← Konnected Minds Podcast with Derrick Abaitey
Konnected Minds Podcast with Derrick Abaitey
Segment- Property Tax Won't Make You Homeless, But Land Fraud Will.
Loading summary
Transcript27 lines
- [00:00]
A
Because the individual could be the rightful owner. So whoever is selling the line could be the rightful owner. That's why I mentioned that I have to know the elite. I have to know the person very well. Because you can do all the search, everything can be perfect. But then I sell it to Derek and then I sell it to COD within a month. You will never know. You will never know until you are going to work. Some people can sell it to five different people. And now you have issues when you're going. So it depends on individual credibility they have and all that stuff aside from this. And this is not a systemic problem. It's just greed and, and the attitude of the people on the ground.
- [00:29]
B
Okay, now watch this data. 42% of people, the entire Ghana own their home. 25% of people in Nigeria own their homes. Why is there such a difference?
- [00:39]
A
Well, the population in Nigeria is quite big. I don't know their land size as compared to the population. That's something we can look at. And also is apartments and stuff like that more common there as. Because Ghana. What I do know is people take pride in owning their homes and having that space. So that can drive a lot of people to own homes as compared to Nigeria. That's one example to look at, bro.
- [01:01]
C
So this conversation is going to take me into leadership. And there's no way we can talk about an industry without governance and leadership. Africa is built in a way that if you don't take care, the system will always be against you. And that's typically what's happening in the top cities in Nigeria, Abuja, Lagos. You then see that even though they have the large numbers, they don't have the purchasing power. Because the number of people who get the opportunity to chance on certain amounts of money that can lead them into ownership is not there. So there's a number of people, but the purchasing power, they are currently not getting it. So the 18% you have there, maybe that data, even if you go deep into it, would come down into a 10 or an 8% because that's what's currently happening. If you've visited Lagos, right from the airport, you can tell from the mainland driving through to the island, you can tell the difference from the mainland and then the island. If you get into Abuja, if not for the top companies that are there, the government, the experts, you could tell that nothing is really going to happen. And that's why for the locals that that percentage, you have that 18 of people owning their homes. Yeah.
- [02:19]
B
So for the people abroad, because I think now we've we've really figured out that the problem is the land, right?
- [02:24]
A
We just, we figured, yeah, it's got a lot.
- [02:25]
B
Regardless of the property you have on there, the land is still going to be the issue.
- [02:29]
A
The land is the issue.
- [02:29]
B
But is Ghana still a good place or is Africa still a good place to invest in real estate?
- [02:35]
A
It is a great place to Invest. I remember 2016. I bought my land again. There are people that balance all the time. There are people who don't give up. I'm not just be careful. Right Again for me, that's why I go with example. I bought land in 2016. I didn't buy myself. My older brother bought it. That's where my house is sitting on right now. And I bought it not because I'm moving to Ghana, just to, you know, my father's friend advised me to own something here. This is where I'm from. You know, sense of pride. You know, I think I spent $5,000 to buy the land. And the reason why my brother's friend was my neighbor. He's my neighbor today. He bought the land he was building. Everything was good. And then I, you know, my brother went to him that his little brother want to buy land. So oftentimes that's what I'm saying, it's the same document govern that stretch. So somebody's already in. That's what I do. He was already. He's already done the. So if anybody was taking a risk, it was him. You get it? That's why I come in to assess. Do you get where I'm coming from? So that's why I was able to buy mine. So I think you just need to take your time and understand the process. Yes, there's a lot of risks that shouldn't be the case in property ownership, but that's the reality on the ground. But there are people buying land left and right. I've been involved in over 200 land sales. That's what I'm talking about. And I've been purchasing land left and right. I still have issues sometimes not to sell to people. My personal line, I'm actually fighting somebody right now that's titled. But I was aware of it before I even went in because I know the game. So if I'm selling something to somebody, it's land that's big. I'm not going to. I'm not going to go and take that CIS plus and then sell it to someone without me testing it. Because when I went to work, I have issues now that I got to fight this Is not my first time doing this. So I just have to teach them a lesson. Right. So you sometimes have to align yourself with someone who knows what they are doing. They have a little bit muscles because you know, it's a system that you have to know how to fight. You have to know, you have to know how to fight it. You might not have the time. My first line case, the guy thought it was bugger in town. I don't have the time to fight and he just came to test the waters. It had nothing to do with the system but it was a greedy individual that just wanted to fight me on something that was legitimate mind and I had to fight for it.
- [04:36]
C
So. So the example I gave about a man from. The guy's a real estate developer. He's built over 16 houses in that area and he was just selling two plots to me. So he had the mother title like you like he had already done the security and everything until I did my search. That's where he got the surprise for himself that somebody had already. But for some of the properties he had done, he was able to transfer the title. A few others that he was not developing. Now this new injunction is going to be placed on it. But away from that, the bigger picture, the reason why people are buying properties in Dubai for and paying off plan project for eight years, seven years is because the government is the guarantor for all the developers.
- [05:15]
B
I see, yes.
