Built because nobody believes property listings any more.
We asked people in Abuja what stops them renting online. Three quarters said they do not trust a listing until they have physically seen the property. Two in five had been scammed, or knew somebody who had. Almost everybody said they would pay a small fee if it meant knowing the place was real.
That is not a technology problem. Nigeria has plenty of property websites and they all have the same hole in the middle: nobody has been to the house. Photographs are copied, listings stay up months after the place is let, and "₦5,000 to inspect" is a business model for people with no property at all.
So Acreage does the unglamorous thing. Before a listing goes up, a person from our team goes to it. They photograph it themselves, walk the address, and look at the document that says the agent is allowed to let it. It is slower and it costs us money on every listing, and it is the only part that actually matters.
Things we have decided not to do.
Written down so you can hold us to them. If we ever break one of these, it will be visible on this page first.
No paying to be seen. The moment a listing's position depends on the agent's budget rather than whether we visited it, the badge means nothing. Featured placement exists, it is labelled Promoted, and it never makes a listing more verified.
Not for a big agency, not to hit a number, not because it is a hundred identical units. If we ever visit a sample rather than every one, the listing will say so in those words rather than carrying the same badge.
Payments split at the provider — the agent's share never enters our account. It is also why we are not an escrow service and do not pretend to be one.
Staff can only open a conversation when something has gone wrong with it, and every read is logged with the reason. We would rather tell you the true, narrower thing than imply we watch everything.
A flat fee per completed visit, identical whether the listing passes or fails. Paying more for approvals would rebuild the exact fraud we exist to stop, one level down and harder to see.
Every cost is declared on the listing before you contact anybody. Anything asked of you beyond it is reportable, and reporting it is free and safe.
Where we are, and where we are going.
We are starting in the Federal Capital Territory and opening one area at a time. An area only goes on the list when somebody on our team can actually reach a property there — an area we cannot get to would produce listings that can never go live, which helps nobody.
The intention is every state. The order is set by where we can stand behind the promise, not by where the market is biggest.