HOW TO MAKE MONEY FROM REAL ESTATE BUSINESS IN NIGERIA

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Have you ever thought of working as a real estate agent but have no idea where to start? And do you know that contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a degree in Law to start working as one?

Do you know that a real estate agent can earn up to a million naira per month?

The real estate industry in Nigeria for instance is valued at over 6.5 trillion naira, and real estate agents are at the center of it; discovering new properties, facilitating property transactions, and of course getting paid handsomely while on these.how to make money from real estate business in nigeria Contrary to what many people think, joining this booming industry is not restricted to people of one sex, age, ethnic or educational background.

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A 25 year old Igbo woman who trained as a nurse can join with the same ease as a 55 year old Yoruba man who trained as a bricklayer.

All you need is a good knowledge of the area you choose to operate in, and the ability to communicate this knowledge to your clients.In other words, as the job of a real estate agent is basically helping property buyers and renters find properties, and helping property owners find buyers and renters for their properties, a real estate agent should have a lot of information about the area where these properties are in order to be able to promote them to the outside world.Do you already have in mind an area where you would love to work as a real estate agent? If yes, how much do you know about buying, selling and renting of real estate in this area? 

Below are 5 steps to becoming a successful real estate agent in Nigeria.

1. LEARN ABOUT YOUR PLANNED AREA OF OPERATION

If the area is where you presently reside, then you can start learning about its property market immediately by reflecting on how much you pay per annum on your flat which has a very tiny kitchen and bathroom, and then asking your neighbourhood how much he pays for his own flat which has spacious kitchen and bathroom.

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Gradually you can move over to how much a plot of undeveloped land costs, how much it costs to build a three bedroom bungalow on such land, and how much a newly-built 3 bedroom bungalow costs.

You should talk to property owners and if possible, hang out with someone who is already familiar with the workings of the real estate market.

You should be able to explain why properties are cheaper – or rather costlier, in your neighborhood than in surrounding neighbourhoods as your future clients will definitely want to know why.You should also learn about the schools, shops, barbing salons, etc in the neighborhood and be ready to make informed recommendations when called upon.

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These are the kind of information your future clients will certainly find useful, and you don’t want to disappoint them especially when it can cost you a sale.

2. GET A WORKING CONTACT ADDRESS

You most certainly already own a mobile phone and an email, but working as a real estate agent requires not only owning these but putting them to work.Your phone battery must never run down, and you should be able to check your email box at least thrice a day.

These are your primary medium of contact with your clients , and you can’t succeed as an agent if you keep missing important correspondence simply because you won’t check your email box regularly or your phone battery keep running down.A physical address is also very important. A client might need to meet you for a good, old-fashioned face-to-face conversation, and there is no better place for this than your office.

how to make money from real estate business in nigeria

3. ESTABLISH YOUR PRESENCE ONLINE

A growing number of real estate buyers and renters now start their search online, and a real estate agent must thus be online in order to be discovered. This could be in form of a personal website, or just an account on popular and relevant social media platforms.

A real estate search engine makes it easy for real estate agents to create a professional account easily and increase their chances of being discovered by property buyers, renters and owners.Such account should serve as the agent’s curriculum vitae; detailing their personal background, their work history, their contact address, and of course, their property listings.

4. FIND PROPERTIES

Now that you have studied the area you intend to cover, have got a working contact address, and have got a page on the internet, the next thing is to go out and find properties.You can start by meeting the owners of those houses in your street with For Rent or For Sale inscription hanging at their fronts.

Trust me, they will be glad to work with you if you explain to them that you can get a buyer or a renter for their property faster than they can.

Do this across the length and breadth of your area. You can even make it a routine to go around the neigbourhood every evening to check if a new house has come up for rent or for sale. This might prove tough at the beginning, but in the long run when you start bringing in buyers and renters, all the landlords in your area will have your phone number on speed dial, ready to notify you immediately their property is up for rent or for sale.

how to make money from real estate business in nigeria

5. FIND BUYERS OR RENTERS FOR YOUR PROPERTIES

Property marketplaces, which are now numerous, make finding buyers and renters for your properties a lot easier.

You can easily list your property from the comfort of your office, and it will immediately be available to thousands of searchers on the platform.

In other words, you can now post your apartment in Lekki from your office in Ikorodu, and someone in Bonny who is searching for an apartment for rent in Lagos can easily find it and contact you.

how to make money from real estate business in nigeria

To increase your chances of success in this platforms, you should take very good photos of your property, and write a very detailed description of them and also their location. These would let potential buyers and renters understand fully the kind of property you have on offer and thus let then make informed decision.

6. GET PAID

When you start getting buyers and renters for your properties, you automatically start earning. This could be either by charging buyers and renters or taking an agreed cut from the sales or rent.

how to make money from real estate business in nigeria

Most real estate agents in Nigeria charge a fixed agent fee of 15% of the property rent. This means that when you help someone land an apartment of ₦1m rent per annum, you could earn 150k.If

that’s not lucrative, then what is it?