Unlocking smart real estate opportunities in Nigeria
Among investment analysts and experts, real estate is generally referred to as the best investment asset class and, far back in the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States of America (1933-1945), this view was held strong that “real estate cannot be lost or stolen, nor can it be carried away. Purchased with common sense, paid for in full, and managed with reasonable care, it is about the safest investment in the world.”
Though Nigeria is in a recession and real estate sector is not immune to the impact of the recession, the sector still holds its own, and this is why the 2016 edition of Refined Investors Series coming up by the third week of November aims to generate high level conversation about unlocking smart real estate investment strategies and opportunities in the Nigerian property market during a period of recession.
Refined Investors Series, an annual real estate event organised by Fine and Country—Nigeria’s leading light and award winning luxury real estate marketing and consultancy firm—is a platform with an unmatched focus on the audience that truly matters including astute investors, property enthusiasts, buyers representatives and advisors, occupiers, tenants and leading financial stakeholders.
“We are truly delighted to present the 2016 Refined Investor Series which will also showcase a highly selective pool of value-engineered investment opportunities in key locations”, said Maryanne Udo Okonjo, Fine and Country’s CEO, in a statement obtained by BusinessDay.
According to her, the conversation at the forum will also centre on topical issues such as “understanding what defines luxury homes and prime offices; pricing prime offices and residential properties in a recession and volatile economy, and urban cities or ghost towns in the making?”
Okonjo notes that with an increasing number of residential properties being represented as luxury, and in the commercial space, most offices being offered as Grade A Prime Offices, there is an increasing need for real estate investors/occupiers to understand what exactly they are getting, what matters most and what constitutes a luxury property or prime Grade A office.
The forum will be providing answers to the question as to whether there are practical strategies apart from price wars for commercial landlords to ensure that the increasing stock of offices do not remain on the proverbial shelf for longer than is necessary; what is the right pricing strategy in the current market? What are the real drivers of commercial leasing decisions? And what do corporate tenants really care about?
“What is the future of middle class urban residential living? Where are the opportunities? How do investors get to access them and what’s the best way to get maximum value from new urban cities or projects? Are they well thought through?”, she said are also questions that the forum will answer.
CHUKA UROKO