Skillnaija All courses →

Real Estate Investing & Property Business in Nigeria: Land, Titles, Rentals, Shortlets and Development

How property actually makes and loses money in Nigeria — the title ladder from C of O to family receipt, buying land without being robbed, the real cost of perfection, land banking versus rentals versus shortlets, mortgages that exist and mortgages that do not, developer joint ventures, the fraud playbook, and the 2026 tax rules — with numbers you can check.

Start learning free More Business courses

Free account required to open the lessons. No card, no fees.

About this course

Every Nigerian family has a land story, and half of them end badly: the plot sold twice, the omo-onile who came back for more, the estate that never got its excision, the flat whose rent never covered its service charge. This course is the one people wish they had read first. In twelve lessons you learn how the Land Use Act makes every title a lease from the governor and what each document on the ladder really proves; how to search a title at the registry and read a survey plan; how to buy land from a family, a developer or a cooperative without being defrauded; what a transaction really costs after Lagos's 2026 valuation increase; the honest arithmetic of land banking, buy-to-let and shortlets with 2026 yields, costs and taxes; why almost nobody has a mortgage and what the National Housing Fund, rent-to-own and developer instalments can and cannot do; how build-to-sell and joint ventures with landowners work and why buildings fall down; the fraud patterns LASRERA and the EFCC are chasing; the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 rules on capital gains, rental income and tenants' rent relief; and finally how to decide, with the money you actually have, whether property is the right rung for you now. The project is a fully verified investment memo on one real plot or property, in which 'walk away' is a passing answer.

Nigerians trust land the way other people trust banks: it does not vanish in a bank failure, it does not get rebased by a policy, and everyone knows someone who bought a plot for ₦500,000 that is 'worth millions' now. Some of that trust is earned. Much of it is survivorship — nobody tells the story of the plot that was under government acquisition, the flat that lost money for six years, or the ₦40 million tied up in a place nobody would buy. This course teaches property as an investment, which means numbers, documents and law, not slogans. It starts with the four ways property pays, the one law that governs every plot in the country, and the 2026 figures you will use throughout.

What you'll learn

Course syllabus — 12 lessons

  1. How Nigerian property makes and loses money — the four returns, the Land Use Act, the 2026 numbers, and why land is a late rung14 min
  2. The title ladder — C of O, governor's consent, deed of assignment, excision and gazette, R of O, family receipt; reading a survey plan; and searching the registry15 min
  3. Buying land without being robbed — omo-onile and the 2016 law, family land and principal members, estate developers and cooperatives, the inspection, the professionals, and how to pay15 min
  4. What a transaction really costs and takes — offer to deed to consent to registration, the 2026 Lagos Blue Book, stamp duty and fees, agents and lawyers, and a closing-cost calculator14 min
  5. Land banking — where growth actually comes from, holding costs, the liquidity trap, nominal versus real returns, excision timelines, and the honest verdict on 'double in three years'14 min
  6. Buy-to-let — gross and net yield, the real cost lines, the Lagos tenancy law and the 2026 bill, screening tenants, annual rent versus monthly, and being a landlord who gets paid15 min
  7. Shortlets — the 2026 Lagos and Abuja numbers, occupancy and nightly-rate arithmetic, costs that eat the margin, estate bans and licensing, platforms and management, and when a shortlet beats a long let13 min
  8. Financing — why almost nobody has a mortgage, the National Housing Fund at 6 percent, FMBN's 2026 diaspora loan, commercial mortgages at 20-28 percent, rent-to-own, developer instalments, cooperatives, and the leverage arithmetic that does not work14 min
  9. Development and joint ventures — build-to-sell arithmetic at 2026 costs, LASPPPA permits and LASBCA stages, why buildings collapse, the professionals, landowner joint ventures and their deeds, off-plan selling, and contractor control15 min
  10. The fraud playbook and what to do about disputes — double sales, forged titles, fake agents and developers, the red flags, LASRERA and the EFCC, courts versus mediation, and the file that wins14 min
  11. Taxes, records and the property business — the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 on gains and rent, land use charge and stamp duty, holding through a company, REITs as the alternative, and building an agency or management business14 min
  12. Deciding — the framework by capital from ₦2 million to ₦200 million, the rules that never bend, diaspora buying, the verification checklist, and your investment memo13 min

Your project

Your Verified Investment Memo

One shared link (Google Drive folder, Notion page or PDF set to 'anyone with the link') containing the memo, the title and survey images, the search or charting evidence, the due-diligence photographs, and the cost-and-return spreadsheet.

Certificates on Skillnaija are earned, not issued for attendance: you submit this project, it is graded against a rubric, and passing issues a certificate anyone can verify. See the full project brief, rubric and free workbook →

Frequently asked questions

Is Real Estate Investing & Property Business in Nigeria: Land, Titles, Rentals, Shortlets and Development free?

Yes. Real Estate Investing & Property Business in Nigeria: Land, Titles, Rentals, Shortlets and Development is completely free on Skillnaija. You need a free account to open the lessons, and there is no charge for the course, the project, or the certificate.

How long does Real Estate Investing & Property Business in Nigeria: Land, Titles, Rentals, Shortlets and Development take to complete?

7 weeks · ~4 hrs/week. There are 12 lessons, about 3 hours of material in total. You learn at your own pace and your progress is saved.

Do I need any experience to start Real Estate Investing & Property Business in Nigeria: Land, Titles, Rentals, Shortlets and Development?

Intermediate. Some prior grounding in the subject will help you move faster.

What will I learn in Real Estate Investing & Property Business in Nigeria: Land, Titles, Rentals, Shortlets and Development?

You will build practical skills in Real estate investing, Land title verification, Property due diligence, Nigerian land law basics, Property valuation and yield analysis, Rental property management, Short-let operations, Property financing and mortgages, Real estate development and joint ventures, Fraud detection in property deals, Property taxation (NTA 2025), Negotiation and contracts, Financial modelling, Investment decision-making. Every lesson is written for a Nigerian context, with examples drawn from how the work is actually done and paid for here.

Do I get a certificate for Real Estate Investing & Property Business in Nigeria: Land, Titles, Rentals, Shortlets and Development?

Yes, but it has to be earned. You complete the course project — Your Verified Investment Memo and submit it for grading. Passing the project issues a verifiable certificate; finishing the lessons alone does not.

Related Business courses

Ready to start Real Estate Investing & Property Business in Nigeria: Land, Titles, Rentals, Shortlets and Development?

It's free, it's self-paced, and it ends with something you can show an employer.

Start learning free