1. Survey Plan: This to me is the most important document From the start you must ask for from the omonile, agent or family that intends to sell the land/property to you . This survey plan is what i would carry to the Land Bureau to go and do a geographical search on first. No matter how cheap or beautiful or strategically located a land or property is, once that property has been discovered to be designated for Government use in future, there is no point going any futher to purchase it. It will be a very foolish risk to attempt to defile the government and say nothing would happen, at least there are so many houses around or so many people have bought their own and nothing has happened. Well for those who are conversant with Uncle Fashola's no nonsense approach in maintaining the master plan of Lagos, once your property is within that area that has being designated for Future Government use, no matter how long maybe its in the year 2023, the plan must be carried out accordingly and your property will go down without any form of compensation because you failed to do the right thing by throwing caution to the wind. Examples include the 8 Lane Dual Carriage Way in Badagry that all the houses that were on that land were demolished, All the houses in Alimosho local Government that were near pipe lines, The ones in Idiroko, The houses in ijegun etc! In fact remind me of the ones you know. Also in Lekki Ajah, its even worse because there are some areas that have been specially acquired by the government for over 20 years and its just now that the government is trying to recover its lands. These areas is what is known as COMMITTED LANDS. Once an area has been designated as Committed, it is the ultimate no go area abeg. Thats where they committ the area for Road expansion, future government estates or Government Reserved areas For Major Developments. As long as that Property is designated as Committed or under acquistion, it is only the Government of the day that can revoke it and anybody buying into those areas are buying at their own mega risk. Dont for once look at the houses around there as your guide to mean the government cannot demolish those houses, you would be shocked that the owners have 4 or 5 houses and can do away with that one and poor people like me and you that have no mouth to fight government will just be rendered homeless because of our stuborness to buy at all cost there. Remember you know where the shoe pinches and how much you have in your pocket. This is 2010. Plan to save more money than to throw it away foolishly. The other option from Government is that if they choose not to demolish your house because it is sited on a committed land, they will end up giving you the option to come and pay Ratification. Ratification in this sense means your going to pay Government the full price and taxes it determines to be the cost of that place and its non negotiable. So imagine you bought the land in 2005 for N2Million in a committed area and in 2010, you now have to pay ratification also known as "Rat" at the cost of N5Million to the Government. Does that make any financial sense to you? Imagine all the fears, rumours, prayers that you would be going through so that those caterpillars dont come your way and when they decide not to demolish, they now ask you to pay Ratification, triple or quadruple the amount you bought it and remember the Omonile or Agent you bought it from is no where to be found and if Found, would not in this life time refund or assist you in any way. Finally another advantage of the Survey Search is that if the land has been designated for Agricultural Purpose, you would know in advance. Its is mostly prevalent in Ikorodu, Badagry and Growing Rural Areas that are just cropping up. Buying into a place designated for Agric is a major n👎no! Except you Want Your immediate neighbours to be Cows, Fisheries and probably Obasanjo's Chicken farmers! Unless it has been designated for Residential or Mixed Development Avoid it please. The summary is that the Survey Plan Search saves you alot of head ache at first before you even move ahead. And once you meet an Omonile or Agent who is extremely difficult with you in terms of not providing the survey plan on demand for search please my brothers and sisters, walk away quietly. The signs are already there for you to know your about to be scammed . A survey plan is a public document and not a private cheque book, so you shouldnt be bamboozled by people who tell you that the owner doesnt want to release it because of security reasons. Trust me there is no reason. As long as he is ready to sell, that is the first thing you get from them to know your status before proceeding.
**kenny g**