“Is Nigeria Ready For Online Real Estate? I’m Not Quite Sure.” That was the title of @MrBankole’s article about 3 months ago. The article did spark a conversation, and even Chris Joseph of Nigeria Property Center had this to say:
“Bankole Oluwafemi, one thing we have found out from Nigeria Property Centre is that low budget property for rent in most cases gets rented out before the agents even get the time to list the property on property websites. This is simply because the demand far outweighs the supply. This is feedback we got from some estate agents we work closely with. Nice article Bankole.”
Serendipity allowed for Emeka Onkwa of ReadyCash (Parkway Project) introduce me to Nnamdi, who is a developer and promoter of the acclaimed Nigeria’s No 1 property search site NigeriaPropertyCentre.com.
Below is the interview I had with him:
OTEKBITS: How long have you been around, and what is the reception like?
Nnmadi: Nigeria Property Centre launched in April 2011. The reception has been great because the website has significantly increased leads for agents and also made the process of searching for property for rent and sale in Nigeria easier for property seekers. We have been getting some testimonials from agents too.
OTEKBITS: How does the platform work in brief – Give a walk through
Nnamdi: Nigeria Property Centre operates a free-to-list model which allows estate agents in Nigeria to list their property for sale and rent for free. People searching for property are then able to browse through the large database of properties and contact the agents for properties they are interested in via phone numbers which are displayed on the property listings or via email using a contact form on property pages.
OTEKBITS: What is the problem you are trying to solve?
Nnmadi: Prior to the launch of Nigeria Property Centre, searching for property in Nigeria online wasn’t an option either because property websites had too little property listings or websites that were not user friendly. In advanced countries, the primary means of searching for property in online because it’s easy and efficient. Our goal was to make this possible in Nigeria and we believe we have almost achieved that. Nigeria Property Centre holds a large database of property for sale and rent in Nigeria which is presented in a manner that makes it easy for people to find what they are looking for quite quickly.
Nigeria Property Centre also provides monthly reports that allows people make important decisions about buying or renting property. For example, our report on the average price of 3 bedroom flats for rent around Lagos can help people identify areas they should focus their search on based on their budget. Also, our report on the prices of property in a particular locality can help people identify price trends which is potentially important for making decisions on whether to invest in an area or not.
Other features on NPC include the ability to sign up to alert for newly listed property in particular areas. Property seekers are also allowed to post property requests which allows agents who can meet their needs get in touch with them. Nigeria Property Centre also provides free business websites for estate agents in Nigeria which comes as part of agent accounts on the site. These websites can be set up in as little as 5 minutes.
OTEKBITS: How techy is the platform – mobile compatibility, social media reach, etc?
Nnamdi: Nigeria Property Centre launched it mobile site in July 2011 (screenshot attached). To view this, simply browse nigeriapropertycentre.com from a mobile phone. To increase the reach of property listed on NPC, all properties are posted on our Facebook page and Twitter account. Yes, we are on Google+ too.
