Story Time: The Landlord Who Believed His House Was Worth Lekki 1 Prices

There are landlords… And then there are others, the ones who believe their property is the 8th wonder of the world.
One afternoon, I went for an inspection in a quiet part of Lagos. Nice neighborhood, decent house, nothing extraordinary. The kind of place you look at and say, “Okay, this is fair.”
We finished the walkthrough, and I asked the landlord casually:
“So, sir, what’s the rent?”
He cleared his throat. Adjusted his cap. Stood like he was about to announce election results.
Then he said:
“₦15 million.”
I blinked. He blinked. The house blinked.
I said, “₦15 million… yearly?” He nodded proudly like he just invented real estate.
In my mind, I was screaming Sir, this house is not even giving Chevron. It’s giving ‘I try.’
But I stayed professional.
I asked, “Sir, may I ask how you arrived at that figure?”
He smiled and said:
“Have you seen Lekki 1 prices? My house is even finer than some of those.”
Lekki 1 ke? This house that had tiles from the era of Nollywood Part 1, Part 2, Part 3?
I took a deep breath.
Then he added:
“And my cousin said I should not collect anything less. He said the house has potential.”
Potential? Sir, even the house was confused.
I gently explained market value, location, demand, infrastructure, and comparable pricing. He listened, nodded… and then said:
“Okay, let’s do ₦14.8 million. Final.”
At that point, I knew negotiation had left the chat.
Weeks later, he called me.
“Amanda, nobody is calling for the house. Should we reduce it to ₦3 million?” I said, “Sir, welcome back to reality.”
He sighed and said:
“Maybe Lekki 1 is not for everybody.”

Moral of the story:
On a more serious note, the rental value of a property is based on market value, location, demand, infrastructure, and comparable pricing. If the house were in Lekki 1, it would definitely command  higher value.