When To Buy A House Vs Build A House in Lagos, Nigeria (Pros & Cons)

A lot of Nigerians seem confused on the decision to Buy a house or build a house in Lagos, in this episode, we will be weighing and comparing buying vs building a house, then you can decide which is the best for you.
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Pros of buying a house
1) Fast and easy: when you have your cash, you can simply go online and check property listings at different parts of Lagos, view the pictures and videos of the home, book inspection and you make a down payment.
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Buying a house in Lagos is the faster and easier route to homeownership, some of these houses around Ikoyi, Lekki and Ajah can even be under construction when you bought, so you might only need to make a down payment to buy the house of your choice in Lagos.
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2) Instant and fast return on investment
When you buy a house in a good and prime location in Lagos, somewhere like Ikeja, Ikate, Chevron etc, in a matter of weeks, you can start collecting your first rent.
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If you’re also smart, buying a house in places like Chevron, Ikate, Ajah on offplan, in 3 to 6 months, you can also resell and cash out on your investment.
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3) It’s cheaper
Yes, it’s cheaper to buy a house in Lagos, because you can get a distress property, a building to renovate or buy an offplan building, all these allows you to buy below the market value and still get a good deal.
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Cons of buying a house in Lagos
1) Less quality fittings and finishing
Definitely some of the finishing in the house you buy won’t be to your taste or preference, there would always be few things you would feel could have been done differently either in space, size or even colour.
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2) Renovations and refitting
When you buy a house, especially if it’s within the mainland around Ipaja, Ikorodu, Isolo, Ketu and the likes, it might be a previously occupied building, and you would have to remove or change some of the fittings inside.
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Even if you buy a new house around Lekki also, you might be forced to change some of the painting, bathroom fittings, closet, or applicances to one of your personal tastes.
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3) High cost of maintenance
the cost of maintaining a house you bought would be higher to one you built yourself, this goes back to some of the materials that were used during construction like the pipes, blocks and concrete.
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Pros of Building a house in Lagos
1) It will be to your personal taste
All your preferences and customization can be put into your home when you build a house, the room sizes, compound space, children’s room, play or green area, library, gym room etc, you have the freedom to do as you like, as long as you have the fund.
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2) Futureproofing
When you build a house, either it’s on the Lagos island or mainland or even the outskirts, you can plan for the future in different ways, for example, you can build on a setback and have enough space in the front or back of your plot for a future building.
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Another concept is you can build a bungalow and deck it instead of roof it, the house can be rented out or you stay there, while when you raise more capital, you can start building on the top floor.
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Cons of Building A House
1) It takes a longer time
Building a house in Lagos can take months or years, even to get the land you want to build on can take weeks, especially if you’re looking for land to build a house in Ikeja, Lekki Phase 1, Surulere etc, before you perfect the document, get a building plan or design, approval, move artisans to site and all, it takes time.
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2) It’s more expensive
You might disagree, but when you go the route of building a house instead of buying a house in Nigeria, the longer the project takes, the higher the cost of completion, if you’re taking it bit by bit, you will likely spend more at the end of the day.
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Price of Building materials in Lagos are never fixed, inflation is on the high, cost of a building project can rise as much as 25% to 30% of the original cost if it takes too long to complete.
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3) It’s time and capital consuming
Building a house can be very demanding, especially around some places in Lagos, materials can get missing, different factors can disturb work on site to a halt, a lot can just happen.
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One of the reason why a lot of buildings in Lagos get abandoned at different stages is because of this factor, some get tired, exhausted or just frustrated about the demand of the project and just leave it there.
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So, which would you be choosing, building a house or buying a house, from the pros and cons explained above, which works or suit your needs?, simply give us a chat or call on Whatsapp at +2348028617830, if you’re struggling with either of these routes.

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