1st choice properties to combat fake agents, extortion in real estate

Launches best Real Estate App, first in West Africa

By Samuel Ogunsona

A pioneering Real Estate company, 1st Choice Properties, has officially launched its operations in Nigeria, aiming to revolutionize the property sector by eliminating fake agents and scam.

The launch event, held in Lagos, was attended by prominent figures in the real estate industry, including representatives from Property Clinic and Globus Ventures.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer, (CEO) Taiwo Oladapo, emphasized the need for transparency and honesty in the property sector.

He said Nigeria faces acute shortage of housing. Less than 10 percent of Nigerians are landlords, majority of Nigerians have no access to affordable housing.

The country’s housing stock is very low with some 10.71million compared with the population of 230million people. In the past few years since upsurge in migration became pronounced, he said locals and the Diaspora have been making tremendous contributions mostly through direct housing and land investments. In 2024,Diaspora investment was $20.9b. He however said the Diaspora population lose billions of hard earned funds to fraudsters due to the poorly regulated sector.

He observed that associated with investment in Real Estate development is the risk of increasing rate of corruption and exploitation of investors including the Diaspora population by corrupt individuals, land and property speculators, which discourages the genuine efforts of the Diaspora population, local and international groups from investing in Nigeria.
He said every year, the country loses billions of funds to corruption in the housing and property sector. This has to stop.
With the Ist Choice APP, an end has come to corruption in the real estate sector, he said.

The CEO argued that corruption in the real estate sector negatively affects the prospect of effective and functional housing and property investment in Nigeria. He said with the Ist Choice Property new MOBILE APP, the first in Nigeria, it will save Nigerians at home and abroad seeking to invest in real estate and properties from corruption and the harmful activities of dupes.

He said the design is the first in West Africa. ‘The new Mobile App helps potential real estate investors to eliminate fraud and enhance transparency in the Housing and Property Investment portfolio of Nigeria. This will ensure Nigeria gains respect in the comity of Nations with transparent and corruption free housing and property investment adding that it will help Nigeria safe billions of funds every year that would have gone into the corruption industry.

“We have come to break the barrier between Nigerians and fake agents on properties. Our focus is on providing clear and honest advice on properties so Nigerians will stop falling into the hands of fraudulent people who call themselves agents,” Oladapo said.

According to him, the lack of proper verification has led to numerous cases of fraud, with many Nigerians losing their lifetime savings to unscrupulous agents.

“We have real property issues in Nigeria when it comes to property verification. Many Nigerians save up their lifetime savings to get a property, but due to lack of proper verification, they end up in the hands of fraud. Someone even buys government acquisition lands and ends up losing it,” Oladapo noted.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Oladapo added that one of the significant challenges in the Nigerian real estate sector is extortion by house agents.

“Another issue 1st Choice Properties would tackle is extortion from house agents in Nigeria. We can imagine the high percentage of funds required from agents on house rental, some demanding as high as 30-40%, which is outrageous.

“There is no fixed price or price regulation, and many agents even take as much as N10,000 for each visit to a property. Imagine spending N100,000 on visiting ten times; it’s outrageous,” Oladapo said.

To address these issues, 1st Choice Properties has developed an innovative application that makes property transactions digital and accessible to everyone.

“We have created an application to make everything go digital and accessible to everyone, where you can verify and see what you are purchasing. We help in verification of agents, landlords, and tenants to make housing seamless for everyone and safe,” Oladapo explained.

The company’s founder, Taiwo Joel Oladapo highlighted the synergy between 1st Choice Properties and the Lagos State Government.

“We are registered with the Association of Estate Agents in Nigeria (AEAN) and the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (LASERA), the body that deals with controlling property agencies in Lagos.

“Our digital App makes it easier for Nigerians; once you access the app and click on available properties, for example in Ikorodu, it will bring out all the properties available in that area, and you will be given an agent from us to help you facilitate the purchase, buy, or site-seeing of the property at no cost,” Oladapo said.

“Ability to leverage technology and partnering with relevant authorities, 1st Choice Properties aims to make property transactions in Nigeria more transparent, efficient, and secure” Agbana mentioned.