Tips, horror stories, budgeting hacks, and real talk from people who've been there.
Your rent is annual and your income is monthly, and nothing bridges that but planning. The month-nine conversation, and what section 37 gives you if the increase is unreasonable.
Sort costs into three types first. Why metering appliances destroys households, how to handle generator fuel at ₦1,400 a litre, and the travel rule to agree early.
Iba, Igbo Elerin, Iyana Iba and Ijanikin, with reported rates. Why a split flat beats a single lodge room, and the handover deal that leaves you with nothing.
Hilltop, Odenigwe, Odim, Behind Flat and Green House, ranked by what they cost. What to check at the lodge, and the handover deal that leaves you with nothing.
Sharing halves your rent or hands you a year of resentment, and the difference is the conversation you had beforehand. The seven questions that decide it, including the awkward ones.
Service charge and diesel make Phase 1 cost far more than the rent suggests. The three real doors in, and the questions that protect your budget.
Do not commit to a year before you arrive. The sight-unseen protocol, the fee stack that catches returnees, and why the four postcodes you are steered toward are exempt from the Tenancy Law.
Section 8 gives him the structure and common parts; section 7(3) gives you tenantable repair, wear and tear excepted. A table for the usual cases, and what to do when he will not act.
Do not merge two tastes. One neutral base, two personal layers, and an ownership list written as you buy so the exit is arithmetic rather than argument.
Cannot demand two years, cannot withhold a receipt, cannot seize your property, cannot evict you personally, cannot walk in unannounced. The sections, quoted.
Power, bandwidth, call collision and the blurred day. Divide the map then the clock, pick a layout with a door each, and agree what counts as an interruption.
Maryland sells optionality: two independent routes to the island plus Ikeja next door. What that costs, where to look beside it, and how the premium compares to Bariga and Surulere.