Serious investors in residential property are expected to recognise that the nation’s market has some good, many terrible, and marginal properties. Their task, the CEO of Fine and Country West Africa, Maryanne Udo Okonjo says, is to sieve through the marginal and terrible ones towards identifying the great opportunities, Bennett Oghifo reports
Every serious investor should recognise, before committing to a purchase, especially in a market with numerous shades of opportunities, that there will always be some good, many terrible, and other marginal properties.
The Chief Executive Officer of Fine and Country West Africa, Maryanne Udo Okonjo stated this while giving ‘Five Success Factors for a Residential Property Investment’, recently.
According to the property expert, “Your task as an investor is to dig through the marginal and terrible ones towards identifying the great opportunities. It requires asking the right questions, working with trusted professionals and educating yourself through independent research.”
Investment module…
The Fine and Country CEO presented a real life residential project, Oakwood Residences, located on Cooper Road in Ikoyi, Lagos, as a case study to analyse the key success factors that make a good residential investment.
She gave five key reasons to investing in a great property:
Prime Location…
Ikoyi is still one of the most desirable residential location in Nigeria for the affluent and aspirational class. It will always be an appreciating location as far as real estate prices go. How many times have you heard stories of someone who bought a property years ago and today the property is worth significantly in excess of what they paid. In prime locations, when the market rebounds, typically the rate at which prime locations grow exceed other locations exponentially. In addition, Cooper Road in particular is still one of the best preserved roads, retaining its old colonial charm and serenity. This gives it an added value over other busy or not so favoured locations even within Ikoyi.
Low price, great value, immediate equity…
Buying off-plan typically gives you an opportunity to buy below the actual market price upon completion. In some cases, developers release an early bird investors pricing to kick start the project, this is usually the time to get the most benefit and room for growth as prices are usually increased as more properties are sold. This property has not yet been launched, and is been currently offered at below average Ikoyi prices, plus discounted further for early bird investors. We think it has a lot of room for growth- at least 30-40% by completion stage. This is a hidden secret for astute investors. It beats having your cash depreciating in a savings account or on low yield assets.
High rental yield potential…
Rent is estimated at N13-15m amounting to approximately 10-12% yield of current early bird and estimated completion prices. Because it’s priced below market price, you can charge a sensible rent and get good quality tenants rather than have the property vacant for long periods of time while waiting for an unrealistic rent like most investors who bought over priced properties. Average rental yields for most investments are approximately 6-8%.
Flexible payment plan and low deposits…
Low deposit required to reserve Oakwood Residences, gets you into the property ladder in a prime location with minimal stress. The ability to pay over the construction period of approximately 18 months makes a huge difference to some investors ability to get onto an opportunity. Investment is usually about sacrificing, and money usually follows vision. Most investors have found from experience that when they commit to an investment, they become more disciplined about their spending, and even become more creative about finding business opportunities to generate the income needed to complete their property investment which they’ve committed to.
Good title…
Good title is the bedrock of any real estate investment. You don’t buy bricks and mortar, you buy a secure investment, that contributes to your wealth creation plan. Peace of mind, a sense of financial security and freedom to live the life of your dreams are some of the reasons people invest in real estate, and a good title is the foundation of all those aspirations. At Fine and Country, we stake our brand on this particular factor.
Oakwood Residences comes highly recommended and is an excellent investment opportunity for any serious or aspiring investor, whether to live in or to buy to let. For a limited time, on offer are a couple of units of 4 bedroom apartments and only 1unit of 5 bedroom Duplex Penthouse in Oakwood at an early bird investor price with 20% discount of the full offer price.
Fine and Country…
Fine & Country is a global real estate brand, specializing in providing a premium service through exceptional marketing and professionalism in the upper quartile of the market.
Fine & Country, with its origins in the UK some few years ago has since expanded to include countries such as South Africa, Dubai, Mauritius, West Africa, Malta and Thailand.
