Abiodun Odutayo is one of the active property developers in Lagos. He’s young, innovative and stylish. Most of his housing projects are fully luxury and innovative. He builds in the high brow of Lagos where the rich and celebrities live.
Let’s tell you more about this man and his achievements. He was born Dec 3rd, 1982. He is a Nigerian businessman, a Real Estate Mogul, Philanthropist, CEO of Hagar Realty & Appraisal Services Ltd.
In 2012, he started Real Estate business called Hagar Realty and he’s also the founder of Odutayo-Iwogbe Foundation to help and support people from his state (Ogun) and town of origin. A few days back, he spoke with City People’s Senior Real Estate Reporter, ISAAC ABIMBADE (08155107955), about his journey into the real estate industry. He said he was into IT before he went into real estate. He also explained why he’s so different from other property developers. Below are the excerpts of the interview.
Can you tell us about yourself sir, for the benefit of those who will be reading your story for the first time?
My name is Odutayo Abiodun. I am the CEO, Hagar Realty & Appraisal Services Limited, operating within the real estate.
How did you start Hagar Realty?
We started this business in 2012. We were inspired by other people we met in the business. And since then, it’s been smooth for us.
What were you doing before the real estate sir?
Before the real estate, we had shops and offices in Ikeja. We were into IT. We were into sales of phones, laptops, cameras (interior and exterior cameras).
What drove into the sector?
I have relations who were in the business. We found out it was a lucrative business, and as you know that real estate is a lucrative business, if you dabble into it, you won’t regret it. That’s what motivated us to go into the business.
Can you tell us the meaning of the name Hagar and why Hagar Realty in the first place?
Hagar is what most people used to call me, so along the line, we decided to make it a business name.
Why luxury homes because you could as well build something moderate?
Why we are into luxury buildings is because these days, people want luxury houses at affordable rates, and we would not want to do substandard work, so, therefore, we have to give them the best of our ability.
Can you tell us some of the projects you have handled in the last few years in the business?
We have done a lot of projects in the last 8 years. In Osapa London, we have more than 20 projects there. We have done projects in Agungi area, Orchid road in Lekki. We still have projects at Victory Park, Osapa London and many other places as we speak.
Who are your targets really because some of your projects are luxury projects and they would not come cheap?
We target all the markets: we target the high-end, we target the middle-class, also. Sometimes, we try to balance it. Sometimes we do full luxury and sometimes we do basic luxury, which means we provide projects for both the high-end users and middle-class.
How can someone buy your property; how would they go about it?
You can follow us on Instagram; hagarrealty. Our website is www.hagarrealty.com. or you can also contact us directly.
Tell us some of the challenges you have faced in the sector
There’s no business that doesn’t have its challenges. But mostly, the challenge we have in real estate is finance because the government is not doing enough to empower builders, real estate developers and we also face challenges in acquiring land. If the government can give developers the land they have acquired; those lands they have under the acquisition so that the whole place can be built up and we would have an adequate market for the people who need these houses.
Government should start providing land for developers and that would make it easier for us to have land to develop some of the underdeveloped areas. And they can also provide funds for the developers.
Another thing is the titles. Getting a title from the Lagos State government can be difficult at times. If they could help us with faster processing of our papers and necessary document, that would go a long way to fasten our rate of delivery of houses. Also, the charges from government agencies is another headache. There are many charges from these agencies and they are not good for business and I want to urge them to please consider us in this aspect.
