Tired of paying two year's rent upfront? This startup wants to help

folarin okunola

May 18, 2016 12:55 PM

The new e-real estate kid called Fibre.ng, led by Obinna Okwodu, seem to have a solution for the clusterfuck that is renting an apartment in Lagos.

Fibre

Renting an apartment in Lagos is tough business, we all know this. Agents asking for outrageous consultancy fees, landlords asking people who earn monthly income to pay two year's rent upfront and all the other shenanigans.

The new e-real estate kid called Fibre.ng, led by Obinna Okwodu, seem to have a solution for the clusterfuck that is renting an apartment in Lagos.

The company's goal is to give Lagos residents access to high quality apartments with option of paying for said apartments on a monthly basis - like they do in other sane parts of the world.

So, what's the catch? Intending tenants have to sign one-year contracts, pay 25% of the annual fee (that's three months' worth of rent) to get the keys, and spread the remaining 75% over the next 11 months. Tbh, that isn't really a catch - it’s a solution.

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To prevent Fibre from racking up loads of unoccupied apartments, the company sources its houses according to demand. Users make requests on the website and Fibre goes to look for apartments that best match their given criteria.

When I came across talk of Fibre on the Internet, there were a lot of complaints about prices the company attaches to its houses, but I didn't think the complainants considered stuff like house location and all the other added charges.

Luckily, Tola Agunbiade of TechCabal put together an infographic to show the comparisons between regular rent and Fibre's charges. You can check it out below:

On May 6, Fibre's first house went live; it's in Lekki and the first occupants are expected to move in by June. On the company's site right now, there aren't any other locations but I would expect that they would come through for we the mainland people and expand their offering.

We wait.

folarin okunola