How Real Estate Investment In Nigeria Works in 2024 (Revealed)

In this article i will share with you all you need to know about real estate investment in Nigeria.

If you have ever imagined or dreamed about accumulating wealth, then real estate is one of the ways to create a generational wealth for yourself.

There are many hidden information about real estates, knowing how real estates works will help you if you want to Invest in Real estate, and this article will guide you on how real estate investment in Nigeria works.

Investing in real estate in today’s world is of no doubts one of the best investment you can venture Into, according to statistics gathered, real estate is one of the sectors that has contributed to the financial growth of the economy in Nigeria.

More people have discovered the opportunities and wealth that could be made by investing In real estate, you too can start today, but knowing where to start, why to start and how to start would be very wise and that’s why we have prepared this article for you.

 

How real estate investment works in Nigeria

When you invest in real estate, it is a financial strategy that involves you managing, owning, buying, renting, and/or selling properties for a  profit or returns.

This is what real estate companies in Nigeria do, they simply buy or rent properties which they in turn sell once the value for such properties goes up, or perhaps lease/rent out the properties to tenant for income.

While there are several ways to invest in real estate that we are going to discuss In this post, one thing to note is that they all rely on similar economic factor to make a profit.

The first factor is that the property must appreciate in value, we will talk a bit about what it means for a property to appreciate in value later in this post .

In addition, to the property appreciating in value another fact to take note of is the cost of owning and maintaining the property, it must not exceed its value or otherwise you could be running into a loss, whether short-lived or in long-term.

Another thing to know about real estate investment in Nigeria is that there are different types of properties, that you can invest in and good investors choose an investment strategy based on their need to make a profit (short or long term).

There are those who will go for quick-profit investing which is the process of buying an asset and selling it quickly (often referred to as “flipping” in a real estate term), then there are those who go for long-term investment which means buying a property to rent or lease for a long period of time, earning both the rent and the added value of the property.

 

Is it good to invest in real estate business in Nigeria?

Have you heard about capital appreciation?

Real estate investment in Nigeria

Okay let me put it to your understanding, Imagine buying a land today for N500,00 (five hundred thousand naira) and selling that same land in 1 or 2 years time for N1.2 Million naira.

This is what we call capital appreciation, investing in properties is one of the assets you can invest your money on and expect the value of your property to increase over time.

So, if you ever asked whether or not it’s good to invest in real estate, then the answer is a capital ‘YES’, investing in real estate today in Nigeria is a big business to venture to.

Just so you know, demand fo housing has increased in Nigeria over the last decades, and there has been a continued increase in demands, this is what makes investing in real estate today a big deal.

A property that was once worth, N20,000,000 (twenty million naira) in 2015 for example, could be worth N80,000,000 million Naira today.

Imagine investing in more than one properties, then apparently you could be rich in a few years time, this is one of the big advantage and opportunities available in investing in real estate.

 

Why should you invest in real estate?

Apart from selling off properties, one of the advantage of investing in real estate is rental income.

In order words, you could lease your property for rent to tenants and be paid monthly or yearly for as long as that property exist.

This is one of the reasons why a lot of investors invest in real estate business, because of the steady income that is guaranteed just by you owning a property and with no doubts, real estate is largely a profitable business anywhere in the world, and in Nigeria.

Why holding an asset, or landed property you would be making steady inflow of cash or income for yourself.

One thing to also note is that,  investing in real state can sometimes be more valuable than investing in the stock market, is person can easily make more profit on their investment in real real estate, while stocks are mostly limited by the amount of capital you invest.

Some real estate properties only require a 3% down payment and they allow an individual to reap huge cash flows/income with just a few thousand naira upfront payment.

This is how wealth can be created and it’s currently done by many investors in Nigeria.

However, remember that the income from real estate property investments cannot be quantified because each investment is unique and no two properties, markets, or tax policies are identical.

However, there are countless testimonies and stories of people who built all their wealth through real estate and you can also be part of that.

 

How to Invest in Real estate business in Nigeria

Is real estate profitable in Nigeria

First question that you must answer before we get into the most interesting part of this article is, are you ready to dive into real estate business? If your answer to this is yes, then without further ado let’s discuss how you can start investing in real estate business in Nigeria.

