‘Conduct thorough checks when buying properties from real estate companies’

Mr Ian Tabalor Okwei, the Protocol and Administrative Officer, Tema Development Corporation (TDC) Ghana Limited, has called on Ghanaians to conduct a thorough investigation before buying properties from real estate companies.

He said it was crucial to first know which state agency had jurisdiction over the land in question to enable the buyer to check with either the Lands Commission or the TDC on whether the real estate company was the legitimate owner of the land before any transaction could take place.

Mr Okwei, speaking with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview, explained that it was important to check the necessary land documents and be abreast of the procedures to transfer the property into the buyer’s name.

‘If those relevant questions are not answered by the real estate company, it means that although they are real estate companies, they don’t have the requisite capacity to transfer the facility to you,’ he stated.

He said it was worrying that a lot of people had acquired properties with n
o legal documentation, making them illegitimate owners of what they assume they owned.

‘Don’t be deceived by their company’s name; the fact that they are real estate companies does not mean that they are registered landowners within the TDC database,’ he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency