Property Inspection Checklist: What to Look for in Kano

I accompanied Tijjani Bello, a 38-year-old engineer, to inspect a property in Tarauni he was considering buying. He is not an MBPP client; he contacted me after reading our previous article on first-time buying. What he found in 45 minutes saved him from what could have been a 14 million naira mistake.

The wall crack was the first clue

The property was a three-bedroom bungalow built in 2018. From the outside it looked well maintained. But a diagonal crack running from the top right corner of the living room window toward the ceiling told a different story. "That is foundation movement," Tijjani said. "It means the soil beneath that corner is shifting. It could be drainage from the neighbour's property or a collapsed soakaway." A structural engineer later confirmed the foundation issue and quoted 1.8 million naira for underpinning work.

What to check in the roof

We climbed into the attic through a trapdoor in the hallway ceiling. The timber joists showed water staining near the chimney joint. "This roof has about three years left before it needs replacing," Tijjani noted. A new roof for a house this size runs 1.2 to 1.8 million naira in Kano. The seller had not mentioned any roof issues.

The plumbing test

The agent turned on all taps while we stood outside watching the drainage pipe. Water pooled at the base of the wall instead of flowing into the soakaway. "Blocked drainage is the most common problem in Tarauni houses built after 2015," Tijjani said. "The contractors use undersized pipes to save money." In this case, the drainage would need to be dug up and replaced, costing approximately 400,000 naira.

The document check

Tijjani asked to see the original Certificate of Occupancy. The agent produced a photocopy. "I do not accept photocopies," Tijjani said. "I will pay for the Land Bureau search myself." He called a contact at the Kano State Land Bureau and arranged a search for 7,500 naira. The search confirmed the seller's title was clean, but the property boundaries in the survey plan did not match the fenced area on the ground. The seller was occupying an extra strip of land that technically belonged to the adjacent plot. "That means a future dispute with the neighbour," Tijjani said. He walked away from the deal.