Amazing Property

Dressed in a simple Polo T-Shirt on a Friday Evening, Sijibomi Ogundele, Nigeria’s youngest Billionaire and Luxury Real Estate Czar, can be seen on the Lucrezia project site, in the prestigious Banana Island neighborhood, inspecting the work done and ensuring every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ is crossed. No one would have thought that this man, who is currently worth billions, was once a Souvenir hawker in France and also did alabaru for his trader Mum in Africa’s most populous market – Oke-Arin, where he was nurtured by enterprising Igbo Traders, which ignited his passion for business. Growing up in the slum of Agege, as a little 8-year-old, Sijibomi’s first introduction to Entrepreneurship was when he started a bike business popularly called‘Okada’ business, from his little savings. Despite the usual African Parent’s disapproval, he drew inspiration from his mother’s entrepreneurial spirit and grew his Okada busin...

There are growing concerns over non-compliance to the parking regulations in the real estate sector, as citizens fail to adhere to the urban and regional planning laws. The Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Act and respective States urban and regional planning and development laws as domesticated are quite explicit on space standards, parking space, greenery and setbacks for different land uses and heights of the building. But the contravention of some standards like the parking space has posed serious traffic management issues that lead to time delays and traffic congestion. Furthermore, the security of the residents can be in jeopardy in the event of emergencies and fire outbreaks. For example, a commercial bank in Owerri, the Imo state capital got approval to use the entire ground floor for parking but it was later converted to rooms and presently both their staff and those who come to the bank park outside. Similarly, a developer in Lagos Mainland who secured a planning permit t...

The July 15 tax filing extension deadline for 2019 returns is quickly approaching. The IRS had postponed the original tax filing deadline from April 15 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But it’s standing firm on the July 15 deadline, and you’ll need to take action or risk facing a penalty. July 15 is also the deadline for making first- and second-quarter estimated payments for 2020. You’re required to make estimated payments if you expect to owe the IRS more than $1,000 when you file your 2020 return. Here are some tips to preparing your taxes ahead of the deadline: Collect your documents. Double-check that you aren’t missing anything. Use your prior tax returns as a guideline. You should be able to access most tax documents, such as bank and mortgage tax statements, online. Consider an extension.  If you’re unable to meet the deadline, you can file for an extension to gain extra time—until Oct. 15. The form for filing an extension is at IRS.gov. Ta...

In the same way lenders scrutinise the credit history of home loan applicants, it’s now standard for Australian landlords to run credit checks on prospective tenants. Landlords run such checks to ensure would-be tenants have a solid financial track record and a history of paying rent and looking after properties. Can landlords run credit checks? Both private landlords, who manage their own properties, and property managers, employed to do the job on behalf of owners, run checks using fee-for-service agencies like Equifax and Tica, which offer financial and tenancy-specific searches. Landlords can run credit checks before they agree to lease out their investment properties. Picture: Getty. In the case of a private landlord, they can pay “per check”, while real estate agents generally have a subscription, which allows for multiple checks. In both cases, the applying tenant provides government-issued identification, which is then used as the basis for an online check. Why...