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| Source: Sunonline |
By Olumide T. Agunbiade
IT happens a lot these days in Nigeria. Homeowner falls
on hard times and has to move from his home, selling or renting it out to make
ends meet. But, if that house happens to sit on a few acres in Ikoyi area of
Lagos, there may be one difference. The rent is N2.5million. A month.
That
was what chief Korede, a politician and socialite--his close friends includes
Senators and Ministers—was asking for his Bourdillon Palace, as it was called.
In the year since he moved, he already had two tenants. One a Russian oil
tycoon and the other an Italian interior decorator. They were the sort for who
price hardly matters. What they want instead are security, the location and the
experience.
I
remember this particular encounter as if it happened yesterday even though it
happened two years ago. I was in my office preparing a letter of offer for a
property at Yaba area of Lagos, when my phone rang.
The
caller was Jibola Akinyemi, an estate surveyor based in Ibadan but happens to
manage properties in prime locations in Nigeria. He was in Lagos and wanted me
to accompany him to inspect a property at Ikoyi that he had been instructed to
rent out by owner.
Few
hours later, I sat beside him in his Jeep on our way to Ikoyi. We soon joined
the traffic at Obalende. “The landlord is asking for N2.5 million a month,” began
Jibola.
“That’s quite expensive!” I replied.
“I told him but he said I should go and
inspect the place. Besides, the former tenants paid that much.”
“Really? Then I can’t wait to see the
place,” I replied.
While
moving at snail pace due to the traffic, we soon approached Akin Adesola and finally
navigated our way from the Falomo roundabout to Bourdillon and finally arrived
at the place we came to inspect.
From
the pavement, you’d never guess what lies behind the imposing doors of
Bourdillon palace. But inside lurks a former palace, complete with a rooftop
terrace affording magical views of both Ikoyi and Victoria Island.
There
are only 8 bedrooms, all with high-gloss white walls and cooling accents of
mint green, a disco room, saunas, cinema, gym room, swimming pool, bullet proof
windows and so forth. The style, if that is the word, is somewhere between
kitsch and sublimity, with Greco-Roman columns here, Babylonian motifs there;
some Versailles and Neuschwanstein and so forth. It was the kind of structure
that would simply blow your mind away.
Jibola
and I were shocked at the sight that befell us as we moved from one place to other
inspecting the rooms and the facilities that words cannot describe anymore.
“What do you think?” asked Jibola.
“I think I’ll take it,” I replied, smiling
at him.
“We
both know you can’t afford it,” said Jibola.We both laughed as our voice echoed
through the mansion. “If I get a good offer, I can persuade the owner to reduce
the price,” he said. We soon left the mansion, locked the gates, got into the
car and drove away from Bourdillon palace.
Two
weeks later, the owner turned down a movie producer’s request to lease the
mansion for a fee, N1.8million offer from a petrol chemical engineer, N2
million offers from an oil tycoon and N2.2million a month offer from a
politician.
A
month later, the situation did not change. The offers kept pouring in from
different firms and the homeowner kept turning down the offers. Jibola was
disappointed with the situation and many estate firms had lost interest in
marketing the property due to the continuous rejection of the offers of their
interested clients.
According
to Jibola, nobody had managed to offer the asking price. Besides, the former
occupants of the property never renewed their rent after a year. At the time of
this incident, luxury flats in Ikoyi is between $40,000--$55,000 and even a
mansion of similar style is not worth the owners’ asking price of N30 million
per annum.
Two
months later, Jibola said the owner was ready to listen to offers on one
condition. The condition was that Jibola must invite an agent from Lagos who
must convince him that his property did not worth the asking price and of all
agents, he choose me!
I
turned down the invitation but Jibola insisted that I should come. Besides, he
agreed to send a driver to pick me up from Lagos. The night before the trip, I
could not sleep. My mind was filled with different thoughts concerning the
journey.
What
kind of person is the homeowner? Why did Jibola Akinyemi choose me? Is my decision
to embark on the journey a right one? That night, I prayed very well before
sleeping.
To be continued!
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