How DENARO Homes Became BIG In Real Estate

•CEO, JIDE OGUNLEYE Tells City People

Denaro Homes is a fully integrated property development and management company in Lagos. It which was incorporated in the year 2009, along the lines of the world’s most prominent investment advisory institutions. It is managed by a team of time-trusted professionals to undertake the procurement, development, sales and services of land and landed property within Nigeria for commercial and residential usage.

Denaro Homes was set up with the sole purpose of developing prime real estate that aids the provision of affordable and excellent housing facilities for all and sundry.

Their Vision and Mission is to provide excellent and affordable housing, whilst focusing on the needs of their clients. Denaro Homes has provided a handful of real estate products since it was established in 2009. It started full business in 2011 and is one of the largest real estate companies in the country, with operations spanning the length and breadth of Nigeria. Their current focus in estate development is to provide affordable mass housing to the medium and low income segments of the society.

The company also conducts workshops and trainings every quarter in a year to impart its wealth of knowledge in the field of estate development and property investment to willing investors.

All their projects are facilitated by world-class professionals who go the extra mile to ensure that all relevant governing standards are met and superseded. They are well respected estate developers complimented by a spotless reputation.

Denaro Homes had their Christmas and Contractor’s Appreciation Party on the 11th of December, 2022. At the party, during a press interview, the CEO, Mr. Jide Ogunleye disclosed some of their achievements over the past 12 years.

Can you tell us more about Denaro Homes?

Denaro Homes consists of Denaro Properties Limited and Denaro Agile Construction Limited. Denaro Properties deals more in site and services schemes and some few construction housing projects.

Denaro Agile Limited focuses on the development of housing projects in the high brow areas of the Lagos Mainland, we moved to places within the Mainland where we can see abandoned buildings, abandoned houses, and we turn them into beautiful buildings, that’s what we do in Denaro Properties Limited. We provide housing solutions for tenants and hoping home owners, either in Nigeria or Nigerians in Diaspora who live abroad and can afford them and we try to make sure it is as affordable as possible.

What has Denaro Homes been able to achieve over last 12 years?

We started with site and service schemes in Lagos and other states. In terms of housing construction, we have done quite a number of projects. We commissioned a block of terraces in Nomad Grandville Court in Ilupeju, Lagos. In Allen Avenue, Ikeja, we have Kingsville Court, both in Phase 1 and 2. In Agege, we have Ayoola Court, a project that comprises three-bedroom apartments. In Magodo, Isheri, we have Victoria Court which is a semi-detached development. For our site and service schemes, in Ogun State, we started with Mayflower Gardens in Ofada, Silver Sand in Agbara and Fairfield in Shimawa. In Silver Sand, Agbara, we have Grand Apartments where we built two-bedroom bungalows on a rent- to-own scheme. People are allowed to deposit N1 million, move in and start to pay by installments for four years. In Lagos, we have Victoria Park, Grand Park, and Downtown Park in Ibeju Lekki. On the mainland, we have done lots of developments that are meant to fill empty spaces for people who cannot afford to build in such locations where land may cost up to N50 million per plot. We are currently focusing on the Lagos Mainland as we believe we are rebranding the face of Lagos.

You were talking aboout latest innovations and inventions in constructing your properties, what are the innovations you have added to your constructions?

There are a lot of innovations that have come into place, for example, in quantity surveying, in the past, we were doing a lot of mechanical hand work and doing it manually, but now, we have applications that can help with quantity surveys, that does not mean we have neglected the role of quantity surveyors. In the background, the surveyors are still the ones that gather data and input these data into their system so that before we start a project, we have an idea of the cost of production and the cost of completing the project. Once you don’t get your costing right from the beginning of the project, you are setting yourself up for failure and you don’t want to do that, you don’t want to cut corners, you don’t want to cut value from people. The innovations are so many, even in production itself, you have power vibratory when you are casting slabs. So, basically, we have lot of innovations coming to play.