- [05:16]
C
So what happens is that you put the money in an escrow with the government. So if you're a developer, if you want to do project A, depending on the magnitude of the project, there are two approaches. The developer has to have a certain amount of money that they declare and they show documentations to the government. The buyer of the property is not paying directly to the developer. They pay into an account that has an escrow with the developer and the government. The government will only release that cash to the developer if they're able to complete that project. If that project is not completed, the government will ensure that the, the buyer has a refund of their money. So these are things we need to do because I've been to Rwanda, in Rwanda there's an app that every land you see in Rwanda, once you have that app and you scan it, you can tell every. On everything that everybody that's owned the land, the size of the land, everything, the, the price detail, they've been able to build the data. So much like it's an mls, you know, so it's like a multiple listing platform and these are things that we know. We, we, we have the education on. We are trying to educate the government, we're trying to educate the other people, other realtors, other brokers, developers. On the mindset of certain people is the reason why we are where we are today. My point will still be, what if you don't meet people like Rush? Owning a land in Ghana without I won't even miss words is difficult and it might be your worst nightmare. If you don't take care, you are going to break down. So much so that when you see land and blocks, you're going to vanish. Because if you no pick one day, let me tell you, go to the court, tell them to give you their calendar and take out the land court cases and go sit there and just witness it for yourself. And you see document to document. People bring out documents from 1980s, 70, 60s and challenge your 2005 one. And there's a whole family that comes with a bus against one man. It's not a. It's not a very pleasant situation to behold.
- [07:13]
B
So I sat here with honorable Kennedy Japan.
- [07:16]
C
Yeah.
- [07:16]
B
And he says he regrets owning over 200 properties in Ghana.
- [07:20]
A
I agree.
- [07:21]
C
Yeah.
- [07:21]
B
What's your view on that?
- [07:22]
A
First of all, it's stressful. I don't see myself owning all those homes for management and all that. You know, Ghana, you know, even picking back up on the investment side of things. Not a lot of people are going to rent a place for $2,500. There's some risk there. I actually have space that I rent out for Airbnb. I've been fortunate. But there are vacant spaces all the time here in Ghana. Right. So if you have 200 homes, there's a risk of that. There's a lot of opportunities in the business space that you can use that money. I heard him say that you can use that money to make so much money if it's not in the house, because the house is expensive. What I'm saying is maybe owning your primary home for me is a lifestyle choice more than investment. Right. That's what saved me when I was down here. If I didn't own my. It forces you to. To own something if I didn't own it. And when everything crashed, I didn't have to worry about paying somebody rent and all that stuff. You can figure things out. Just got to think about what you're going to eat today. And you can figure things out because you know where to lay your head. So it's more of a lifestyle choice. If you look at the return on capital, it might not be the smartest investment, right? Only your home. Because you have to maintain, you have to do this, you have to do that. But if you have that house and you are broke, you don't care about maintenance, right? You're okay. You care about having electricity and water painting and all that stuff. When you figure things out, you paint it, right? So for me, I look at that more for a security, having a base, knowing that your family is not going to live on the street. It's guaranteed Ghana when you own your home. Property tax, how much is it? It's not something that stresses you out no matter how broke you are. Property taxes. I've never heard somebody that said property tax. Because of property tax, they've lost their home in Ghana. So from that lifestyle choice, I think it's Ghana if you own your home because there's not a lot of bills. Once you own your home, I think it's great. It's a great lifestyle choice. And after that, that 200 homes that it's not necessary. For me, I'm okay. I'd rather Polydyne put into real business that would generate far more capital and it's less stressful to manage.
- [09:09]
B
Let me stop you here for a minute. We are on the journey of changing the minds and the lives of people. So if you haven't subscribed and become part of the family, please hit the subscribe button and turn on the notification. Thank you. Now, let's carry on with the conversation. What's your view on what?
- [09:24]
C
Now in that conversation, you remember he said one time he got broke and he sold five of those houses to raise a million or $5 million. Now owning 200 homes might not necessarily be his problem. The problem is when did he start owning the unit? Were some renovations done? Did they change the furnishing? You see, once you approach the industry, you need to know how the game is in the industry. You don't put all your investment in one particular location. You need to diversify. So where are these 200 homes located? Even if we say 50, 50, 50. Cantament, Laboni, East Lagoon, Roman Ridge, North Ridge, this. How were they main over time, did he try to run it on his own or he gave it to a property management company? Because I have friends who are specialized in property management and they can even guarantee you and give you an amount of money that you agree with them every month and they take the risk of advertising and renting out these properties for you.
- [10:21]
B
So I think his point was really, and I'm sorry to cut. I usually would not do this, but no problem. I think his point was that having over 200 homes for him compared to how much he makes from the industries he has, that's just. Just doesn't make sense cash flow wise.
- [10:36]
A
No.
- [10:36]
C
For cash flow and looking at other businesses and today's wealth, owning the 200 homes might not be the ideal thing. But I'm still saying now you own it already, you already have it, so you still got to make the money from it. So there are a few tweaks you have to do because I've dealt with landlords. Villagio, you know Villagio, there are three different structures there right now. There's one structure that came before the other. The ones in the old ones complain that they don't get tenants in there. And sometimes we just go in there, change the carpet, change a few stuff in there, take some nice pictures, stage it properly and then they get tenants to come in. If it's looking at other industries, Canadian, Japan is a big player. How do you compare owning a home to having a really steel factory? How do you compare a home to having a commodity like chicken that even with all the number of co stores we have in Ghana, we're still not meeting the demand need. So that industry will obviously be a good one for him to make the money, but now he has it.
- [11:29]
A
I agree with ken. I think 200 homes, if you do the calculation, especially the locations he was talking about, that's huge sums of money. I mean, we are looking at a country where we need jobs, right? And the house is just sitting there. And to be honest with you, I have friends that have homes in Continent and stuff.
- [11:43]
C
Connected minds, podcast.