5 Nigerians On Their Worst House Hunting Experiences

House hunting can be an extremely stressful process for anyone. From exorbitant agent fees to unliveable spaces, tribalistic landlords and water issues, the experience will always leave you questioning whether you really need to move. This week we asked five survivors of the house hunting trenches to share their worst stories of searching for the perfect place to call home.

Tammy, 23

After paying the agent fee, I told the agent my budget and the type of apartment I was looking for. He assured me that he had a few places we could check out. In fact, there were two close to me. So tell me why this man took me to a hotel in a very hidden part of town. That’s not even the worst part. The room was so tiny and had no windows. There was a tiny sink by one corner (that was supposedly the kitchen), and the other corner of the tiny windowless room had a tap head and was the bathroom. As in, I would be bathing and water would be flowing to my bed.  I was so pissed because I had to pay for our transport down there and back.

Alexis, 25

I moved into an apartment after being assured by the caretaker that the area was safe and that they take security very seriously. Barely a week later, we were robbed. And in the next apartment, I noticed water marks on the roof and asked the agent what happened there. He swore on his mother that there was nothing to worry about and it wouldn’t leak. In fact, they were going to change the roof before I move in. They did not. Not even six months later, I came back from work to find my apartment flooded with my bed and laptop underwater. 

Raymond, 27

On my first day of house hunting, the agent took me to a poultry. I’m not joking. He said the chickens had been sold so the owner was going to repurpose it and add a kitchen and bathroom. I left without a word. On day two, I actually saw one I really liked but it was a bit above my budget. I was still thinking about it when a man paid the rent of the house for his girlfriend. On day three, they showed me a house without a fence. When the agent went to answer a phone call, one woman pulled me aside to tell me that they rob the place every two weeks and I should run if I know what’s good for me. I decided maybe it wasn’t yet time to leave my parents’ house.

Florence, 26

I told the agent I was looking for a self contain. He took me to a room with four big windows, and an extremely low ceiling. I’m 5’3 for context, and I couldn’t even jump because my head would definitely touch the ceiling. Worse still, it didn’t have a personal toilet. The agent said I would be sharing the one in the landlord’s guest room. As in, I would literally have to  go into my landlord’s house to shower and then go back to my room. I asked the landlord if his guests and I would take turns in cleaning the toilet and he said it’s just me. The way I ran.

Tamilore, 25

My sister and I moved into this apartment. Since I was doing IT far away, I didn’t always sleep there. Two weeks later, she called me crying in the middle of the night that the tiles in the room shattered. It turns out the space was previously a burial ground. We moved to our grandparents house immediately and had to drag the landlord for about three months before he refunded our rent.