT is a known fact that real estate is at the core of almost every business, and certainly at the core of wealth creation, but have you ever wondered how these multi-millionaires and billionaires manage their real estate investments, clearly they must have a set up different from that of the average landlord and landlady, the answer is quite simple, they set up what we at Built-Advice call a “ REAL ESTATE PORTFOLIO ”, what is this you might ask? Well as we all know, a portfolio basically is a collection of financial investments, be it stock, bonds, shares, commodities, cash or any equivalent, in this case we refer to a compilation of real estate investments, a short to long list of well-managed single to joint owned landed properties, could be a few building properties to some small to large pieces of land here and there, or all over the place. It is never too early or late to set up a real estate portfolio, either as an individual, for your children, a family, company or organizat...

  The same way there are wrong ways of investing in other business sectors, is the exact same way within real estate, and it all starts when an investor lacks the very basic knowledge and understanding behind the investment broker to investment and profitability correlations. It’s quite simple, as an investor before putting money into any kind of business, you need to understand that an investment is the act putting money, asset, time or effort into something, in this case a business, and doing so in expectation of a sort of profit, gratification or any other kind of satisfaction, also one need to understand that an investment broker is a firm or person who is firstly meant to be more knowledgeable about the business than you are, and secondly monitor the affairs of your money, asset, time and effort in that business. So two things you must know and understand properly are the; 1.      Type of returns you are expecting from such a business and 2.  ...

  Quickly now, Have you ever wondered why recently, there has been a serious increase in the cost of housing within Lagos state and its neighbouring states, especially how apartment rents have tripled in the last 10 years, like why is it that way? Is it because of the exchange rates or economy? Is it due to little to no regulations? Well the fact is; it was bound to happen, why? Simple and for the lack of a better phrase, “the World has its eyes on Africa”, and guess what else, Lagos is unconsciously expected to be the nucleus of what is coming. Let’s start by referring to the big apple, talking about the vibrant city of Newyork, a lot of Africans, particularly Lagosians are yet to come to terms with the fact that Lagos will be expected to be to the entirety of west Africa, what Newyork is already to America, talking about the buzzling population and business, in Newyork, renting an apartment is super expensive, a 2 bedroom apartment goes for at least a million naira monthly, t...

  Have you ever wondered why some spaces are small and comfortable, while other spaces of the same size just feels super inconvenient and uncomfortable, well stop worrying, as we will be looking at one of the concepts that guide proper spatial allocation when designing, planning, leasing, buying, selling, or renting real estate properties. The truth is a lot of building and real estate consultants are not aware of the fact that there is a huge difference between usable spaces and available spaces, in terms of square meters or feet that is, this means when a space is said to be about 100sqm, it does not immediately mean a 100 square meters of usable space, but just a 100 square meters of available space, and not understanding this simple thing continues to cause issues within real estate, as people start doubting each other’s credibility simply because two different space said to be the same square area, practically look and feel different. What is a usable space? In real estate...

  Earlier we looked briefly at land valuation, and just like land, when it comes to building property valuation, all determinants are categorized under location related factors and economic factors, which addresses the issue of property demand and supply, now looking in debt at some of these factors when it comes to building structures, we also find some things interesting: 1       ARCHITECTURE QUALITY: This is what determines the initial public offer in valuation before any other factor is considered, the architecture style from interior to the surrounding landscape, and most especially the building’s design exterior. 2      USABLE SPACE: This is referring to the actual usable space minus circulation, this is as a result of poor spatial design allocation within most buildings, especially when you come across a 200 square meter property having only 100 square meters of usable space, at Built-Advice, we believe for residential bui...

Quickly now, we will be looking at land valuation determinants, although when it comes to anything property valuation, all determinants are categorized under location related factors and economic factors which addresses the issue of property demand and supply, obviously when demand is higher than supply, it causes an increase in valuation, but looking in debt at these factors when it comes to land, we come to find some things interesting: 1.      PROXIMITY TO LANDMARKS: This is practically one of the simplest or easiest ways to increased or in rare cases decreased land valuation, as nearness to notable or popular landmarks can help your land valuation 2.     DEMOGRAPHY: Another easy way to increased valuation is the demographic nature of the environment, be it by age, race, tribe, citizenship, income class, the more notable the better 3.     ROAD NETWORKS: This is probably the most popular determinant for land valuation, as p...