The Ghana Property Verification Checklist

What should be independently confirmed before your money moves.

Prepared by Nestadia with input from our Ghana panel counsel.

How to use this

This is a list of questions. It is not a legal opinion on your property, and it is not a substitute for engaging a qualified Ghanaian property lawyer on your specific transaction.

Its purpose is narrower and more useful: to let you see, before you send anything, which of these questions have actually been answered by someone independent of the seller — and which have only been answered by the person who wants your money.

Work through it in order. Anything you cannot tick is not necessarily a problem. It is an open question, and open questions are what independent verification exists to close.

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Your ticks are saved in this browser only — nothing is sent unless you email yourself a copy.

1. Who is selling, and can they sell?

The single most common failure in diaspora purchases is not a forged document. It is a real document held by someone who does not have the authority the buyer assumed they had.

The person or company selling has been identified by name, and that name appears on the ownership documents.

If you are dealing with an intermediary — a relative, a friend, an agent, a “connection” — you know exactly what their legal relationship to the owner is, in writing.

If someone is signing on the owner's behalf, you have seen the power of attorney and confirmed it is valid and unrevoked.

If the land is family land, you know which family, who the head of family is, and whether the principal members have consented.

If the land is stool or skin land, you know which stool, and whether the required consents and concurrence exist.

If the seller is a company or developer, you have confirmed it is registered and in good standing, and that the individuals signing are authorised to bind it.

If a real estate agent is involved, you have checked whether they are licensed under Ghana's Real Estate Agency Act, 2020 (Act 1047).

The question underneath all of these: if this person disappeared tomorrow, would the transaction still be enforceable against whoever actually owns the land?

2. What interest are you actually buying?

Buyers routinely believe they are buying land outright when they are buying a lease, and routinely do not know how long that lease runs.

You know whether you are acquiring a freehold, a leasehold, or a lesser interest.

If it is a leasehold, you know the term, the years already elapsed, and the years remaining.

You have confirmed what interest a person in your citizenship position is permitted to hold. Ghana treats citizens and non-citizens differently, and the maximum lease term available to a non-citizen is materially shorter. If you hold a Ghana Card or dual citizenship, confirm whether and how it changes your position.

You know what obligations come with the interest — ground rent, service charges, development conditions, covenants.

You know what happens at the end of the term and whether renewal is a right or a negotiation.

3. What does the official record say?

Not what the seller's copy says. What the Lands Commission's record says.

An official search has been conducted at the Lands Commission by someone acting for you, not for the seller.

The search result is recent — weeks, not years.

The name on the official record matches the name of the person selling to you.

The parcel described in the official record matches the parcel you are being shown.

The search discloses no mortgage, charge, caveat, or registered interest you were not told about.

You have asked directly whether there is any pending litigation over the land, and the answer has been checked, not merely accepted.

You know whether the land sits in a deeds registration area or a title registration area, and what that means for the strength of what you are getting.

A seller-provided search result is not an independent search result. If the document came to you from the seller, it has not answered this section.

4. Does the land physically exist where you are being told?

This section cannot be completed from the United States. Someone has to stand on the parcel.

There is a site plan prepared and signed by a licensed surveyor.

The plan carries coordinates, and those coordinates have been checked against the parcel described in the official record.

Someone independent of the seller has physically visited the site.

Boundary pillars exist, are in the correct positions, and match the plan.

There are no structures, crops, occupants, or activity on the land that nobody has explained to you.

Neighbours or adjoining occupiers have been spoken to, and no competing claim has surfaced.

You have dated photographs or video of the actual parcel, not of the development's marketing material.

5. If you are buying off-plan or under construction

Everything above still applies — and it applies to the developer's title to the land the project sits on, which is a separate question from your unit.

The developer's own interest in the underlying land has been verified through an independent search.

Planning permission and a building permit have been issued by the relevant District, Municipal or Metropolitan Assembly, and you have seen them.

The development is permitted under the applicable zoning and land use.

You have seen the developer's completed prior projects, not renderings.

The contract specifies what you are buying with enough precision to identify it — block, unit, floor area, finishes, specification.

There is a stated completion date and a stated consequence if it is missed.

The payment schedule is tied to construction milestones that can be independently observed, not to calendar dates.

You know what happens to your money if the project stalls, and that answer is written into the contract.

6. How does the money move?

You know the total cost, including stamp duty, registration fees, legal fees, agency commission and any development or service charges — not just the headline price.

You are not being asked to send funds to a personal account.

You are not being asked to send funds to an account in a third country with no connection to the transaction.

Any deposit is held somewhere neutral, on written conditions, with a defined route back to you if the transaction fails.

Payments are released against verified milestones, not against reassurance.

You have a written receipt and a written agreement for every payment before you make it.

You know what specifically triggers the final payment — and that it is registration, not handover of keys.

Urgency is the most reliable warning sign in this entire document. A genuine seller with clean title loses nothing by waiting two weeks for a search to come back.

7. Is the transaction actually finished?

A purchase that is paid for but not registered is not a purchase. It is a claim.

The conveyance or lease has been properly prepared and executed.

Stamp duty has been paid and the instrument stamped.

The instrument has been lodged for registration at the Lands Commission.

Registration has been confirmed, and you hold evidence of it.

You hold originals or certified copies of every document in the chain, not photographs sent over WhatsApp.

You know who is responsible for property rates and ground rent going forward, and how you will pay them from abroad.

The seven things that should make you stop

1.Pressure to pay before an independent search has been completed.

2.A request to send funds to a personal account, or to an account with no connection to the seller.

3.A price meaningfully below comparable properties in the same area.

4.Reluctance to let anyone you choose visit the site.

5.Documents provided only as photographs or screenshots, with originals never produced.

6.An intermediary whose relationship to the actual owner nobody will put in writing.

7.Being told that verification is unnecessary because the seller is known to your family.

That last one causes more diaspora losses than forgery does. Trust in the person introducing you is not the same thing as verification of the land.

What Nestadia is building

Nestadia is building the infrastructure to close this checklist for you.

Independent legal review by panel counsel who act for you, not the seller. Independent physical verification of the site. Funds held with a licensed U.S. escrow provider rather than transferred directly to a seller. Release tied to verified milestones. Final settlement tied to confirmed registration.

If you have already found a property in Ghana, tell us about it and we will tell you which parts of this checklist your transaction has actually closed.

Nestadia, Inc. is currently in pre-launch. This checklist is general information about matters commonly verified in Ghanaian property transactions. It is not legal advice, not an opinion on any particular property, transaction, seller or document, and not a substitute for engaging a qualified Ghanaian lawyer on your specific purchase. Requirements vary by land tenure type, region, and the circumstances of the buyer. Nestadia does not guarantee any outcome and makes no representation that following this checklist will prevent loss.

Version 0.1 — subject to review by panel counsel prior to publication.

This guide is for general information only and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Nestadia is building the Trust infrastructure for you and with you.