Seeking an apartment for rent is now one of the easiest ways to be frustrated in Osun. Most caretakers are soulless, according to Opeyemi Julius. The relationship tagged ‘unholy’ by many between some landlords and some caretakers has not helped matters either. There is little or no difference between the caretaker fee and the actual house rent.
To rent an apartment, either self-contained, a room and parlor self-contained, a two-bedroom flat, or a three or four-bedroom flat in Osun, particularly Osogbo or Ilesa, you must be ready to make a payment for two years to settle a one-year rent and agreement.
To make matters worse, landlords no longer contact real or licensed estate agents. According to findings by WITHIN NIGERIA, local chemists, POS operators, bricklayers, carpenters, among others, now act as caretakers because many landlords are either ignorant or want to evade payment for contractual agreements.
In this report, WITHIN NIGERIA interacted with some house seekers who had sworn not to forgive caretakers as a result of terrible experiences.
Olajide, a 28-year-old graduate who works in a bakery, recounted his sad experience at the hands of a caretaker who is in his early fifties.
Olajide, who completed his NYSC in 2023, had traveled to Ilesa upon the request of his uncle, who asked him to come and act as a supervisor in his friend’s bakery since he is not yet gainfully employed.
Olajide, who left Ede with joy to resume work after months of joblessness, later lost his excitement due to troubles from caretakers who made life tougher for him.
According to Olajide, he needed a room apartment that is within the same area where the bakery is located to minimize the cost of transportation.
‘When I got to the bakery, I discussed accommodation with a colleague identified as Stephen, who referred me to a chemist fondly called ‘Baba Oloogun.’ I was wondering why a chemist would be doing the job of an agent until I got to his shop and discovered that he only sells shovels, hammers, nails, headpans, and others alongside drugs, a rather sad Olajide narrated.
He further disclosed that he did not meet Baba Oloogun in his shop, but he saw a large wooden structure inscribed with descriptions of available apartments and a phone number to call for engagement.
I picked up my phone and dialed the number. I heard the voice of an elderly man who should be in his late fifties or early sixties. I was pleased that I would not be duped or frustrated since I would be dealing with a man who could father me, but I was wrong,’ he added.
According to Olajide, Baba Oloogun asked me to wait for him in front of his shop. He just took some boys to go and check an apartment and would not come back quickly to attend to him.
‘Barely 20 minutes after the call, Baba Oloogun arrived. I introduced myself and explained my situation. I really need a room in an apartment urgently because I do not want to sleep inside the bakery or bus belonging to the bakery for distribution of bread to retailers or wholesalers, he explained.
Olajide recounted how Baba Oloogun called him back in the evening to notify him of a room apartment in the vicinity.
“You need to show up before another person shows interest in the apartment. The building is a nice one. It has a toilet and bathroom, but you will use it with other tenants. You also have a corner in the kitchen that is close to the window. Come and meet me in my shop,” he recalled how Baba Oloogun spoke to him via phone.
Olajide claims he quickly left the bakery for Baba Oloogun’s shop, where he was asked to pay the sum of N3000 for sightseeing.
‘But I have not seen the apartment. I don’t know if I would like it or not, Olajide argued. ‘ It is a nice apartment, I’ve told you, and if you don’t pay my fee, I will not take you there. That’s how it is, don’t you, Olajide claimed. Baba Oloogun replied back.
‘I later paid the sum of N2000 after a lot of appeals. He took me to the house, and I was shocked by what I saw. The building has a pit latrine toilet, a bathroom built with used roofing sheets for eight rooms, and a kitchen for all tenants. The room I’m supposed to pay for has broken walls and ceilings, and two louvers of the window are broken. I don’t want this kind of house. ‘Help me look for a better one,’ Olajide painfully narrated.
According to Olajide, he paid N2000 thrice for sightseeing before he now had an agreement with the caretaker to call him whenever he sees a better house.
“We later found a room in an apartment in Anaye. Although the house is not really good, it is fair when compared to others. I paid the sum of N36,000 for annual rent, but I did not know that I would still have to pay 10% of the rent, but I was surprised when the caretaker requested that I pay another N2000 for sightseeing, N10,000 as a caretaker fee, and N2000 for the agreement form, making it N14,000.”
Olajide told WITHIN NIGERIA that the caretaker insisted he must pay the N14000 before he pays the annual rent to the landlord.
“I begged him to allow me to pay the N36000 before I spent the money. He disagreed after I assured him that I would pay him later. I felt very bad, and I lost the offer after spending N6000 for sightseeing. He did not consider that I bought drugs from his store. I lost the apartment because I could not pay the N14000 agreement fees,” he added.
Gabriel, a 34-year-old man, experienced unpleasantness in the hands of caretakers too. In a conversation with WITHIN NIGERIA, the father of two revealed that he nearly cursed the caretaker who finally got him a house.
According to Gabriel, more than three caretakers had duped him with a particular fee he must pay to check the house he wanted to rent.
They will say nice things about the apartment you want to rent, but you will see different things when you get there, and they don’t even care. Any money you pay to check any apartment you wish to rent is non-refundable,’ he stated.
The father of two who described caretakers as undertakers, further stated that caretakers are liars and untrustworthy fellows because they only worship money.
“I have checked out a particular apartment and paid for it. Surprisingly, the caretaker called me to return my money, claiming that the landlady wants to renovate the house. He did not return the money I paid to check the house, nor the agreement. He only returned the annual rent, and I did not argue. I later discovered that he gave the apartment to another house seeker who was ready to pay more ,” the father of two explained.
Bukunmi, a 29-year-old single mother of two, told WITHIN NIGERIA that she accessed some loans for business and needed a shop at a strategic location to kick-start it.
The single mother disclosed that she spent six months looking for a shop before fortune later smiled on her.
According to Bukunmi, she had paid the sum of N2000 thrice to two caretakers who took her to some shops.
She disclosed that she did not settle for them due to the location and structural outlook of these shops.
‘One shop is situated in Idasa, a notorious area in Ilesa. The other shop is situated in Oke-Esho, while the third one is situated in Ifofi. These shops were in bad shape. They did not return my sightseeing fees. ‘They said it is non-refundable,’ she further disclosed.
While conversing with WITHIN NIGERIA, Bukunmi revealed that she later saw a shop with an annual rent of N120000, but the caretaker insisted that she must pay the sum of N20,000 as an agreement fee because he connects the house seeker and house owner together.
Biodun, a 25-year-old man who claims to be working for an IT firm remotely in Osogbo, told WITHIN NIGERIA that his landlord collected the sum of N50000 from him as an agreement fee for a N200000 room and parlor self-contained in Oke-Baale.
He disclosed that the caretaker had already collected the sum of N5000 from him when he wanted to check the house.
According to Biodun, he has no idea of how the caretaker arrived at the N50000 agreement fee because he was expecting 10% or 15% of the actual rent as an agreement to be paid.
“You either pay or lose the apartment. Landlords work alongside caretakers to frustrate house seekers. You can not reach the landlord or landlady without the caretaker. This allowed them to behave as they liked because they knew you couldn’t get in touch with the landlord,” Biodun disclosed.
He further disclosed that he borrowed funds to pay the N50,000 agreement fee for an apartment with N150,000 annual rent.
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