Casafina Capital out with financing solution for home buyers, investors
As part of efforts to ease the challenges of financing housing projects in Nigeria, Casafina Capital Limited, an emerging real estate company, has launched a new residential and investment platform that allows subscribers to invest and co-own residential property in prime areas of Lagos, Abuja and other major cities in Nigeria.
The online platform known as www.onesqm.ng enables members to earn guaranteed rental of up to 25 percent per annum with an investment capital that is as low as N250, 000.
Driven by a desire to improve housing provision in Nigeria, Casafina Capital has also rolled out a rent-to-own house acquisition scheme, where investors are expected to move into their own houses after payment of two years rent and legal fee that equal a one-year rent.
The rent-to-own scheme, which targets middle class income earners, also allows the subscribers to continue to pay rent for about 18 to 20 years until the house becomes theirs.
“This new product allows people to invest in a set of real estate products and own a fraction of one asset of choice”, Oluwaseyi Olufemi, chief executive officer of Casafina Capital, explained to newsmen in Lagos last week.
“This journey marks the beginning of a revolution in real estate financing in Nigeria. Investors can earn from one square meter through rental; commission from referring friends and families to create an account as well as earning extra value through co-ownership model,” Olufemi added.
According to him, interested persons are expected to provide an account detail at the point of registration where the rentals will be remitted automatically at the indicated timeline.
Olufemi, who acknowledged that such investment comes with risk that relates to documentation for the land asset used for the project and failure to meet up with the estimated timeline for the construction, said that the company only uses landed asset that has been verified and confirmed to have the requisite documents.
“We ensure that all our contractors and subcontractors are licensed professionals and can take a performance guarantee. In terms of fund, all funds on the platform are held by third party trustee known as Union Trustee. This means that, whether we exist or not, the asset on the Onesqm scheme is held securely and will continue to yield the required return or interest,” he assured.
He listed Casafina’s active project locations which people can invest in to include 10 units of 5-bed room duplex in Opebi and 80-units of 4-bed room apartments in Ikate-Lekki Phase 1.
“Once you invest in a project, you get an interest in the nominated account instantly without needing to apply for it and you can as well terminate the investment by going to your dashboard to click on liquidate button,” he added.
On the rent-to-own scheme, Olufemi said that the scheme allows investors to upgrade their accounts to a bigger one in the same location without losing the already existing equity and an investor can transfer his or her equity to another person.
“The scheme does not encourage multiple payments as people will continue to pay the same amount until the ownership of the house is transferred to the subscriber and there is no hidden charges attached,” he assured.
CHUKA UROKO