Finding reliable and competent site workers is a big challenge – Homeowner

Nigeria real estate hub correspondent, Rianat Sanni was in an interview with Francis Osifo as he shared his sack your landlord experience with a real estate company called Realty point limited. He lamented about the menace of site workers and their incompetencies.

Please read his interview below

NREH: When was your first encounter with Realty point Limited?

Mr Francis: I met Mr. Akin Arogundade, the Business development and strategy manager about 3 years before he joined Realty Point and he introduced me to the company and the different services offered by the company.

NREH: What and what did you do when the building was under construction?

Mr Francis: First thing I did was do a lot of research online on the things to consider when building your house, material requirements, building designs. I then met with a builder I had seen his work and loved his attention to detail, he gave me a budget material requirement for the building I had in mind( a 3 bedroom bungalow).

I had to settle the usual omonile payments before work started and throughout the construction process I ensured I was regularly on-site to supervise the work as I discussed with the labourers over quote materials used when I was not there; also being there to supervise ensured that they followed my design and finishing requirements to the letter.

NREH: What experience do you have with site workers?

Mr Francis: Finding reliable and competent site workers is a big challenge, the issue of over pricing and not supplying high quality materials, stealing of materials on site amongst others but what really helped me was that I reached out to others who had built houses within the area to recommend 2-3 options, see their previous jobs, compare their prices and decide on who to use. All in all, I will say I had a competent set of site workers. The challenge is in knowing how to manage them properly.

NREH: What advice do you have for youths who want to have their own home?

Mr Francis: I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that people want to put the total amount required to finish the house together before they start, when I started I literally didn’t have a lot of money for the project but by taking it one step at a time, getting my quotes early, asking a lot of questions from other homeowners in the area, doing research online and comparing prices allowed me to plan for each phase and within 6 months I was able to complete my house. Although I had to adjust my personal expense budget as I had a timeline for the project which made me work really hard and more importantly God’s grace made it easy.

So I would say, find a piece of land (half plot, a plot) and buy it (do not allow distance to the land be a barrier; with the mass growth Lagos State is experiencing you can be sure the area will open up within 3-5 years) and get started today. The choice area you are waiting to buy land in will get more expensive; meaning if you keep waiting you will never be able to afford a land in the choice area and the area you didn’t want to buy land in because it is too far will become expensive as well.

NREH: Did you source for funds from a cooperative or all the monies were from your business?

Mr Francis: The entire project was funded from my personal earnings.