What it is

Paying in instalments is a written agreement in which the price is settled in several
payments, over a defined period, after your situation has been studied. You take
possession of the file, the sale is secured by the notary, and you pay according to a
signed schedule.

What it is not

• It is not a loan. No lender, no interest rate, no finance company.
  It is a payment period granted by the seller.
• It is not automatic. The term and the amounts depend on your file:
  your activity, how regular your income is, the deposit available, a guarantor where
  relevant. That study is free and without obligation.
• It is not a spoken promise. Everything is set in writing and signed
  before any reservation: the price, the term, the amount of each instalment, and what
  happens if you fall behind.

How it goes, in order

• You choose a parcel and receive its complete file.
• You give us the details of your situation. We study them and propose an arrangement.
• If you agree, the terms are put in writing and signed.
• You pay according to the schedule. Every payment gets a numbered receipt.
• The notarised deed and the support through to the transfer of the title follow the agreed plan.

The safety rules

• Payments are made only into an account in the company’s name (or an
  MTN MoMo / Orange Money merchant number in the company’s name), never
  into a personal account.
• You keep all your receipts.
• Nothing is reserved until the terms are signed.

What a boundary survey does

Surveying a parcel means bringing in a licensed surveyor who measures
it, plants boundary markers (numbered concrete markers B1, B2, B3…) at
each corner, and draws up a survey report together with a
plan. The whole thing is stamped by the cadastral service.

Without a survey, the limits of a parcel are vague. That is the leading cause of
conflict between neighbours: everyone has “their idea” of where the line runs, and nobody
has proof.

Reading a survey plan

A serious survey plan always contains:

• the official letterhead (Ministry of State Property, Surveys and Land Tenure);
• the number of the original land title;
• the surface area actually measured, often different from the “announced” area;
• the boundary markers (B1 to Bn) and the distances between them;
• the easements: strips of land you cannot build on (right of way, road, utilities) — 4 m, 6 m, 8 m depending on the case;
• the surveyor’s name, licence number and the date;
• the cadastral stamp (stamp + date). Without that stamp the plan is worthless.

Announced area ≠ surveyed area

A seller may say “500 m²” in good faith, because that is what he was told. The survey
gives the real area. It may be smaller: part of it is taken by an
easement, or a neighbour has encroached. You pay for the surveyed area, not the announced
one.

To check before buying

• The survey plan is stamped by the cadastral service, with a recent date.
• The markers are there on the ground — go and see them, one by one, during the visit.
• The area on the plan matches what is being sold to you.
• The easements are shown, and you know what you will be able to build.