7 Reasons Why You Should Invest in Property
(Over 20 years investing experience in Nigeria’s financial markets)
A property is a land or building a person owns. Such property can be used for residential, industrial, commercial or recreational purposes. An investor can invest in property by purchasing land or building from an individual or government for the purpose of generating future income. It is important to make sure that our first real estate investment has the ability to generate rental income or to save the investor the money he would have used in paying for rent.
One area of real-estate or property investment that is critical to the Nigerian economy is residential property. Available statistics show a deficit of about 16 million housing units in Nigeria, and about 85% of the people living in the available housing units in major cities like Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt etc are tenants. Meaning just 15% of the people are house owners.
These anomaly can be corrected when individuals, corporate bodies, Government etc invest in affordable residential houses which members of the working population can buy. It is my prayer that the recent mortgage finance initiative of the Goodluck Jonathan led administration will be properly implemented.
BENEFITS OF INVESTING IN PROPERTY
- REGULAR STREAM OF INCOME: An investment in residential property will provide a steady source of income for the investor in form of rent. Investment in residential property is a very good hedge against inflation, rental incomes in cities increase at a rate which is higher than inflation.
- CAPITAL APPRECIATION: Property investments enjoy good capital appreciation. Plots of land which were sold in some parts of Ajah in Lagos for about N100,000 in year 2000, currently sell for between N7 million and N10 million. Low cost housing units that were built by Lateef Jakande’s administration in Lagos and sold for between N1800 and N3000 in 1983 now generate rental income of between N300,000 and N600,000 annually.
- COLLATERAL: Property with the right titles or certificates of occupancy can be used as collateral in order to access loans from financial institutions.
- BOOSTS GOVERNMENT INCOME: Government generates income from property investment in form of land use charges, development levy, building plan approval, property taxes etc. A state like Lagos generates billions of Naira every year from property investors.Property investment also boosts the revenue and profits of cement, paints and other building materials manufacturers thereby generating income for government in form of corporate tax.
- RETIREMENT PLAN: Gone are the days of relying solely on your employer’s pension plan, everybody needs to have a personal retirement plan. Investment in property affords one the opportunity of creating ones personal retirement plan; this plan can generate a steady source of income for a retiree. The income produced by this investment also beats the inflation rate.
- REDUCES THE NATIONAL HOUSING DEFICIT: An investment in residential property is a reduction in the housing deficit of the nation, thereby solving the accommodation problems of Nigerians.
- CREATES EMPLOYMENT: Massive construction of houses is one of the areas that can solve the alarming unemployment rate of Nigerian youths. Property investment creates job for the architects, civil engineers, structural engineers, quantity surveyors, estate managers, bricklayers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, labourers etc. It also increases the employment capacity of building materials manufacturers.
This is good. Thanks for the enlightenment.