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Why Ghana’s Rental and Real Estate Market is Due a Revamp
I went to the same estate agent with whom I had registered nine months earlier, hoping that he might actually find me a place to live this time. I got to his office, where the old boy sat beaming across the table at me, like an eagle eyeing its prey. In a corner, like carrion, his assistant slept faced down at her desk.
Estate Agents in Accra are usually a bunch of hustlers. Young men standing on street corners, typically hoping for the best of what the wind may blow. Each is competing to let a property a landlord may or may not have available to rent. Only one of them generally has the keys to arrange a public viewing, but he’s put the word out to others. All the boys are looking out on his behalf to get a share of the spoils. The sole keyholder is bobbing around town himself. So, getting inside to see these premises when you get to the addresses is often a challenge in itself.
There are too many stories of rental and real estate scams going around in town at any one time to keep count. But you do need to be extra vigilant and very cautious about to whom you hand your money when conducting business in Ghana. Some landlords demand up to three years’ rent in advance on residential lettings in Accra. Others see fit to request ten years’ payment upfront on commercial leases. You stand to lose a tidy sum if you hand your…
