inspection report
Inspection Report: the written record of everything a professional found, or failed to find, when they checked a property before you paid for it.
In plain English
One family in Lekki paid ₦85,000,000 for a duplex because it looked freshly painted and the agent kept saying 'it is solid, madam.' Six months later, the roof was leaking into the master bedroom and the plumbing had to be redone from scratch.
Another family in the same estate paid for an inspection first. The report came back with three pages of problems, cracked tiles, a weak foundation wall, faulty wiring in the kitchen. They used that report to negotiate ₦4,000,000 off the price and fixed everything before moving in.
That difference, between guessing and knowing, is what an inspection report gives you. It is a document written by someone who is not trying to sell you anything, whose only job is to look under the paint and behind the walls and tell you the truth about what they see.
A good report covers the roof, the foundation, plumbing, electrical wiring, damp patches, and sometimes pest activity like termites. It is not a pass or fail exam. It is a list, often with photos, that tells you exactly what condition the property is really in.
For someone in the diaspora sending money home to buy land or a house in Nigeria, an inspection report matters even more, because you cannot fly down every weekend to check the walls yourself. A trusted inspector becomes your eyes on the ground.
In the UK, buyers often commission a survey report before completing on a house, and it works the same way. It protects you from paying full price for a building that is calmly falling apart behind a nice coat of paint.
A buyer in Abuja was about to pay ₦60,000,000 for a bungalow. The inspection report showed the septic tank was failing and would cost ₦2,500,000 to fix. The buyer used the report to knock that amount off the price before signing anything.
Questions people ask
Who pays for the inspection report, the buyer or the seller?
Usually the buyer pays, since it is done to protect the buyer's interest and give them facts to negotiate with before completing the purchase.
How long does it take to get an inspection report after the visit?
Most inspectors deliver a written report within a few days to a week, depending on how detailed the property check was and how large the building is.
Can I still buy a property if the report shows problems?
Yes, many buyers do, but they use the findings to renegotiate the price or ask the seller to fix the issues before the sale is finalised.
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