Starting Real Estate Development in Nigeria with Zero Funds

Seike Igbiriki began developing interest in real estate around 2015 when he started thinking seriously about life after university.

He didn’t really know anyone to reach out to for help except the book, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and countless online materials especially on youtube which sounded abstract to him because they kept talking about real estate with respect to how it was done in the US which is completely different from how it’s done here.

Even while he was working as a caretaker branch manager of a multinational franchise in Port Harcourt, he still had interest in real estate far more than his paid job.

Later, he met a successful local agent for guidance which he offered him and then months later in December 2016 while at work reading one of those numerous online materials as he always did back then, he stumbled on a life changing, brief but attractive real estate article written by John Oyedepo and posted by one of his real estate mentors, Emmanuel Abikoye, talking about the Lagos real estate market.

For the first time, he immediately reached out to Emmanuel Abikoye that same day, resigned from his paid job about 2 months later and relocated back to Lagos to begin pursuing real estate full time in February 2017 as a freelance consultant with no guarantee for payment or salary that he previously used to enjoy.

His decision seemed unreasonable then and was questioned by his parents and loved ones especially in those months when he was totally broke and indebted but he knew where he was headed and there was no guess work about it. Things were really tough back then but he knew very well that it was a phase that would surely pass if he intelligently followed the right path doggedly and consistently.

A few years down the line numbering up to about 10 years, he’s had highs and lows even till now but of course, he’s a lot better.

Part of his highs was that he has achieved top realtors status with some top developers, contributed significantly in registering and building a team of over a thousand realtors with some going on to set up their own successful real estate firms that are worth multi millions of naira today.

Then his lows. Do you want to know?

Having to deal with some rude clients who freely insulted him while making negotiations, senior and junior colleagues who defrauded him, doing manual site labour for about a year when things weren’t adding up, sexual advances by colleagues/prospective clients, insecurity as regards site inspections and so on.

In all these, he didn’t back out or even think about throwing in the towel for a moment. He’s in real estate for the longest possible term. There’s no room at all for defeat.

During the second half of last year 2022, Seike Igbiriki floated a real estate development firm in Lagos with zero capital called Grounds and Cribs Investment Limited in Lagos.

Grounds and Cribs Investment Limited currently has an estate development named Da Viva Estate at Epe Lagos located about 10 minutes drive from Lagos State Food Security Systems and Logistics Hub which is the largest in Sub Saharan Africa. About 3 more estate developments would be launched in the month of May 2023 as they are already in the works.

As a company with a current team of 7, headed by the founder/MD Seike Igbiriki, Grounds and Cribs Investment Limited ensures that her clients get genuine, affordable and cash flowing real estate products.