Searching for your next apartment has to be one of the most tedious activities on the planet. Doing this in Lagos can be compared to throwing yourself into a madness. Here are some helpful tips to secure a proper living space in this city:
Make sure your landlord is not a thug
It doesn’t matter how perfect a house is, the minute you reside with a thug in the same compound, then it’s a downward spiral from there. This isn’t restricted to the landlord. A bad neighbor is as awful as a bad spouse. Your home should be your happy place, not your most feared space, because you don’t know who will threaten who with a cutlass next.
The existence of taps don’t mean there’s running water.
Know this fact and know peace. If the house agent swears upon his dead uncle that there’s a water supply to that house without you seeing for yourself, then just forget it. You’d be subjected to a lifetime of kegs of water and large drums if you fall for it. Don’t forget that water is life, and the lack of it can ruin a lot.
Drainage systems
You could be having a really great experience with choosing an apartment, all because you came during the dry season. Try looking out for proper drainage systems or take a look at the location of the house; if it’s down a slope, or close to a bridge, you can start thinking of purchasing your canoe. Also, if the road that leads there looks like an abandoned route into the trenches, then you might as well get ready to swim out of your house on rainy days.
Count how many generators are outside
If you walk into a prospective house and you can see that just one of the neighbors has three generators outside their apartment, and another is currently running a small generator that looks like it has been working for 72 hours, that is definitely a glaring red flag. Next is to look up to see if the power cable is still connected to the electric pole. If no, then dust your slippers and keep it moving.
Make sure you’re the only one using the toilet
Everything could be going on really well, until you ask the house agent where the toilet is. Make sure to ask how many of you would be using it, before you move in. Things could get really interesting when you realise the reason the toilet is between two rooms is because it was designed to be shared with love.
