Rent, a palava to many in Lagos, Nigeria

In Lagos, Nigeria, rent is really on the high side because getting an accommodation can be a lot, especially with the agents' palaver. Some agents make houses expensive, calling ridiculous amounts and making it competitive simultaneously. Recently, a self-contained room costs around #600,000 to #700 in some areas, while some areas are beyond that. There was a time we just relocated to our new base and needed to get good accommodation. We met an agent who gave us a form to fill out before he would attend to us, and he said it was ₦7,000 🤔. We could only wonder why that amount, and he boldly replied, “That’s my business.” We left for another one who gave us his form for ₦5,000. He later took us to a house that wanted 2 years upfront, at ₦600,000 per year, which makes ₦1.2million. Then came agreement and commission ₦500,000, damages ₦200,000, painting ₦100,000, security and utility bills ₦100,000—everything amounted to ₦2.1m 🤔. This is just too much! Honestly, most landlords and agents cannot make heaven at all. To make it worse, they have gone terribly in this season, to the extent that even old houses built years ago are increasing their rent every single year.  ##What I consider before renting a house:## Serene environment: I can’t live in a house where my peace is disturbed. How safe the environment is will always be my top priority. When your environment is peaceful and you don't have anything to worry about, then, your peace is intact. Water: This is my number one need in any house. I can’t live where I will have to struggle for water. I have seen people suffer for water even when they pay a huge amount of money🤔My case must be different! Location: Very important. I check how close it is to my workplace, children’s school, church, and other places. I’ve seen people live far away just because houses are cheaper, but in the end, they spend more on transportation. My cousin made this mistake—she relocated for a cheaper house but later regretted it. The traffic from her house to work was terrible for her health, and transport fares kept draining her pocket.  Road accessibility: I like to survey during the rainy season because this is the best time to know the kind of market you are buying to avoid problems like flooding and bad drainage, or else, had I known it would be one's daily song. Personally, I don’t like living with landlords. I had a bad experience once and I don’t wish to repeat it. The landlady was extorting us at every opportunity. We were paying bills for her while she flexed. Some landlords can make your living worthwhile, while others can make living in their house a hell. My landlord set her daughter up for my husband, thank God for shunning the devil off. If I were a house owner, I would prefer a tenant who is responsible, cool, and not full of drama. My house rent wouldn’t be unnecessarily high because I would consider my tenants. I would even allow monthly payments so it won’t be a burden on them. I also wouldn’t want a fighting tenant or a destructive tenant like my neighbor, whose children have damaged almost everything in their apartment, there’s nothing they won’t play with. I simply want my type, cool, reserved, neat, and responsible as a tenant🥰 Entry to the #hivelearners community prompt of week 180 edition one on the topic: **Rent** The images used are mine