Beyond Dangote Refinery, many factors are driving real estate investments in Epe, Ibeju-Lekki —Realtor

Mr Raphael Onuweri, a realtor and member Advisory Council of Nigeria (ACON) is the CEO Goodness Realtors Nigeria. In this interview with DAYO AYEYEMI, he speaks on the emerging trend in the Nigerian real estate, the role of a realtor and the benefits of investing in Ibeju -Lekki and Epe corridor of Lagos State.

As a realtor, how will you describe the real estate market?

Nigerian real estate is a growing market that is still expanding. Real estate is a thing that you will always need. In economics, we have three basic needs of a man; we have the food, clothing and housing. Real estate is needed all the time because as people are coming, growing and expanding, they need a place to live. Nigeria’s real estate is still developing, it is still growing and it is mostly in the hands of private sector unlike other things that we have government’s control. Government is not doing enough to accommodate everyone so it is now in the hands of private practitioners and they cannot meet all the need of the people. So, the sector is still expanding, and there is still rooms for more people to come in. It is a growing market.

Lagos is the real estate destination in Nigeria. What can you say about this?

Lagos State cannot be isolated from Nigeria, but it has more potential in the sense that it is the commercial capital of Nigeria. It is Nigeria’s hub for business; Abuja might be there as the Federal Capital but Lagos is the hub because of business and commercial activities. Most people want to be in Lagos all over Nigeria, even people outside Nigeria. Lagos is the business hub in that the need for real estate is actually growing in Lagos.

How interesting is realtor business and what is driving the passion?

The job of a realtor involves service delivery, advising and consulting. There are segment of people who are not here, they are in the diaspora or somewhere else, and they have money but might not know where to invest the money.

Some want to keep the money in bank, some want to buy shares and some have other things they want to do, but as a realtor, we advise why they should invest in real estate. We tell them the pros and cons of real estate and how they can benefit from real estate. In real estate, you buy a land today and by tomorrow the price will not be the same: it must surely appreciate. If you buy a car today, by tomorrow’s morning it has depreciated. If you invest in shares, with the volatile economy, you are not even sure of the outcome.

Let me cite an example of myself, for instance, I have many shares in many companies during the time of  public offers, but I tell you only from Zenith Bank, First Bank and Gt Bank that I made profit. I ran into a loss in other banks.

So shares for me is a no go area, but in real estate, when you invest in some places, you have high appreciation. In some places too, you it is have low appreciation but you have much more  appreciation.

There is what we call land banking in real estate. Land banking is like banking in the sense that you buy a place that is not really fashionable, like in the bush, in the forest, it is not attractive at the moment but when you invest into it, you leave it until the land begins to appreciate. In real estate, you don’t rush, you take your time when you invest in land banking. It depends on how the market is moving; you can reap high return on investment.

For instance, if you know Diamond Estate along Isheri Road, we have what we call Iroko Estate owned Justice Oluwa. Many years ago when I was living around Isheri area, that place was a forest, that road from Isheri to LASU was one lane but I think Tinubu started the work and Fashola completed it. That estate was forest, land there was very cheap but right now, Iroko Estate is a high area. Real estate appreciates, so a good realtor should be able to speculate and advise the client on the trend in real estate.

For instance, he should be able to read and make a good speculation. We also consult.

Sometime ago, real estate in the Lagos-  Mowe axis was booming. I bought three plots of land in that area, but all of a sudden the tide changed. Now , Lekki has become the target.  If you had bought your land then in Lekki instead of Mowe, the price would have risen more than 200 percent.

A realtor must be able to look at the trend, right now in Lagos, Epe and Ibeju -Lekki are the happening areas. They are on the trend for various reasons not limited to Dangote Refinery.  The refinery in ibeju and other multiple interests in that area is pushing real estate in that axis high.  Coming to Epe,  we have the Alaro City on the expressway, we have the airport, although it is not done yet, we have the Lagos Film Village and the Lagos Food Hub. These are the things developers are seeing that are going to drive development in Epe.

These are going to drive investment but today they are not really visible. Those who can forecast will know this place Is going to berth great investments tomorrow. Then there is a connection between ibeju and Epe after Alaro City. There is a road that will connect Epe and Ibeju, it is going to be a synergy between Epe and Ibeju. A good realtor would advise between the two, which should I invest based on some statistics on ground. If you ask me, I will invest in Epe than Ibeju because Epe has more potential with the help of Alaro City, the Film village, the Food Hub and the connections between Epe and the mainland.  For example, from Epe you can go to Ijebu-ode, you can access the Lagos-Benin Expressway and due to the terrain, it is easier to build in Epe than in Ibeju -Lekki.  Epe is not flood prone.

Ibeju’s terrain is more difficult to build than in Epe, so a good realtor must be able to advise his client but he must read wide. The prospect for a realtor is not just the money.  If it is based on money and your client is unhappy, it will not succeed. It is better you offer good service and then money will come. Yes, you need money too but if you don’t give good service today, by tomorrow that money will finish. However, if you offer good service,  it brings in more referrals, more trust.  If you get one million today and your client is unhappy, tomorrow that money will finish and you too will become unhappy but if you get N200,000 today and your client is happy, in that happiness you will grow.

Despite massive interesr in Ibeju-Lekki and Epe, people in diaspora still believe in investing in locations such as  Ikoyi, Lekki, Eko Atlantic City and other choice areas despite the high cost. What is your advice?

Thank you very much, I like the question. Let me take you back please, when I was in The Guardian and Punch Newspapers as Advert Executive before I moved to Asaba as a Manager,  there was a real estate professional, Elder Odudu, now late. He was my major client, he told me a story that changed my life. He said as a professional, he pioneered real estate in Nigeria. He said he was living in Ikeja in a rented apartment, he said one of the staff he employed bought two plots of land in Akowonjo at N4,000.

The man now came to him and told him. He said he called him and said you bought a land at Akowonjo, are you okay, are you normal, what’s wrong with you? Akowonjo was entirely bushy then.

To cut the long story short,  he himself later built a house in  Idimu. So he built a house farther than Akowonjo. He said if he knew that time, he could have bought the whole Akowonjo, but did not buy it because he wanted to buy at GRA Ikeja.

He saved towards it but the price jumped and he was unable to meet up.

He told me not to say anywhere is bushy but to buy land where I can afford it. If you don’t want to stay, you can build it or even leave it for future.

We have a project now called Champion Signature in Eko Atlantic City. it is selling $3,500 per square meter (psqm).  How many people can afford Eko Atlantic City? How many people can afford Ikoyi? How many people can afford Lekki Phase 1?  So if you cannot afford it, will you say you can’t get others?

If you can afford Banana Island of course, go ahead and buy it. If you can afford Ikoyi, go ahead and buy; if you can afford Eko Atlantic City, go ahead. But if you cannot afford it, buy Ibeju, buy Epe.  Even if you can afford it too,  you must not put all your investments in one place; you spread, buy places in Eko Atlantic, buy places also in Epe because Epe could be a choice place tomorrow . That’s my take on that.

As a realtor what is your daily schedule?

I do not really define my schedule; when i wake up, I pray to God first for direction, then I look at my online chat, I look my YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp to know if I have any appointments. I then check my prospect list, if I have clients that I can pursue, call or chat up. I also do what we call one-on-one marketing; I can visit some of my clients and discuss with them not to talk about money, but to keep them busy.

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