Guide To Getting A House

Are you planning on buying or renting a new house, be it an apartment or a full building? Below a
1.Proximity to work

The first thing to consider when getting a house is the proximity of the neighbourhood to your place of work. Make sure the house is not located in a neighbourhood that will cost you more than an hour before you get to work. In a city like lagos, traffic builds up as early as 5am and lasts till 10pm. Going through such can be stressful if you live far away from work, as you'll have to wake up earlier than 5am to get to work and return later than 11pm. This leaves you with little time to rest. Try not to get carried away by the nice houses the real estate agents will show you unless they meet the proximity requirement, cos some areas do have curfew from 11pm to 4am. You won't want to be stranded outside cos you are being restricted access to your street by the watchmen cos you came late.

2. Road/transportation

Once you've come across that house you think won't cost you too much time to get to work from, the next to consider before getting that house are the roads and transport system. Most neighbourhoods in Nigeria don't have tarred roads but are still fair enough to move on. Make sure you go about your search for a house during the rainy season in Nigeria; this helps you determine what the neighbourhood suffers, cos rainy seasons are when most bad roads show their true self. Well, if the house successfully scales that, another thing to consider is the transport system. What if your car refuses to start in the morning, can you quickly get a cab, bus or a commercial motorcycle in such a neighbourhood? Will you have to trek some distance before getting one?

3. Safe neighbourhood

Safety is key to enjoying your new house. No one wants to live in a neighbourhood that is not safe, where you can get robbed walking the streets or your house burgled before you return from work. Try to sniff around to know how safe the place is, whether it has any history of violence.

4. Electricity

Make sure the the neighbourhood where you are getting a house gets adequate power supply so as to avoid things like boring weekends when you are mostly at home, food getting spoilt cos the refrigerator gets shortage of power, clothes looking rumpled etc. Even if you decide on the use of generator set, consider the high cost of fueling it and also the noise.

5. Proximity to food stuff market

This shouldn't be any problem cos markets are usually close to residential areas in Nigeria.


The house itself

Most of the discussion in this section depends on the budget you have placed for the house.

1. How long has the building been in use?

Is it a new building or an old one? If it's an old one, you might want to consider the rate at which it has been used, how strong the walls are and how intact the facilities might still be. Fumigation should be done to get rid of insects that might be hiding in cracks.

2. Water system

A good house should have a bore-hole and a tank that channels water into parts of the house like the kitchen and toilets. A well should be on stand-by in situations where the bore-hole fails to function or electricity goes off for a longer period.

3. Space

This is a vital aspect that should be highly considered. A house should be bought/rented depending on the purpose it wants to serve. A house for a family should be spacious enough to avoid the occupants bumping into each other or bending sideways just to allow easy passage. Most houses do look spacious when empty; make sure you consider the properties you want to move into the house before you get carried away. The ceiling has to be high enough to prevent accidents when fans are attached to it.

4. Toilet/bath/Kitchen

The toilet/bathrooms should have a shower, a sink, a WC and a window for ventilation to say the least. Depending on the budget, the house should have a guest toilet close to the living room. The kitchen should be spacious with enough ventilation to reduce the heat generated when cooking. Depending on the space, there should be cabinets in the kitchen.

5. Compound space/Parking space

A nice budget should include a compound where kids can play, a dog can have a nice time and where a little party can be hosted in. There should also be a space for drying clothes under the sun. Depending on the neighbourhood, fencing matters. Security of one's cars is also important.

You might also want to consider the types of neighbours around the house.