The Executive Director of the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA), Samuel Amegayibor, is warning investors to tighten due diligence in property acquisition, saying avoidable mistakes continue to trap many Ghanaians in costly real estate deals.
He says the growing rush into housing and infrastructure investments without professional guidance is exposing investors to scams, poor returns, and legal disputes over land ownership.
Speaking on the on-air series of the 2026 Citi Business Festival with Nii Larte Lartey, Mr. Samuel Amegayibor noted that many investors enter the sector with large capital but without the right technical support, leading to financial losses and stalled projects.
He cautioned that one of the most common mistakes is the failure to seek proper consultancy before investing.
“The first mistake is not consulting properly. No matter what you want to do in the business of trying to invest in housing or infrastructure, try and get a professional to aid you,” he said.
He explained that land identification and assessment require expertise, warning against DIY approaches in real estate investment.
“How to identify a clean safe land is a professional work,” he said, adding that experienced professionals can even read environmental indicators to assess land quality.
Amegayibor further warned against investors who bypass experts and take up complex construction decisions on their own.
“How do you know as you are a doctor or an accountant in somebody’s office, you have become a contractor by yourself, doing everything, you will get trouble,” he cautioned.
He also identified weak land documentation checks as a major risk in the sector.
“The second one is also we skip proper land title registration verification. That is the number one. If you are getting any property, land, you need to verify the ownership,” he stressed.
On speculative property schemes, he raised concerns about unverified off-plan sales increasingly circulating on social media.
“And then let us stop investing in unverified off-plan sales… most of them are scams. Because you can build very beautiful houses on your phone, but you cannot find them,” he warned.
He also cautioned investors against chasing properties purely based on online images without proper on-ground assessment.
“You want to invest, so you hear that somebody has built a nice property somewhere… no proper analysis, you put your money in it then you realise that the returns will never come,” he said.
To illustrate the importance of location in investment returns, he explained that construction costs may be similar but rental yields differ significantly depending on the area.
“If it cost you 2 million cedis to build in Agbogbloshie market it will cost you the same 2 million cedis to build at Airport Residential area but in Airport Residential area you can rent it for so much… like 10 times what you would have gotten from Agbogbloshie,” he noted.
Mr. Amegayibor also warned investors to properly understand borrowing and repayment structures before entering the market.
“Then ignoring financial structures… you know what it means to borrow and you know what it means to pay back your loan facility,” he said.
He further cautioned against engaging unlicensed agents and skipping due diligence, noting that regulatory reforms are underway to sanitize the industry.
“Working with unlicensed agents and brokers and skipping due diligence… Ghana has passed a law on real estate agency council to regulate the activities of brokers and agents so we are going to see some sanity in that area,” he stated.
He also stressed the importance of verifying both buyers and sellers in every transaction.
“And then due diligence on both the buyer and the seller,” he added.
Mr. Amegayibor concluded by urging investors to rely on regulated developers and patient capital.
“I will also urge that you buy a property from a regulated group. If you can, your initial investment should be from patient money. If you borrow from the beginning of real estate business you will be in trouble,” he cautioned.
The 2026 Citi Business Festival is powered by 97.3 Citi FM and Channel One TV in partnership with Absa Bank. It is proudly sponsored by Absa Bank, MTN, Zonda Tec Ghana Limited and Petra Trust.
