The Real Cost of Buying Property in Nigeria (Beyond the Sticker Price)

The advertised price is the beginning of the conversation, not the end.

Every year, buyers commit their entire available capital to a purchase price, then stall halfway through the process because nobody told them about consent fees, registration, survey charting and development levies. A stalled transaction is the most expensive kind — you have paid for an asset you cannot perfect, cannot fully use, and cannot easily sell.

Budget for the following and you will never be ambushed.

1. Agency / commission fee

Paid to the agent or firm that introduced the transaction. Rates vary by market and by property type, and are sometimes shared between the buyer's and seller's agents.

Confirm before inspection, not after. Ask: what is the rate, who pays it, and is it calculated on the purchase price alone or on the total?

Watch for: Multiple agents attaching themselves to one transaction and each expecting a full commission. Establish the chain early.

2. Legal fee

For your lawyer's work: conducting the search, reviewing title, drafting or vetting the Deed of Assignment, and advising on the structure.

This is typically a percentage of the purchase price. It is also the cheapest insurance you will ever buy. Buyers who "save" here routinely spend ten times the amount later.

Note: Where the seller's lawyer prepares the deed, you still need your own to review it. Two lawyers is not duplication — it is the design of the system.

3. Survey plan and beacon confirmation

If the property has no registered survey plan, you will need one prepared by a registered surveyor.

If it does have one, you should still pay a surveyor to:

• Chart the plan (confirming it is not within a government-committed area)
• Confirm the beacons physically on the ground

The charting is often the more valuable half. It is how you discover an acquisition problem before you pay.

4. Land Registry search

A modest official fee, usually paid through your lawyer, covering the formal search of the property file.

Of every cost on this list, this one has the highest ratio of protection to price.

5. Stamp duty

A statutory charge on the instrument of transfer, assessed as a percentage of the consideration. Required before registration.

Do not be tempted to understate the purchase price to reduce duty. Aside from the legal exposure, an understated consideration in your deed can create problems on resale, on financing, and in any dispute about what you actually paid.

6. Deed registration

Registering your deed at the State Land Registry is what makes your ownership a matter of public record. An unregistered deed leaves you exposed to a later purchaser who registers first.

Buyers frequently defer this to save money. It is the wrong place to economise — registration is what converts a private agreement into a defensible position.

7. Governor's Consent

Where the land is held under a statutory right of occupancy, the transfer requires the Governor's consent. This involves an application, an assessment of the property's value, the payment of consent fees and related charges, and processing time.

This is usually the largest single line item after the purchase price, and it is the one most often left out of buyers' budgets entirely.

It also takes the longest. Begin the process immediately after purchase, while the seller is still engaged — their cooperation is required.

8. Development / infrastructure levy

Common in estate developments. Covers internal roads, drainage, perimeter fencing, gatehouse, electrification and sometimes water infrastructure.

Ask precisely:

• What does the levy cover?
• What is the timeline for delivery of each item?
• Is it a one-off or staged?
• What happens if the infrastructure is not delivered?

A levy paid against an undelivered promise is a common source of estate disputes. Get delivery commitments in writing.

9. Estate service charge

Ongoing, usually annual. Covers security, waste management, common-area maintenance, street lighting and estate administration.

Ask: the current rate, the history of increases, what it includes, whether it is payable on undeveloped plots, and who administers it.

Service charge on a plot you have not yet built on can quietly accumulate for years.

10. Building approval and professional fees

If you intend to develop, budget for:

• Architectural drawings
• Structural drawings and engineer's calculations
• Mechanical and electrical drawings
• Soil test where required
• Planning permit / building approval fees from the relevant authority
• Estate design approval where applicable

Skipping approval to save time is a false economy. Unapproved structures can be sealed or demolished, and they are difficult to sell or finance.

11. Fencing and securing the property

If you are not building immediately, budget for at least boundary demarcation, and ideally a perimeter fence with a signboard bearing your contact details.

Unsecured land attracts encroachment, and recovering encroached land costs far more than fencing it would have.

12. Documentation and processing charges

Allocation letters, file opening, photocopying, courier, sworn affidavits, and the many small administrative costs that individually look trivial and collectively are not.

The cost nobody budgets: time

Consent processing, title perfection and building approvals take months, sometimes longer. During that time your capital is committed and unproductive.

If you are building to a deadline — a wedding, a return from abroad, a school year — start the paperwork long before you start the block work. The most common cause of a stalled building project in Nigeria is not money. It is documentation that was left until later.

A practical budgeting rule

Set aside an additional 10–15% of the purchase price for transaction and perfection costs. In transactions requiring full Governor's Consent on higher-value property, plan for more.

If you underspend, excellent — you have a reserve. If you did not budget at all, you will stop halfway.

A worked illustration

For a ₦25,000,000 plot, a realistic planning envelope might look like:

Rates change and vary by state, so ask for current figures — but plan with this shape in mind rather than the sticker price alone.

The question to ask every seller

"Please give me a written total cost sheet, from today until my name is on a registered title."

A professional company will produce it. Anyone who cannot is either disorganised or hoping you will not ask until it is too late to reconsider.

How we work

Amiworld Properties Ltd provides a full written cost breakdown before you commit — every fee, every stage, every timeline. No surprises, no charges that appear after the first payment.

Ask for your cost sheet. Call or WhatsApp 08164731517.