Alhaji Bashir Jimoh is the MD/CEO, Bashmoh Homes, a popular real estate company in Lagos. He floated the company about 9 years ago to bridge the deficit in the Housing sector.
Amongst other things, the company is into estate development, mortgage advisory, building engineering and consultation, property leasing and letting, and general land consultation.
A few weeks back, City People Real Estate Property Reporter, ISAAC ABIMBADE visited him at his Surulere office, where he spoke about his business and what Nigerians who want to buy land should know before they jump at it.
Tell us what Bashmoh Homes has been doing in the last one year and what the company stands for?
We have made a lot of giant strides despite the Covid-19 lockdown which has affected a lot of things around the world. Basically, our activities last year could be divided into two: we have what we did in the agricultural sector and what we did in the real estate sector. I will start with real estate.
Last year, we commissioned the development of 50 bungalows for Lagos State Teachers. The project is currently ongoing. And we hope to deliver it before the end of this year. Also, it was last year that we commenced our partnership with the University of Lagos for the development of new estate for their staffers. We are at the tail end of the project which we believe will be of benefit to the parties involved. Those are the major projects we were able to execute last year, aside commissioning of our Ikorodu estate. We commissioned our Agbowa Estate last year and we are currently doing the fencing now. And we also want to increase our capacity in Simawa; we used to have 3 estates in Simawa, but we now have Bashmoh estate 4 and this new estate is opposite the new Redeemed auditorium.
In the agriculture sector, what we did is to open our Opeji farmland in Abeokuta and a lot of people have keyed into it. It’s a place that has a lot of things going on there. There are lots of agricultural produce going on there. Also, we have farmland, very close to Lagos. We are also trying to develop low-cost housing for Nigerians in Ogere. Something like 3 million naira house or less and we are not saying you should pay at once.
You earlier mentioned fake real estate firms in Lagos and how to identify them. How can we identify a fake real estate firm?
I have said repeatedly in different fora that there are about 3 key issues you need to look out for if you are dealing with any real estate company. No1, the company you are buying land from, is it properly registered? Do they have an online presence? What are people saying about them online? And proper registration entails proper association with those in the industry.
The second point is to make a physical enquiry. You must visit their offices. Get to know if they have a permanent staff or they are just using consultants. Get to know how many people have stayed there for about 5 years, working with the company because most of these companies have the names of the popular real estate companies on their fliers and they would give you another bank account number to pay in and before you know what is going on, you have been ripped off your money. You will go on inspection to a known real estate company and you will see Bashmoh Homes and you end up paying into a different account. You must insist to pay into the bank account of the company you have seen their signboard. And also insist on taking pictures of yourself there and that will help you to pin down the company if anything goes wrong.
And lastly, you must also find out from their staff the company’s past. Don’t do this with your marketers. You must discuss with other staff. In fact, you can do this behind closed door, so that they can be able to tell you what is going on and that is basically the point.
A lot of your colleagues have been complaining about the proposed law by the Lagos state government that says all real estate developers must register with LASRERA and this will cost a lot of money to do. What is your view about this?
I support it. I believe it’s good for the industry. The industry needs to be sanitised and there is no how you want to sanitize the industry without involving the government because there’s been different complaints on the modality of operation of real estate firms in Lagos State. I believe there is a need for licencing. Let’s get licenced and let people have third party enquiry. And if you don’t live up to your contractual obligation, your licence could be withdrawn by the government. And concerning the amount of money to be paid, I know the discussion is currently ongoing and it could be reduced because some agencies are saying it’s 10 million or below for annual registration fee and real estate agents are 500 thousand naira. But whatever it is, the discussion between the operators and regulators should be encouraged, however, it’s a must for the industry to be regulated.
Lagos state government has been issuing allocation as a form of title which costs a lot of money. For a plot of land around the Ibeju Lekki axis, you could be charged over 2 million naira per plot. What do you think about this new development?
I know that Lagos State government is currently issuing allocations. During the Ambode era, it was excision. There was an excision committee he put in place then that would give you the expected amount to pay for your land but what the government is doing now is to allocate land to you with the expectation that you are going to pay all the necessary fee. Currently, REDAN and some other associations are talking with the government to reduce the payment and I know before the end of the year we would achieve that.
Let me say this. The estate valuers and Lagos State government were in court on the issue of licencing and registration and the High Court gave judgement that the Lagos State government has the right to regulate the operations of real estate firms. What we should all do is let people enjoy their investments because it’s not easy. Once you have made your money, you should be able to enjoy it.