Investing in real estate can come in many varieties, there are various types of real estate investing that you can start with as a beginner or even as a pro.

To start with, I like to mention that, you can use your personal capital to start investment in real estate, also, this is known as investing independently, or you can raise funds with other people in the network and invest together in real estate.

Aside from that, i did like to also let you know you can invest your money in a real estate investment trust, just in case you are looking for all the ways that you can start investing.

A real estate investment trust are public corporations that own and operate real estate in a particular region or country.

So a person can buy and sell stocks just like any other stock in real estate, likewise, it did be fine even if you don’t have the large capital for equity required in an investment property.

Alternatively, you can invest in an online real estate platform in Nigeria or any other regions, such platforms are crowdstreet or Fundraise.  Bear in mind that some of these platforms are  open to verified investors only.

One thing unique about these online platform, and their sole purpose is to to connect real estate developers and operators with investors wishing to invest in real estate projects.

This means that you can even buy, renovate and transfer real estate for a profit if they have the time and effort to repair a property, whichever the situation is for you.

Knowing all the above, now let’s talk about the various ways that you can start investing in real estate business In Nigeria. Below are the various ways you can invest in real estate.

 

  1. House hacking or Rental income:

House hacking actually may not be for everyone, but house hacking can be a great way to start your investment journey in real estate. There are many investors in Nigeria currently doing this type of real estate investment, with house hacking, you can do the following.

  1.  Purchase or start an investment in a property and then, you can live in one of the rooms as your primary home or residence.
  2. While staying in one of the rooms or apartment in the property, you can also lease out other rooms or apartment in the property and with this you can cover your mortgage and real estate costs across the entire property with the rental income of other tenants which you will be paid continuously over many years.
  3. Also this gives you an advantage because you save some money which you don’t spend on rent, as a smart investor, you can also save up to pay for your next real estate investment.

Another thing in house hacking is that, since you’re buying real estate and using it as your home, you may qualify for an FHA loan, meaning federal housing administration loan, and with this, you only pay 3.5% to fund your house hack strategy.

The method of investing in real estate business is a way you can get into real estate investment business in Nigeria with less struggles and also benefit largely from the rental income. Now let’s talk it a bit clearly so you can understand how you can dive into this.

The whole idea is actually having a property and fully renting it out, to get started, you need buy a property that is less expensive, as long as the apartment is in a good condition, then you can put up this apartment for rent.

Meanwhile, do note also that, your eligibility for a federal housing administration loan depends on the number of rooms or apartment in your property.

Most lenders limit home financing to houses with four apartments, then they consider other factors specific to your income, your  credit personal credit score  and the location of the property.

With this information, if you are in have very little money in your pocket, or startup capital, then you can buy an investment property and make it  your home and business.

Ideally, you would want to make sure that your gross rental income is high enough to cover all the property costs, including vacancy allowances, taxes, and insurance.

That is how house hacking work.

 

  1. House/property flipping:

The second ways you can start investing in real estate business in Nigeria is to go into House flipping.

The first type of investment we talk about involves use, but in this case this involves buying a property not for use. Rather you purchase and sell this property when the price for that property would have appreciated.

If you’re a do-it-yourself person and don’t mind purchasing in a construction site, or a very old building, you can hire people into housing repair or complete development of unfinished building.

Basically, in this strategy, you will undergo repair and upgrade, and sell the house at its best price, usually you could keep this property and seel when the value of that property must have increased by far.

Do not that this type of real estate investment requires you having money: you will need to make sure that you have enough capital before proceeding, apart from whatever you did spend in acquiring the property, you should have renovation money.

One key thing to know about how house flipping is done is that, you purchase a property and put it at best state, and keep it for a short time, then flip it for a profit. Your hard work can earn you a fair amount of money if you go into this type of real estate investment in Nigeria.

And of course, you’ll also need the skills to do some of the renovation work yourself (otherwise, you’ll end up paying too much).

Before you go into this, make sure you do market research to gather information and get the updates and full understanding of how investors go to house flipping.

The general idea would be to get the property, and improve the house for sale, maybe not for a high-end profit that you personally would wish for but for a fair profit. With this in mind, you are preparing to withdraw your maximum  equity  when you sell your property.

