PROPERTY TRANSACTION GUIDE

Developers attract buyers

Punch, Monday, 17th Nov 2008

Property developers in Mowe in Ogun State, who have of recent been dangling the offer of staggered payment plan, are recording appreciable patronage.

In what looks like a deviation from the traditional cash-and-carry scenario, real estate promoters in the neighbourhood seem to have devised a "convenient" payment scheme that appears to favour both buyer and seller.

Courtesy of an aggressive local and offshore marketing strategy, the news is spreading fast and even Nigerians in the Diaspora have joined the bandwagon of potential Mowe property owners.

For instance, Messrs. Propertymart Real Estate Investment Limited is offering, courtesy of an ongoing promo, a 19-month installment payment at "Palms Garden Estate" wherein the beneficiary pays N25,000 monthly, totaling N475,000.

A buyer willing to pay at once will part with N425,000, even as the price per plot will revert to N750,000 when the promo ends by the end of November.

Similarly, the firm of Greensview Property and Investment Limited is offering two flexible options at its "Greens Garden Estate".

While an applicant seeking to pay within six months will cough up N82,500 monthly and pay a total N495,000, those who wish to within 12 months will pay N44,200 monthly and end up parting with N530,000. Outright payment attracts N450,000.

Messrs. Vetra Ventures Limited is likewise offering installment payment at "Crystal Park Estate", where a beneficiary will pay N41,000 monthly within 18 months.

Also, at New Creations Properties Limited’s "Covenant Garden City," buyers are to pay N45,000 every month within 18 months to by a plot of land that used to sell for N500,000 but jumped recently to N800,000.

Land at "Sherryview Garden Estate" (being developed by City Planning Properties Limited) that appreciated from N400,000 to N800,000 attracts a N33,000 monthly payment within 24 months. The same scenario applies for Jewel Realties’ "Sky Garden Estate."

But Builders Trust demands an initial down payment of 10 per cent of the total N450,000 for a plot of land at its "Gloryland Estate". The buyer will then pay N25,000 monthly within 18 months.

In a reaction, industry stakeholders have expressed varying views over the development. A developer disclosed that the installment payment plan has made some of them liquid enough to continue work on the site as, according to him, the deposit is in most cases ploughed back into developing the site.