The Spleet Digest

If you’ve never had to rent an apartment by yourself in Lagos and are looking to get your first apartment, then you should definitely read this.

If you’re moving to Lagos after spending most of your life in other cities and you want to rent an apartment, you should also read this.

And, if you’ve rented an apartment in Lagos before but you’ve forgotten what it feels like to experience house hunting here, then you should also read this.

House hunting in Lagos is truly not for the weak.

One minute, you’re hopefully skipping on your way to view an apartment that looked perfect on photo. The next, you’re overwhelmed by how terribly different the apartment is from the photograph.

Don’t give up yet.

Renting in Lagos is hard, but if you’re prepared, you can navigate the journey with less stress.

1 — Prepare for madness.

If you’re not renting on Spleet Africa, then the first thing you should know is that renting an apartment in Lagos is absolute bonkers. You need to know this, acknowledge it, and prepare for the madness in advance.

You will hear things like “inspection fees”, “we do not rent to single women”, “we do not rent to people outside specific ethnic groups”, “you have to pay 2 years rent upfront”, etc.

2 — Define your needs before you begin your search.

Before you even start speaking with or reaching out to housing agents or searching on apartment listing websites, define the kind of apartment you want and where you want it to be located.

In many cases, people consider location based on where they work and the distance including potential traffic delays, etc. These things are actually essential because an overall better life is determined by these things as well. Imagine leaving the office after a hard day of work and having to sit in traffic for over 2 hours just to get home and rest.

For example, if you work remotely, then maybe distance is not a big deal for you. Still, the important thing is to define what is the perfect home for you, how much you’re willing to pay for that home, where you want it to be, and what you want it to look like.

3 — Identify and engage with trustworthy agents.

Someone once said that finding a trustworthy and reliable agent in Lagos is like finding a needle in a haystack. The truth is that there are trustworthy agents, as scarce as they can be. You can find a trustworthy agent by interacting with people you know personally who have been able to find apartments for themselves through agents.

Usually, it is easier to find a great and trustworthy agent by speaking with a friend that has enjoyed great service from that agent. It helps a lot to speak with agents that you can trust..

4 — Consider co-living or apartment sharing.

If you’re just moving into Lagos and want to save money on renting an apartment close to work, then you may want to consider sharing an apartment.

This typically starts from finding someone you can trust and live with who is looking to share an apartment too. It is important to ensure that you can and are willing to share an apartment because if you do this, you’ll be living with that person for as long as it takes.

5 — SWOT the apartment & location before paying.

Before making the commitment to pay for, move into, and live in any apartment, make sure to measure the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of living in that apartment.

Things to look out for include accessibility, power supply, water supply, proximity to your workplace (if you’re working on site), flood threats, security, etc. While some of these things can easily be augmented if they’re not up to par, others cannot.

If you’re moving into a new apartment, make sure to request for electricity bills (especially if they’re still using a postpaid system). Avoid moving into a place where you have to pay the power bills of a previous resident.

Final words.

You can simplify your house hunting experience by using Spleet.

Spleet is an online platform designed to help renters find their future homes while helping landlords manage the rental process from apartment listing & marketing, to tenant verification, rent collection and facility management and maintenance.

Find your next home on Spleet 👇🏼