| Guide to Property Acquisition in Ghana |
|
|
|
The practical guidelines for property acquisition have been summed up by the Acronym SAFE outlined below. 1b - Conducting Legal Searches through competent Lawyers at the Lands Commission Offices located at the various Regional capitals to ascertain the legal ownership. 1c - Conducting Technical Search at the Town and Country Planning and Geological Survey Departments either by yourself or through your Lawyer to ascertain the planning scheme of the area, any future planning proposals by the government and finally the geological format i.e. earthquake, waterlogged areas. 1d - Conducting Social Searches by investigating the ownership through residents of adjoining properties, to ascertain whether it is a family or estate property. The background of the owner his credibility and a thorough personal due diligence. The second letter A implies advice. In searching one cannot overlook the importance of advice.2. 2a - Advice from Estate Agents, Real Estate Developers, surveyors or any person involved in identifying the property has been to be adhered to. 2b - Attention must be paid to the advice of your Lawyer from Searches conducted by him and in respect of drafting of contracts and mode of payments. 2c - Advice concerning the Technical and geological Searches should be taken seriously and strictly adhered to. 2d - Another important advice is your own personal Social searches about the property and the owner. The third letter F implies follow-up. You need to follow-up by verifying all the above processes.3. 3a - Follow-up: I will sum follow-up or verification by a 'maxim' (trust but verify). Although you have to depend on professionals you must through your own due diligence verify their results by seeking second opinions from other professional and appropriate Government Departments. The fourth letter E implies Enquire or Elicit. 4a - Enquire or Elicit as much information concerning the property in relation to ownership and the results of searches etc. I wish to emphasis that the acquisition of a property from a reputable Estate Developer takes a lot of burden from the Purchaser since most of the Real Estate Developers use competent legal and other Professionals to undertake their jobs. In conclusion this practical steps does not guarantee a full proof success in your journey to acquire a property in Ghana since other factors like individual tastes, financial requirements also play a major role. However, strict adherence to the above practical steps will go a long way to eliminate most if not all the problems associated with the acquisition of a property in Ghana. |
| < Prev |
|---|
