House Hunting in Lagos (2): I got a houseee!!!

Hellooooooo! Welcome to Part 2 of house hunting in Lagos 🤦. I haven’t been this stressed before in my life. If you haven’t read about the okay, the bad and the super ridiculous parts of house hunting in Lagos, you should take a look before going on with this post because I’ll be getting right into it! 

 

Soo like I said last week, I finally found the perfect place. I finally found a place I wanted.  But I didn’t stop to think about if the place wanted me 😭. I expressed my interest to the agent and to my surprise, she told me that her boss said, “Hmm. Your interest is not approved.” 

“Huh? Why?” was my immediate response. She said the boss is skeptical about renting the house to single ladies because he isn’t sure how many guys we’ll be bringing to the house. True life story y’all. I was shook!  And I wasn’t having it. My friend and I carried our bags and went to this man’s office to hear from the horse’s mouth. We introduced ourselves and told him we’re the ones he denied a house. We asked him why. This guy then goes on a long rant about how he is skeptical about renting a house to single ladies, he’s not sure if we are “virtuous/decent women” blah blah blah.

This was super hilarious seeing as a guy we know just got a flat in the same block without any skepticism about the number of girls he’d be bringing in OR if he’s a “virtuous man”. I really wanted this house so I couldn’t even vex.  I zoned out as the man kept bringing up weird and largely misogynistic points. He even at one point insinuated that we won’t be able to pay the rent. 

I’m ashamed to say that I listened to all that rubbish without arguing because I really wanted the house and it is what it is. When he was done, we politely explained that we could in fact afford the rent and whoever we bring into our home is our problem not his. VERY POLITELY. 

However, our argument did not seem to move him. After a really long back and forth, we ended up having to get a letter from the office recommending us to get the house before he finally agreed to reconsider. He did reconsider and we finally got the house.

Yes. I have a house finally but I gotta say – House hunting in Lagos is an extreme sport and house hunting in Lagos as a single lady, even more extreme. The misogynistic and patriarchal attitude of many men goes as deep as not renting houses to ladies. I can’t get over the fact that in 2019, I still found it really difficult to get a house just because I’m a lady. I’m not talking about misogyny and patriarchy today but we need to do better as humans. We do.

That’s it guys! I have a house! If you’re trying to get a place in Lagos, especially as a single lady, I honestly have no other advice for you. I just wish you good luck and I hope things would get better for us as women!

What has your  house hunting experience been like? Drop a comment and let’s talk about it!

Much Love,

Your tiny-eyed storyteller.