House hunting stories

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

William Morris

A friend of mine mentioned that she was looking for a new apartment and she needed advice on getting an apartment. That statement brought back so many memories. In the spirit of sharing all things with my blog family, here is my experience and some advice based on one woman’s story.

The house agent is basically a tour guide that shows you all the apartments that are available that would meet your specification and budget and preferred location.

Finding a good and honest agent is very tough. I suggest the use of agents referred to you by someone. Some Lagos agents ask for money upfront as a finder’s fee. Finder’s fee is somewhere between N2,000 and N10,000 depending on the type of apartment and preferred location. If you are like me with a limited amount of time for house hunting, the use of multiple agents would be the solution. Finder’s fee can become a large sum when using multiple agents but I suggest not paying at all and not working with anyone that insists on it. You don’t believe me? Read the next paragraph.

Lagos agents have a thing for showing up late and showing you the total opposite of what you are looking for. They would show you three bedrooms when you ask for one bedroom. Living rooms and kitchens with no windows etc. Agents would generally show you terrible places and places that do not meet your specifications because you have paid them in advance and they just have to show you something. But if you hold out on the finder’s fee, the agent is much more likely to do more research and call you only when something meets your specification closely.

There is still a very high chance that all you see would be terrible. Some apartments would be the size of a shoe box, some would have kitchens so small you would become claustrophobic, but hey that is the fun part of living in Lagos – the megacity

It would be odd if I finish this post without talking about landlords. The most hilarious is the landlord that prefers to lock the gate of his compound at 10pm. Some funny landlords also do not believe is leasing apartments to single ladies. My advice is not to give up, your dream apartment is somewhere around the corner.

You have to keep going and pursue your dreams.

Joey King

Featured image from Brandon Griggs unsplash