Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has advised Lagosians to be wary of real estate agents to avoid being scammed.

Mr Sanwo-Olu made the plea at the opening of the third edition of the Lagos Real Estate Market Place Conference and Exhibitions organised by Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (LASRERA) held at Victoria Island, Lagos on Tuesday.

The governor, represented by Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, urged the people to fact-check the records of the organisations they are dealing with to ascertain whether they are registered with LASRERA and other relevant government agencies.

“The emerging trends and practices in this sector in recent time call for increased vigilance on the part of all genuine practitioners and the government,” Mr Sanwo-Olu noted. “This is in view of the rate of reported cases of dubious acts by some real estate agents who are taking undue advantage of the market, which has become one of the fastest growing in Nigeria and Lagos state in particular as a result of increasing population.”

The Lagos governor added, “As a government, we owe it a duty to safeguard investments of people who may be unaware of some unprofessional practices in the market. The need to restore public confidence in this sector led to the establishment of the Lagos state real estate transaction in Lagos state to protect the citizens and investors from the potential risks emerging in the market.”

The governor, therefore, advised registered individuals and organisations to avoid doing business with unregistered real estate practitioners by familiarising themselves with LASRERA guidelines.

He said the agency had defined minimum operational standards and guidelines for citizens to abide by.

(NAN)