Most premium residential property in Lagos is sold before it is finished. Buyers commit during construction, pay across a schedule, and take handover on completion. The arrangement is normal and, handled properly, advantageous: you buy at today's price and pay progressively rather than in one lump.
It also carries real obligations on both sides that brochures tend to skip. This is what buying off-plan in Lagos involves in practice.
The deposit sets the terms
Almost every off-plan purchase begins with an initial deposit, typically expressed as a percentage of the purchase price, with the balance spread across the construction period. A larger deposit usually buys a shorter spread or a better price; a smaller one preserves liquidity.
Across Strongmas Development the structures are published rather than negotiated case by case. Aurum, in Lekki Phase 1, prices 2-bedroom apartments at ₦320,000,000 outright, with Plan A at a 20% deposit of ₦64,000,000 and a ₦256,000,000 balance across 10 or 13 instalments, or Plan B at a 40% deposit of ₦128,000,000 and a ₦192,000,000 balance across 10 or 13 instalments. Elysian Rise, in Victoria Island, is structured around a 40% initial deposit with the balance across 12 to 18 months.
Milestones matter more than dates
A completion date on its own tells you very little. What tells you something is the current construction stage, and whether progress can be independently observed.
Elysian Rise is at eighth-floor slab. Kesbel Court, on Fatai Idowu Arobieke Street off Admiralty Road, is at roofing stage. Avions Court 2 in Ikota G.R.A. is approximately 90% complete. Aurum is scheduled for completion in Q4 2028. Ask for the stage, not just the date, and ask whether you can visit the site.
What to confirm before you sign
Title. Confirm the land title and that it is clean and registered. This is the single most important check in the Nigerian market and the one most often deferred.
Payment schedule. Get the deposit, the instalment amounts and the dates in writing, along with what happens if you pay late.
Delay remedies. Ask what you are entitled to if handover slips, and whether that is written into the agreement.
Specification at handover. Establish exactly what is fitted on delivery, kitchen, wardrobes, flooring, sanitaryware, air conditioning.
Track record. Ask what the developer has already completed and delivered, and go and look at one.
The case for buying early
The reason off-plan persists is straightforward: you fix a price at the start of a construction period and pay it over that period. In a market where premium stock is limited and construction costs move, that is meaningful leverage, provided the developer completes.
Which is why every question above ultimately reduces to the last one. The payment structure only matters if the building gets finished.
