Determined to ease the process of owning homes for young professionals and other Nigerians, Octo5 Holdings Limited, a Nigerian Real Estate Development Company, has launched its Save to Own (STOW) platform.
STOW is a web and app-enabled home purchase platform for off-plan and new build homes provided by proven real estate developers. STOW enables prospective homeowners to reserve / subscribe to homes in existing and upcoming communities while making monthly payments over a defined period to take ownership of such homes on completion.
According to the company, STOW is designed as a demand aggregator and marketplace for buying and potentially trading homes being developed by Octo5 and a network of proven developers. Through STOW, prospective subscribers can evaluate projects, subscribe to chosen ones, track their payments, monitor project progress and, if desired, exercise an option to convert their purchases to mortgage homes.
Babajide Odusolu, chief executive officer, Octo5 Holdings Limited, noted at a virtual conference titled “The Octo5 Discourse” hosted by it, to address homebuyers concerns which impede real estate investments in Nigeria that STOW is the next step in the company’s continued quest to enable hardworking Nigerians to become homeowners and gain economic empowerment.
According to him, “the twin challenges that stop many from buying properties in planned communities with good title are the need for payment flexibility and fear of non-performance. STOW creates a defined method for payments via instilments and project tracking through the app”
Despite an increase in private sector investments in the Nigerian real estate industry, the country’s housing deficit keeps getting worse. Nigeria with an adult population in excess of 100 million, has a homeownership rate below 30 percent which is one of the poorest for large economies. The number of Adult Nigerians living in sub-standard homes is in excess of 50% in urban and peri-urban areas.
Even with several recent laudable initiatives such as the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company and Family Homes Funds by the Federal Government and initiatives such as Lagos HOMS, the challenge remains unabated especially as there is a perennial mismatch between the desired homes and what are available for career professionals. STOW seeks to serve as credible platform and bridge for marrying homebuyer needs with developers output.
Odusolu added that STOW enables users to save as low as N50,000 monthly towards purchasing their dream homes. “What we have done is to remove a major entry barrier that discourages Nigerians from aspiring to become homeowners.
“Until we unlock the latent wealth in the informal sector, Nigeria will not grow! STOW creates access to property with good title and high income prospects which can serve as both first homes and investment property and trade capital” our goal is to set every working Nigerian free economically, this starts with building assets that can be leverage.
Also speaking during the event, Madu Hamman, managing director/CEO, Abbey Mortgage Bank PLC said, “We are excited to partner with Octo5 to demonstrate our commitment to the development of the real estate industry in Nigeria and indeed Africa.
“We believe in providing equal opportunities for players in the sector so we welcome men and women to partner with us to foster the much needed development. We are repositioning ourselves and redesigning our products to encourage people to save consistently towards owning homes. These reinforce our mission to make dreams come true as well as create a paradigm shift in Africa’s vast real estate market.”
