I had always read about how much properties had appreciated in value in a matter of years, and I had always had to imagine what it would have been like if I had the opportunity to buy the said properties at their initial value.
Earlier this week, the company rolled out a Kid’s Investment Package, and most of our workplace conversations had been tailored around it. I had intimated my colleagues about my fascination with property valuations, and so when this package was unveiled, it created a good opportunity for us to have the conversation about the implications of investing in properties on behalf of your kids.
Before I go any further, I’d love to illustrate the theme of this post with a very short story.
Some years ago, Mr. Emmanuel Obaje, a civil engineer, decided to put away some money in a savings account for his three kids. He had intended for the savings to help see his kids through their education in later years. His wife however advised him to commit the money into real estate because, in some years’ time, the value of such investment would skyrocket, unlike a savings account would. He heeded his wife’s counsel and bought a property in his children’s name. Over the years, the rental value of the property alone had yielded so much that most of the children’s educational expenses were paid through the annual returns of the rent. In 10 years, the value of the said property had almost tripled, and his children will forever remain grateful for the smart choice he made.
Have you been made privy to the current value of a certain property, and you start to wonder what could have been if you had purchased the said property at its original value many years before? Do you have any idea how much value today’s properties are going to be worth in many years when your kids are old enough to reap the dividends of your current investment?
One of my colleagues became a physical testimony of futuristic investments after he confided in me about how most of his schooling was financed by a property his late grandmother had purchased with her pension, and how even though she had died while he was still too young to appreciate that sacrifice, many years later, he came to understand the power of how much great investments affect a person’s legacy long after they are gone.
Even though most of us at the workstation today are currently in no position to afford to chunk off some millions into real estate investment, I personally cannot wait to make enough bread to put into working investments for the generation that will be spawned out of my loins.
Oh, and if there is anything this year has thought us, especially as Nigerians, it is that savings will not make you richer. So, do you have any money stacked up somewhere, sitting idle in a place where the value may depreciate according to the fall of the Naira? Why don’t you commit such money into some real estate investment?
Call me maybe. Have a great week ahead.
