Let's Get Started.

Hi there. Let me introduce myself again: My name is Ladi Joseph Oluwarore. I am a development consultant based in Ibadan, Nigeria. I created this blog for you and other people who desire to have their own shelter through affordable means. This has been my passion for about two decades now, and through the initiatives that I pioneered successfully, several cooperatives have acquired their own estates, many of which are fully occupied by owners and tenants today.

After the brilliant success of our Happy People Cooperative Housing Estate in Ibadan in the 1990s, I have been approached by several positive minded people to collaborate on another venture into property development, particularly for affordable shelter. I thought deeply about the results of the previous program, its strong points and shortcomings, and decided that whatever has to be done in the future must be a great improvement over our past achievement.

This is where we are now: Getting started. I need to elaborate clearly on the procedure that will take us to our dream quality environment, which I believe should serve purpose of providing either economic benefits for each participant or meeting the shelter needs of those in need. In some cases, the two benefits will be achieved.

If you are ready to go with us, I would like to inform you that our program will begin by building from the socio-economic to the physical. Of course we all know that this is an inverse procedure to the normal. Yes, that is the nature of our program because we want all stakeholders to be involved and have inputs from the inception. By this, I mean that we follow the next steps one after the other.....
(1) First, we get the future neighbors and investors together,
(2) Then we get the land and associated resources,
(3) Next we get the techniques of developing affordable housing,
(4) And finally, we develop the high quality estate that we desire.

It is imperative that willing participants indicate their interest by giving accent, making comments and contributions, and leaving their email addresses on this blog. We must start with a group of not less than 10 people, of which I am one, and in which three other people have expressed strong interest. Will you join this highly beneficial program? Please indicate now.

Options: Will you build alone or with a group?

Building your own house is a task that can be accomplished by the average person as long as he or she has the desire and necessary enthusiasm to do it. Have you made up your mind about this very interesting project? Once a decision is taken, you can move ahead to choose out of the two options: whether to build your house alone or with a group of people with the same need, desire and enthusiasm.
A note of clarification here: the aspect of building alone is never really strictly by yourself. You are still likely to involve your family and friends who will constantly share ideas and assist you with some site work. This approach is however significantly different from building with a formal group of people that is created specifically for the purpose of home construction or similar developmental project. These two approaches will accomplish task, with varying degrees of factors and success.
In my next post, I shall be talking about some of the advantages and disadvantages of using one approach or the other. See you around!

To Build or Not to Build

This question is often a major hurdle in the minds of would-be self-builders, usually causing the initial hang-up at the very inception of the project. People ask themselves the question: Can I really, truly use my own hands to build my own house? This is because house building, to most people, is almost like rocket science. However, this is never the case. Anybody can build himself a house, perhaps with a little assistance from experts like me and some muscle help from friends and neighbours. I pledge to take your hand from the very beginning of the project to the final finish... That is, if you will allow me to do so. Which means, you have to allow yourself first to build the house before calling for help. I am ready. Are you? Do you wish to build your own house?

Home Ownership the easy way

Do you know that certain things remain enigmatic and seem impossible until you brace up and make an attempt to deal with them? By the time you actually break down your home ownership problem that seem so insurmountable into smaller units and begin to deal with each one of them one by one, you may never realize that it is a very easy project. Take note of these components for affordable housing which we shall be dealing with from the beginning of this year.
1. Project Initiation and Planning
2. Land
3. Professional Services
4. Building Materials
5. Building Construction
6. Building Services
7. Funding
I am looking forward to lively discussions with you on these issues in the next few days. But do not sit on the fence: Start something new today!

Is it Your Time To Build?

In Ecclestiates, the Bible says
"TO EVERYTHING there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:
 A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant .......... and a time to build up"
If it's your own time to build a house and provide a roof over your head, nothing in this world can stop you! But what and how will you build? Most importantly, how long will it take you to accomplish this great task? We have heard of many who began but could not finish simply because they refused to take stock of what is required and at the same time assess what they had to see it through.
I have some great resources that will help everyone who aspires to build a house either for self-occupancy or as rental property to properly plan and accomplish their projects in convenient time and at affordable cost. Furthermore, it could turn out to become the greatest adventure you ever had. It's all in a free e-book titled: "Seven BIG Steps to Build Your Own House within Budget" Click this link to get it.
Good luck!

Which one are you? UPPER or lower GM?

Home ownership is sometimes considered as a gargantuan task for the average person due to the fact that the cost of a modest bungalow could run to between N2million and N20million (about $13,000 and $130,000 respectively), depending on the location. For an average person on minimum wage whose annual income does not exceed N250,000 ($1,600) per annum, this is a mission impossible. However, it has been confirmed that cost reduction in any of the four or five elements that make up home ownership could bring the cost of housing to the barest minimum. In order to prove this point, ask yourself this question: How come certain General Managers (GMs) are still aspiring to have their homes while gate-men (also GMs  ) in the same company may already be landlords? Easily, one may answer the question that the first GM is looking for large sums of money to build, while the other GM uses a little money that comes to hand with some strategies to build his house. So it's all about the utilization of the right strategies for home ownership.
Next, I shall be discussing about the Key Strategies for Affordable Home Ownership and I hope we can draw more people to this forum to benefit and contribute to this topic and others that will open in the near future.

Dreams Come True

Hi! My name is Ladi. I am a development consultant with in-depth knowledge and two decades of experience in affordable housing. When I was younger, my colleagues and I never bothered our heads on whether we would have to struggle for personal accommodation or get it through formal/official means. We didn't even worry about getting jobs because by the time you graduate, a job is waiting somewhere for you. But today, no work, no house, no support, nothing seems to be available for any young upstart. This is the reason why I was inspired about 20 years ago to start exploring strategies for affordable housing.
I believe I have a lot to share with you on these affordable housing strategies and will be ready to offer counsel and guidance to any individual seeking such. It may be you or someone else close to your heart like a family member or friend that will be using the information I will be sharing here. What matters most is that you should be prepared to utilize the resources therein for the greatest benefit. Ultimately, the objective of this section is to help those who wish to help themselves to become home owners so that we may be able to reduce homelessness in our society. And don't forget to share or introduce this blog to that special someone who will benefit from this. He or she will be grateful to you for life, because you will have contributed to making their dreams come true!
See you again in a day or two.