SOME LAND INVESTIGATION QUESTIONS
You must investigate a Vendor before purchasing Land in Lagos for 8 Reasons. As a vendor of land or property, you must undergo an investigation. If you dislike it, you should not sell your land. People are no longer naive or stupid enough to purchase millions of Naira worth of land without conducting a background check. Who wants to be added to the list of victims of land scams?
I received an email filled with insults from a dissatisfied Vendor who was furious that I dissuaded a potential purchaser from purchasing her property due to questionable and concealed issues. She was especially enraged that I insisted the purchaser investigate her and the omo-oniles from whom she allegedly purchased land. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the property had hidden defects.
I found her response and email to be quite pitiful because, as a Vendor, she failed to consider the following and put herself in the purchaser’s position:
- Is it reasonable for a potential purchaser to pay money to an unidentified vendor prior to conducting due diligence on the property?
- What if the vendor vanishes after receiving payment and there are unknown issues with the property?
- Does the purchaser know the Vendor well enough to purchase a property without conducting due diligence?
- What if the Vendor has previously sold the property to multiple parties without the Purchaser’s knowledge?
- What if the Omo-oniles from whom the Vendor purportedly purchased the land also sold the same land to another individual who, like the Vendor, chose not to develop it and left it unimproved?
- If the purchaser does not verify the land and the family, won’t the scenario described above create a serious problem?
- Is it typical for a purchaser to transfer money to a person he has not met in order to purchase land before the vendor arrives to sign the contract? Who is responsible for that?
- Even if the Vendor claims to be a powerful woman and government official who has no time to show her face for investigation, why can’t that powerful person produce a lawyer to represent them?
Once a person puts his or her property up for sale, I believe there is no distinction between that person and a meat vendor, shoemaker, hairdresser, taxi driver, etc., regardless of the position that person holds in society, such as Assistant Inspector of Police, Commissioner, Bank Manager, Chairman of a Country Club, Brigadier General, Chief of this or Chief of that, etc. They are all vendors of a product that must be validated. Once they enter the same market space to sell a product, they must be held to the same standard because their ultimate goal is to take the purchaser’s money, and it is the purchaser’s choice to purchase or not. If the Vendor is angry, please instruct the purchaser to park properly as you depart. They want to play Ludo with your money. Keep that cash in the bank and look for another source of funding.
