Govt Needs To Regulate Property Brokers, Says Ramos Of Lagos Realty CEO  

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ramos Of Lagos Realty Ltd, Ramos Adeyinka, has called on the government to regulate the activities of property developers in the country in order to protect buyers. 

According to the real estate guru, some developers are not registered and can’t be trusted.

He said: “We need to have more registered brokers because people just make up more money and decide to be a broker without being verified or registered, that’s why you have a lot of issues with clients losing money to brokers or developers. So, we need more checks and balance in the industry to protect the end users.”

Speaking to journalists in Lagos on how government can help real estate industry in Nigeria, Adeyinka appealed for more and better infrastructure that would attract international investors to the country.

“Without infrastructure, it would be very difficult to bring in international investors to invest in the real estate sector if the government doesn’t provide the perfect infrastructure to secure their investment,” he added.

On challenges realtors face in Nigeria, he explained that accessing mortgage banks to finance the purchase of property was difficult, adding that it was the only way young workers can buy a home.

“In Nigeria, it is difficult for our clients to access mortgage banks to finance their purchase, so most times we always struggle with buyers that are not able to afford the full amount or probably spread their payments for opting to 20 years.

“The maximum payment method by developers is for at least six months and this is because some developers probably use loans to fund their projects and they have to pay back in a specific period. Another challenge is the over-saturated real estate markets, there are a lot of unregistered brokers in the industry and it is causing a bit of a challenge because some clients have bad experiences in purchasing a property.

“Educating the clients is the responsibility of the realtor or any realtor in real estate helping clients to make better decisions when buying a home is one of the key responsibilities of a realtor. We the Realtors have the responsibility to refer mortgage services to home buyers.”

Narrating how he started out, Ramos said he started in 2018, adding that, “I started as a broker selling developer’s properties. I got commissioned for two years and after two years we started development which we also did for two years today I have a real estate company in Dubai.”

The real estate firm’s new project is for a community of people home and abroad. For Ramos, the project is a comfortable place.

“They can live in with very good security and very good amenities such as a swimming pool, football field, and basketball court. A community people can call home is policed and organized. We also have 24 hours surveillance for tight security,” he said.

He advised that realtors always put their clients first instead of the commission.

“I think the real estate industry is growing rapidly in Nigeria and the brokers in Nigeria have been able to adjust to change. Realtors are doing their best to provide customer satisfaction the only advice I will have for realtors is for them to put their clients first instead of the commission,” he stated.