10 July 2026
1 min read
Title is not a vibe — how Nigerian buyers get burned by paperwork
Before location and finishes, ownership lives in documents. A plain-language map of what to verify and who to trust.
Jeffery Itepu
Founder & Instructor, REU
Buying property in Nigeria often starts with photos and ends with regret. The middle — title, surveys, consents — is where literacy matters.
Start with the paper trail
Ask for the root of title and every transfer that followed. A beautiful building on contested land is still contested land.
Who confirms what
Lawyers, surveyors, and registries each answer different questions. Do not collapse them into one "agent said it's fine."
A discipline you can surely keep
Write down every claim you hear. Then ask which document proves it. That habit alone filters noise.
Stay on the ledger
Get new essays when they publish. No course spam.
More from the blogs
- Deals with discipline
Underwriting patience — a starter checklist for early investors
Cash flow, reserves, and exit paths before the Instagram render. A practical checklist you can reuse on the next deal.
- Markets & money
Lagos is not Nigeria — reading markets beyond the skylines
Demand, infrastructure, and capital behave differently across cities. Here's a framework for comparing markets without Twitter certainty.