 

  1. Real estate investment trusts (REITs):

The third way you can invest in real estate, is real estate investment trusts which is one of the most popular ways many people go into or start real estate investment business in Nigeria.

Talking about REITs, which is an acronym for Real Estate Investment Trusts, it’s a popular alternative to buying properties and starting your real estate business in Nigeria.

One of the reasons many investors today go into real estate investment trust, is that you don’t need to have a lot of capital to buy  a REIT. But what exactly is this REIT or what we are reffering to as real estate investment trusts?

It’s not far fetched, you should think of a REIT as a group of real estate assets in Nigeria, these assets are managed by a real estate professional across, and also the assets are freely traded on the stock  exchange.

Another thing about REITs is that, they offer some of the same attractive features as equity investments., if you are very good in investing, then you would have better understanding of these terms.

Being that you do not require so much capital, you can always buy odd stocks and invest with small capitals.

For example, Fundrise offers a REIT with a  minimum investment of N350,000, there are many REITs companies in Nigeria.

So if you are going into this type of real estate investment, there isn’t much to worry about,  REITs is always know to be a low-risk investment option for passive real estate investors, and it’s suiting to know they are always offering the opportunity to diversify across multiple assets and multiple regions.

There are REITs that pay dividends, so they can be part of your investment plans if you want to start investing.

Summary of how REIT investing works is that, to participate in the generally higher income that could be available in  real estate investment it to be part of real estate assets without owning or managing the property.

Below are some top real estate investment trust companies in Nigeria.

  • UPDC REITs
  • Skye shelter fund REITs
  • Union Home REITS

 

  1. Real estate investment groups (REIGs):

Another way you can invest in real estate business is through REIGs which means Real estate investment groups.

Not many people will have the capital required to start investing in real estate, that doesn’t mean you can’t invest in real estate business in Nigeria.

This is where the REIGs comes in, Real Estate Investment Groups are companies in Nigeria that focus most of their capital, their interest and efforts on investing in real estate.

They do this simply for profit, these companies are known as real estate investment groups, what they do is buy, renovate, sell or finance properties.

This means that If you want to own a rental property but don’t want the stress of owning one, a real estate investment group is where you should go to get started.

REIGs allows you to add real estate to your investment business without needing to have a large amount of capital.

Through real estate investment groups, you get access to a pool of other investors who invest in large commercial projects acquired and managed by professional real estate developers.

The reality of how this works is that, a company will buy, renovate or build a set of buildings or even fancy apartments, in specific locations, these companies will therefore give room to allow investors to buy those properties, buildings or apartment through the company, as a result those investors will become a sole part of the company which is therefore referred to as real estate investment groups.

One thing to note about REIGs, investors can own one or more apartments in those properties or buildings. But the company runs the investment group that manages all the housing, the company also has the responsibility of taking care of maintenance, advertising and handling the tenants.

The role of the investors is simply to invest and earn a return from their investment, meanwhile in exchange of the management service offered by the company, the company will take a percentage of the monthly rent.

 

  1. Online real estate platforms or crowd funding platformms:

Last but not least is online real estate investment platforms. There are many trust worthy online platforms that you could use to start your real estate investment business in Nigeria. Usually in most of these platform the minimum investment to get started has been reduced.

In fact, currently you can start with as little as N10,000 using a company like Fundrise, however Fundrise deals more with properties globally, there are some specific platforms in Nigeria like Rise vest or Wealth.ng. This crowdfunding platform invests in income-generating real estate and pays quarterly dividends.

What these platforms do is simply to connect regular investors who want to fund projects with asset managers and investors. These platforms usually have opened real estate mutual funds that is available to everyone. An investor investing here, expects to receive monthly or quarterly fee in exchange for taking substantial risks and paying commissions to the platform.

This option is well know to be a very passive form of investing in real estate business, the idea is simply to lend money to a real estate developer for a specific project with a certain timeline.

These platforms are known as crowdfunding platforms or simply real estate platforms.  All you have to do is lend your money to experienced real estate managers and watch them grow your equity.

 

Conclusion

Before you start investing, you need to have a good understanding of everything involved in real estate, there are currently many investors in Nigeria that have made a fortune by investing in real estate, but as you know you can only succeed largely in it.

If you understand and know how real estate works, and I hope that by now with all the information in this article, you will have that knowledge.

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