WE BUILD OUR ORGANIZATION ON SOLID FOUNDATION WITH INTEGRITY…ESV Adetoun Otepola

Adetoun Otepola Consulting: The Champion in Real Estate Management

ESV Adetoun Otepola is a real estate expert. She is passionate about Home Ownership for Nigerians in the Diaspora. She bared her mind with Inemesit Ebu on real estate and valuation matters. Excerpts…

You have been in the industry for over 30 years. What are your career goals?

The name of the firm reflects a lot as far as our parent company – Solid Foundation Estates Limited is concerned. We believe that as an organization, that anything we do should be built on solid structures, processes, and systems. Our driving force over the years has been the creation of wealth for our clients, that is, generational wealth through real estate opportunities. We are very particular about integrity, and real estate is one of the most expensive and important decisions anyone will ever make. So, in servicing any client, no matter how small a brief is, we take it very seriously because we want to ensure they get value for their money and they don’t regret having a relationship with us. It’s been a thing of joy that over the years, we have helped our clients to build wealth in the real estate value chain. Beyond the clients, we value all our stakeholders and the people who have worked with us. We have been able to build a lot of individuals who have passed through our organization and now have their own firms all over the world. We have grown with our clients as well. Those who started with us as bank officers are now managing directors. Our name has been on major projects as the sole marketing company, even in African countries. Real estate marketing has one of our strong service offers over the years and still is . We have a code of ethics that guides us. We are driven by ‘Honesty and Devotion’, which is one of the cores of Estate Surveyors and Valuers’ profession all over the world. We believe in relationships, not having one transaction but repeat businesses. By virtue of our value chain, we have repeat customers over the years.

Your company has made a lot of impacts in the real estate industry. Kindly take us through your career journey?

We started real estate practice as Solid Foundation Estates Limited and this has metermophosed into a group of companies over the years. As a professional firm we are to contributing our quota to professionalism in Nigeria, and over the years, it had been the dream of our company to carve our niche in the industry. It was inevitable that we had to establish our professional firm , Adetoun Otepola Consulting. Now, we are fully involved in all aspects of our profession – brokerage, valuation appraisals, property and facilities management, etc. We are a one – stop – shop for all our clients’ real estate needs.

As an estate surveyor and Valuer, you have achieved so much in the course of your practice. What are your major achievements?

As an estate surveyor and Valuer, one of the things that gets to my heart is making home ownership accessible to Nigerians in Diaspora. A lot of Nigerians in the Diaspora have trust issues; they want to invest in Nigeria, but they don’t trust people back home. We came up with a product called ‘Home Ownership Made Easy’ for Nigerians in Diaspora in partnership with Sterling Bank Nig. Plc, whereby they open accounts in Sterling Bank’s Switch App and their money goes in there. Our own assignment is to get them credible projects that they can buy into. Many people were sceptical about buying property at home because people send fake pictures to them. Both family, friends and professionals have disappointed them in the past.
We are also quite involved in commercial real estate and facility management.
I have also had the privilege to train and model many of my professional colleagues and administrative employees who have been part of our organisation over the years. Fir this, I am thankful.

So, what’s the situation now?

It’s been a success because we ensure that what people buy is what they get through the ‘ Home Ownership Made Easy’ program.

Another thing that has been a winning product is encouraging young people to own their homes. We encourage young people from 25 years by educating them that instead of living a frivolous lifestyle with their money, they should start a savings culture and ensure that they buy a home they can afford not necessarily the dream home. We also encourage them to do a seed home before the dream home. By the time they are getting ready to marry or they are in their 30’s they should have been able to build wealth through the real estate opportunities that are available to them.

We continue to educate and advocate for young people to get that done.

Also, another key focus area we are committed to is having Master plan communities. Sometimes, beyond the issue of affordability, the pandemic has taught us that where you live really matters because during the pandemic, many people had to work from home. We are encouraging our developers we consult for to build homes that will last. We are also encouraging Master plan communities and Home Owners Associations to ensure that the investments they have started are well kept. For instance, if you look at the Western World, you’ll see houses that are 150 years old and they are still in good condition. In Africa, our maintenance culture has hitherto been poor, but we are encouraging developers to raise the bar so that people can invest and be sure that in some years to come, their investments are reserved.

What are some of the challenges encountered so far?

The challenges we have are that we are not an island to ourselves; the agency business has been watered down but the Lagos State Government is trying to come up with some measures to make sure that people practice with some levels of decorum. Another challenge is the issue of employees’ engagement. Everybody wants to start his/her agency, their corporate firm. The barrier for entry into the real estate industry is very low. So many people are into sharp practices. The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, is trying to streamline this as well as the Lagos State Government.

Why did you venture into the profession being a male dominated industry?

For me, I love to take care of people and things . Real Estate was one of the courses in School that I knew would help me to make people wealthy. I knew the kind of life I wanted to live. I actually started my university education with Geography/Regional Planning, but Estate Management was an elective course. When I saw the potential in estate management, I switched from Geography/Regional Planning to estate management. Another thing that is working for me is being determined in life. Just like banking that used to be a male dominated sector, women have proven themselves professionally in terms of expertise, and that is what I began to do in my career. It’s been an exciting journey. The three basic things in life are food, shelter, and clothing. Anyone who can turn your investment around or give you value, the gender shouldn’t matter. Now, beyond that, one’s qualitative works matter irrespective of the gender.
The world has gone beyond gender for all professions because value matters. In Nigeria, about eight banks have female Managing Directors, which did not happen before. The mentality of gender driving any particular profession is a thing of the past.

What makes your organization stand out in the midst of competitors?

Well, what truly sets us apart is our strong foundation of integrity, professionalism, and excellence. With nearly three decades of experience, we’ve earned our clients’ trust by consistently delivering on our promises and helping them build generational wealth through smart real estate investments.

We are deeply client-focused, taking time to understand each client’s needs and providing solutions that put their interests first. That’s why many have stayed with us for years and continue to refer others.

We also take pride in being forward-thinking, embracing technology, innovation, and sustainability to enhance our service and client experience. Through strategic partnerships, we combine global best practices with local understanding of the real estate market to deliver real value.

Above all, our people make the difference. We continually train and empower our team to stay ahead in this changing market, blending experience, innovation, and integrity to create lasting impact.