Rullion's Blog

There's a set system of success most of us ascribe to growing up: Go to school, get good grades, work really hard, get swooped up by a company and get taken care of for the rest of your life. But here's a newsflash: It's over . Companies are doing more with fewer people, we've got layoffs worldwide, the economy still isn't as great as it could be and even if it were, we're not going back to the way things were before the Great Recession. Ladies and gentlemen, we're in a new world of work. This only furthers the thing many of us have always known — you can't get rich working for someone else. Here's why: Time is more valuable than money. At the end of the day, it's not all about money. Money comes in and out of our lives. If we spend it, we can always get it back somehow. Time, on the other hand, is a one-time deal. We never get it back. When you're working for someone else, your time is being decided for you. Yo...

The Secretary General, Interior Designers Association of Nigeria, Mrs. Titi Ogufere, has said the interior design industry in the country is being plagued by lack of professionalism, which is hindering its growth. Ogufere, who spoke in Lagos during the World Interiors Day, an annual event celebrated globally to put interior architecture and design in the spotlight, said a lot of awareness was needed in the industry.

The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, yesterday proposed death penalty for owners and quacks involved in the construction of any collapsed building in the country. The council also called for conduct of quality assurance of all cement manufacturing companies nationwide to stem the increasing rate of building collapse. COREN made the call before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee on the investigation of the composition and pigmentation of cement in the country to stem the serial incidents of collapse buildings. COREN President, Ali Kasim, called for additional statutory powers that would enable the council to prosecute owners and quacks involved in the erection of structures that collapse. Kasim sought for inclusion of incidents of collapse building as criminal acts and stressed the need for imposition of stiffer penalties for those who engaged quacks for construction of any collapsed building. The president, however, no...

Before now, not many investors and home buyers would opt for the Ikorodu property market, and the simple reason was because of the constant traffic jam on that axis. That story has now changed with the hope for the completion of Mile 12-Ikorodu Road construction expected to open up the axis and lead to a rush and hustle for accommodation in that axis. From all indications, the focus of Lagos State government for development and urbanisation is now on the Ikorodu axis with the ongoing Ikorodu Road construction sponsored by the World Bank. In other words, the next phase of government concentration for development is this axis after the Lekki-Ajah and Badagry. It is against this backdrop that Bondbar Investment Limited is offering investors and first-time home buyers opportunity to earn high return on their investment (RoI) in the real estate market, precisely in the Ikorodu axis. Bondbar Investment is a real estate investment and development firm presently op...

R eal estate professionals say there is need for a review of the present building approval process in order to grow the real estate sector which currently accounts for 7.6 percent of Nigeria’s recently rebased gross domestic product (GDP). The professionals who canvassed this review under the aegis of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) insist that the review and subsequent relaxing of the tedious process of acquiring building approvals in most parts of the country has become necessary because it is a threat to the sector’s growth. According to them, if relaxed, it would signpost government’s willingness to provide an enabling environment for over 80 percent of private individuals and real estate developers who have been burdened by the current cumbersome process of accessing building plan approva ls. Speaking at a one-day seminar on ‘Challenges of Planning Approval and its Effects on Housing Development in Nigeria’, Flavio Nunes, worl...

  Effective implementation of real estate investment and mortgage financing will form the basis of discussion at a conference to be declared open by the Vice President Namadi Sambo in July. According to a statement by the convener of the conference, Mr. Seun Jegede, the aim is to create awareness and investment opportunities for real estate and mortgage finance companies and organisations in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. He added that the conference, which is an initiative of Global Homes Magazine, UK, and Housing Circuit Magazine, Nigeria, would also empower investors to gain expert insight into new market trends in the real estate sector in  both countries, and share practical experience regarding global trends in real estate and mortgage financing. Jegede, who is publisher of Housing Circuit Magazine, Nigeria, added that the conference would also provide the platform for various stakeholders to network and build new business partnerships ...

Elsewhere, especially in the advanced economies of the world, housing finance is synonymous with mortgage, because in such societies, the only known way of buying and owning a home is by applying for, and accessing a mortgage facility. In Nigeria, the story is different. This is a country where home ownership is realised almost 100 percent from own savings or through communal and co-operative efforts. In Lagos, for instance, a city of about 18 million people where over 60 percent of this population lives in rented accommodation, unconfirmed report has it that about 86 percent of the housing stock in the city is funded from household income. Experts have revealed that housing finance by public authorities in Nigeria is about 10 percent; mortgage banks contribute about 2 percent, while contribution from banks and other institutions is insignificant. In a comparative analysis of what obtains in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, Sonnie Ayere, CEO, Dunn Lore...