They Saved for Years, Then Lost Everything: The Costly Mistakes Trapping First-Time Land Buyers in Adamawa

Property prices across Adamawa State are rising. More Nigerians are trying to buy land for the first time. And real estate professionals say the mistakes being made right now are not small ones; they are the kind that cost people everything they saved.

Heugah Johnson John, Managing Director of Home Keys Global Investment Limited in Yola, has spent years watching first-time buyers walk into avoidable traps. In an exclusive interview with The Gazette News (Nigeria), he laid out exactly what is going wrong, who is being hurt, and what buyers must do differently.

His message was direct. The problem is not just the market; it is the decisions buyers are making before they ever sign a document.

The Five Mistakes Costing Adamawa Buyers the Most

The first and most damaging mistake, according to Heugah, is going through a property transaction without professional help. Buyers avoid hiring surveyors and lawyers to cut costs. That calculation almost always backfires.

“One of the most serious mistakes that first-time buyers make is lack of proper verification,” he said. “A lot of people don’t want to employ the services of professional surveyors or barristers because of the cost, but you will realise that you’re going to pay more for not using these professionals.”

The second mistake is poor location analysis. Not every plot of land is a good investment, and buyers who skip the research often end up with land in areas that offer no real return. “Location to a large extent affects the value of the house you are buying,” Heugah explained. “You have to look at the kind of house you want and the location before making any decision.”

The third mistake is chasing cheap offers. Across Nigeria, below-market pricing on land is one of the most reliable warning signs of fraud; yet buyers are drawn in by it repeatedly. “People fall for scammers when they get a cheap land offer,” Heugah said. “Because the offer is very cheap, they don’t do due diligence. They are swayed by the amount and end up getting their fingers burnt.”

Valuable land commands appropriate prices. That principle does not change because a deal looks tempting.

The fourth mistake involves something most buyers never think to check; what the government plans to do with the area. Under the Land Use Act of 1978, all land in Nigeria falls under state government jurisdiction. The government can revoke land in the overriding public interest, and it does.

Heugah cited a concrete example. When the new Yola bypass was constructed through Rainbow Town, numerous properties were revoked for the infrastructure project. Owners lost land they had paid for, with little or no recourse. “A lot of people don’t know this,” he said. “Before buying land, find out what the government’s intentions are for that location.”

The fifth mistake is buying from district heads or village heads rather than registered companies. Transactions through these informal channels often lack proper layouts, road access, and documented survey plans. Worse, the same plot is frequently sold to multiple buyers. “Mr A, Mr B, and others”, Heugah described, “leading to serious disputes.” Without formal documentation and a credible seller, buyers have almost no legal standing when those disputes arise.

When Buying Is Not the Right Move

Behind all five mistakes sits a larger question that Nigerian society rarely pauses to ask seriously. Is this even the right time to buy?

Heugah is clear that financial readiness must come before the emotional desire for homeownership. “Everyone wants to own a home, but going by the prevailing realities on the ground, it makes more sense to rent if you don’t have a strong financial cash flow,” he said. “It’s better to rent a house, build your business, establish a very strong cash flow, and then eventually buy a house.”

The pattern he sees most often is buyers stretching beyond what their income can support, then struggling to manage the asset they just acquired. “People buy houses when they don’t have strong income and cash flow. Eventually, that will affect them,” he warned.

On the rental side, Heugah expressed cautious optimism about prices stabilising in Adamawa. He pointed specifically to the state government’s 1,000-unit housing estate project currently under development in Jan Kasa as a supply intervention that could ease rental pressure once completed. “Once that project is completed, it will go a long way in reducing the high cost of renting apartments,” he said.

For now, high rents remain a reality for most residents. And for buyers who move too quickly to escape those rents, the risks waiting on the other side of a bad land deal are considerably worse.

The Adamawa State Ministry of Lands and Survey did not respond to The Gazette News‘s requests for comment on buyer protection measures as of press time.

What Buyers Must Do Before Signing Anything

The prescription Heugah offers is not complicated. It is the same across every transaction, every price range, and every location in Adamawa State.

“Involve professionals. Involve a barrister. Involve a surveyor to do a proper survey, and buy from a credible company,” he said. “At the end of the day, it may look as if you are spending more, but it will save you from having headaches in the future.”

That upfront cost, whether it is a surveyor’s fee, a legal verification charge, or the premium of buying from a registered developer rather than an informal seller, is not an extra burden. It is the single most reliable protection a first-time buyer has in a market where fraud, revocation, and disputed titles are documented risks.

The Adamawa property market will keep moving. Prices will keep rising. The pressure to buy before the opportunity closes will keep building. And the five traps Heugah has spent years watching buyers fall into will keep waiting for whoever arrives unprepared.

“It may look as if you are spending more,” he said. “But it will save you from having headaches in the future.”

For every first-time buyer in Adamawa weighing that decision today, those words are worth more than any bargain price a seller is offering.

Heugah Johnson John is the Managing Director of Home Keys Global Investment Limited, Yola, Adamawa State. This report is based on an exclusive interview conducted by The Gazette News (Nigeria).