Hello everyone, It's been a while here. My post for today is to recount my experience while I was hunting for an apartment in Lagos.
I must confess that house hunting is not for the weak as there are agents out there who are only concerned about what they want to gain and not what is best for you.
I came to find out lots of things while searching for an apartment. Here in my country when a woman separates from her spouse and decides to stay on own, we tend to find that some laws in my country are a little bit biased against women.
Firstly, you cannot get an apartment without the help of an agent unless God is on your side and you get the apartment from the house owner itself which is very rare. Many caretakers will make the house owner apartment to stay for long periods of time before a tenant can get it , because they will make their own money from the tenant before getting to the house owners at the end, you will be ask not to let the house owners to know the amount you gave them and you will be threatened by the caretaker and the agent to be given quit notice if the house owner get to know that you pay more than expected to pay by the house owners.
While searching for this apartment I find out that discrimination is much against single mothers, especially in the city which is full of different ethnic groups. Most landlords don't allow 85% of those that have different culture, beliefs and language to rent their apartment.
I continued my search for an apartment and I was made to know that single mothers are not given an apartment to live in unless they have a husband, because they believe that they cannot afford to pay for the rent.
When I intensified my search of the apartment I learnt that most landlords don't allow certain professionals in their houses,most of the caretakers will even worsen the situation by saying a trader is not allowed in some compound while some only allow business men and some allow office workers.
When you get a chance to see the apartment you like to leave in, you will be told that it needs a particular tribe only and that is not your tribe and definitely you will get disappointed even most of the house owners will tell you that they only needs a particular religion if is owned by Islam then they needs a Muslim tenant and if is owned by a Christian some will accommodate all tribes and religion and some will not.
If the house is in the care of a lawyer, the lawyer is going to interview you with different annoying questions as if you want to process a visa traveling out of your country.
That is how I get to know that a single mother has to stretch the truth in some cases of having a spouse and he is working far away or even not in the country before she can be given an apartment. Even if you are given an apartment because of the absence of a man, the caretaker will almost frustrate your life by demanding unnecessary money and you will be asked to repair the damaged things of a house you have not lived in before.
It requires lots of intelligence to play due to you being a single mother and needing a shelter for you and your kids . I find out that many compounds don't associate with each other due to the law given by the landlord/ landlady and the caretaker.
In the process of finding an apartment I met lots of bad people that only wanted to collect money from me and I also met good people who stayed all through my apartment finding and we are friends up till date and finally I found a good apartment. I was so excited.
The things I find out is being smart, fearless, God fearing, boldness and self confidence can take you lots of places and you will be able to meet good people and can differentiate bad people in the process.
Experience they say is the best teacher and while it wasn't all pleasant, I learned a great deal.
All images used are mine.
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