Real Estate Investment in Africa: Why Invest In Ghana?
OWNERSHIP freehold land in Ghana is only permitted for those
who owned freehold before the Ghanaian constitution was changed.
All property and lands sold in Ghana since the constitution
was changed should be sold leasehold. Ghanaians can legally
have leaseholds for 99 years. Non-Ghanaians can have access
to residential, commercial, industrial or agricultural land
on leasehold basis for up to 50 years. We will be providing
Non-Ghanaians with an automatically renewing lease which will
afford the same lease length as that available to Ghanaians.
Tourism is the fastest growing industry in Ghana. A reasonable
hotel room in Accra can cost over £200 per night. Records
from the Ghana Tourism Association (GTA) show that from 85,000
persons in 1995 the number of tourists visiting Ghana has
risen steadily to 304,860 in 1997 and 325,438 in 1998. In
2003, the number of tourist arrivals leapt to 760,543 and
the figure is expected to hit over one million by 2007.
Ghana Investments: Prime Location
The prime concern should be the location of the property.
Location is said to influence the three main considerations
in deciding to buy or acquire a property. The best "location"
is worth considering. The only reason why one may withdraw
from prime-areas will be lack of funds. In the absence of
adequate funds, it stands to reason that a purchaser may compromise
on location in selecting the type of property to be acquired.
Validity of Title / Legal Interest of Owner
When the type of property has been identified either by one's
own effort, through a real estate agent/consultant or directly
from the property owner or real estate developer, the potential
buyer has to investigate the nature of ownership or validity
of title to the property.
Investigation into the title held by the property-owner may
be done through a search at the Lands Commission Secretariat
or Land Title Registry. This may be officially carried out
and well documented.
The key points to look for includes the nature of interest,
e.g. Leasehold or freehold, evidence of encumbrances, noted
proposals by the state/government and/or outstanding obligations
like atonement due to recent court judgement.
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