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The practical guidelines for property acquisition
have been summed up by the Acronym SAFE outlined below.
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The firsts letter implies search. Under search you have
to identify four areas.
- 1a - Searching for property through Estate Agents,
Advertisements, Estate Developers and by Social contacts,
(i.e. word of mouth or referral.)
1b - Conducting Legal Searches through competent Lawyers
at the Lands Commission Offices located at the various Regional
capitals to ascertain the legal ownership.
1c - Conducting Technical Search at the Town and Country
Planning and Geological Survey Departments either by yourself
or through your Lawyer to ascertain the planning scheme
of the area, any future planning proposals by the government
and finally the geological format i.e. earthquake, waterlogged
areas.
1d - Conducting Social Searches by investigating the ownership
through residents of adjoining properties, to ascertain
whether it is a family or estate property. The background
of the owner his credibility and a thorough personal due
diligence.
The second letter A implies advice. In searching one cannot
overlook the importance of advice.
- 2a - Advice from Estate Agents, Real Estate Developers,
surveyors or any person involved in identifying the property
has been to be adhered to.
2b - Attention must be paid to the advice of your Lawyer
from Searches conducted by him and in respect of drafting
of contracts and mode of payments.
2c - Advice concerning the Technical and geological Searches
should be taken seriously and strictly adhered to.
2d - Another important advice is your own personal Social
searches about the property and the owner.
The third letter F implies follow-up. You need to follow-up
by verifying all the above processes.
- 3a - Follow-up: I will sum follow-up or verification
by a 'maxim' (trust but verify). Although you have to depend
on professionals you must through your own due diligence
verify their results by seeking second opinions from other
professional and appropriate Government Departments.
The fourth letter E implies Enquire or Elicit.
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4a - Enquire or Elicit as much
information concerning the property in relation to ownership
and the results of searches etc. I wish to emphasis that
the acquisition of a property from a reputable Estate
Developer takes a lot of burden from the Purchaser since
most of the Real Estate Developers use competent legal
and other Professionals to undertake their jobs.
In conclusion this practical steps does not guarantee
a full proof success in your journey to acquire a property
in Ghana since other factors like individual tastes, financial
requirements also play a major role. However, strict adherence
to the above practical steps will go a long way to eliminate
most if not all the problems associated with the acquisition
of a property in Ghana.
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