What you do is changing the landscape of the Lagos Mainland, what impact does this have for families and the economy and how is it of benefit to Nigerians?

It has a very positive impact on families and the populace at large because you discover that a lot of people don’t want to go through the stress of building, so, at Denaro Properties Limited, we come in to intervene with every stakeholder in the housing industry. When you are a builder, you are interfacing with different stakeholders and if you are not careful, you can get stressed out and even be frustrated out of the project. You are dealing with OMO ONILES, you are dealing with government agencies, you are dealing with suppliers, contractors, and artisans who come with different backgrounds, who need some level of expertise to be properly managed. So, in this case, you need a professional company that knows everything like Denaro Homes, to be able to get your desired homes in high-brow areas of Lagos Mainland.

What sets you apart from other contractors in the industry?

What sets us apart is our humility and honesty. If we can’t give you a 4-bedroom duplex at 70 million naira with a fantastic finishing, we won’t come out to take that money from you just because we want to take money. We have cancelled a lot of contracts and offers because what the person was offering could not match what the person was expecting. What is common in the housing industry and why a lot of developers run into trouble is because they take money and can’t deliver value that is commensurate with the money they have taken. If we cannot deliver on a particular amount of money, we won’t take it. Also, in terms of our finishing, we bring a lot of innovations right from the architectural and designing stages. We do functional homes that people can live in, in the next 50 to 60 years. We keep thinking ahead, so, if you are buying a property from us, you know that in the next 50 years, you have nothing to worry about. A lot of innovations come into play and that’s what sets us apart in the industry, coupled with our honesty. We have been around now for the last 12 years. We don’t make noise but recently, we felt that it was time for us to be reaching out to the public and showcase our brand and showcase what we have been doing.

Any word of advice to your co-developers?

My word of advice to co- developers is that you shouldn’t lie to yourself. The industry is very challenging, a lot of people cut corners to break even and deliver houses but that is not the best way to go. Irrespective of what you are selling, if you present value to people, people will buy, so don’t cut corners, it is not worth it. A lot of companies have done thousands of projects, one little mistake from a single project can spoil that company. I won’t mention names but you see examples of houses collapsing on the Island and even on the Mainland, what led to it? Probably, the contractor that has been put on the project was not vetted and he bought substandard materials, he put substandard labour on the job and that led to the problem, so, I am going to advise that your best has to be in any project. Any house you cannot live in, don’t build for people. That is our watchword in Denaro Properties, any house we are building, we can move in and live in there the next day, so, any house you know you can’t live in, don’t build it for people. Irrespective of the money you want to make and the income that is coming in.

The industry is quite challenging, just like every industry in Nigeria, but you know it, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. You have to keep innovating, keep developing new ideas to be able to conquer the industry.

One of the issues trending in real estate now is developers collecting money and not delivering, what is your opinion on this?

It goes both ways, sometimes, when a deal is too good to be true, it is too good to be true. Sometimes, real estate companies just come in and tell you to make a N5 million deposit and, you want to buy a house on the Island or Ikoyi, for God’s sake, you should know that the deposit is questionable, or they are telling you to make a deposit of N1 million for a property that is worth maybe N50 million even in Egbeda, it is questionable. You have to do your due dillegence, you have to work with companies that have a good track record and you must not be in haste. A lot of marketers come to the market and they say a particular deal is going to end tomorrow, my dear, I tell people that if one deal closes, another will open, so, don’t be in a rush to close any real estate deal. Do your due diligence, get a lawyer, get professional surveyors, let them do their research, don’t be too greedy or you want to eat all the money alone, pay the professionals, let them do their research and let all the truth come to the front. With this, the issue of fraud is going to be reduced. Secondly, the Lagos State has established the LASRERA Act, every practitioner in the housing industry is supposed to be registered with LASRERA. You have to check, ask them what their LASRERA number is, what their approval number is, these are the things you start with then you will be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.

– IRETIOGO OLOYEDE