Debo Adejana is an astute real estate entrepreneur who heads Realty Point Ltd, one of the leading mass housing development companies, since 2005, after his 8 years meritorious award-winning sojourn in commercial banking. The company is primarily involved in the supply side of the industry, and owns the popular trademark “Sack Your Landlord”.
Gbadebo Adejana is a Lagos Business School alumnus, having attended the schools’ Owner Manager Program (OMP). He is also the founding President of Prime Asset Housing Cooperative Multi-Purpose Society Limited till 2016. He served the South West Zone of the Real Estate Developers Association (REDAN), as Treasurer (2009-2012) and Vice-Chairman (2012-2015), the Nigeria-British Chamber of Commerce, Construction and Real Estate Sector groups as Vice-Chairman (2017-2019).
He’s well known in the sector. Two weeks back, he spoke with City People’s ISAAC ABIMBADE on the current issues on real estate and he also gave why he chose Sack Your Landlord as a slogan.
How can you rate real estate sector in the last few months?
Currently, we can say quietly the sector is working. However, it is not obvious because there is no leadership. They haven’t appointed ministers and the state too has not appointed Commissioners. But all the things that were set up before now are still working, the likes of Federal Mortgage Bank, Family Homes Plans, some of these things are still working. At the Abuja International Housing Show, for example, stakeholders still came together, both private and public sectors and the consensual was that we need to collaborate more. We agreed that we should collaborate the more and that itself was a kind of communication link that was set up to enable people to interact more.
What would you be expecting the government to do for real estate sector?
Apart from other issues in the sector, what many are waiting for is the appointment to be made, both at the federal and the state level. I just feel that anybody that comes in as Minister should continue the good works that have been put in place.
So, I expect that the person coming on board should hit the ground running because a lot has not really happened in the housing sector.
What would you say to Lagosians who want to buy landed property from various property firm to be aware of?
Real estate is a basic necessity of life. So, whatever is happening is not just in our environment, is all over the world. Real estate is a major sector. And there is always noise about real estate and that is why in the real estate market it is buyer beware; so, it is the buyers that I will advise to do their due diligence each and every time they have to buy the property.
Anybody developing and anybody selling from a developer, it is your duty to also engage the professionals to help you do due diligence. You need to get a professional that will help you ascertain the authenticity of the property. So, I encourage people that, whenever they are going for real estate transaction, they should have professionals beside them. Don’t run away from their fees. You can negotiate their fees.
Tell us the purpose of your Sack Your Landlord slogan; why the slogan?
Sack Your Landlord is an acronym we came about when we speak to people, which is to make people landlords; to make landlord from tenants. We realised that a lot of people are short of becoming landlords because of certain reasons.
Sack Your Landlord is to encourage tenants to becoming a landlord of your own, whether you have much or nothing. And we have had many testimonies over the last 13 years we have been in business. Thousands of people have become homeowners today.
What should we expect from you before December this year sir?
I expect the industry will gain direction, once we have the appointment of Ministers and Commissioners.
Hopefully, we will have a meaningful direction before this year comes to an end.
How did you feel about your award by the City People group?
I want to commend and thank City People for the award. What I like about the award was that it was based on recognition; you don’t have to pay for it. I will like to commend City People because such an award is an encouragement no matter how you look at it.
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