Every developer on Okava has passed our 5-stage verification pipeline, but verification isn't a one-time event. Companies change. Directors leave. Banking relationships shift. Six checks worth running on any developer before a $1 changes hands, even an Okava-verified one.
1. Company registration
Look up the developer's registration number on the Companies and Other Business Entities (COBE) register. The directors listed should match what's on the Okava profile. If there's a recent director change you weren't told about, ask why.
2. Title on the specific stand
Verified developer + verified title is the gold standard. Ask for the title document for the specific stand you're buying, and check the title number against the Deeds Office record. Discrepancies aren't always sinister — subdivisions and consolidations create messy paper trails — but the developer should be able to explain any difference.
3. Completed sites
Ask for the address of two completed developments and (if you can) visit one or arrange a video walk-through. Build quality five years in is more revealing than build quality on handover day. Peeling paint, sagging gutters, cracking plaster all show up by year three.
4. Bank confirmation letter
Recent (less than 30 days) bank confirmation letter on the bank's letterhead, stating the developer's account is in good standing. This is standard practice and any developer should produce one on request.
5. Payment routing
Confirm the payment routing in writing. Funds for a property purchase should go either to the developer's company bank account or — for an Okava transaction — into escrow. Anything else is a red flag. Be especially wary of "director's personal account" routing.
6. Two past buyers
Ask the developer for two recent buyers willing to take a phone call. Hearing the experience of someone who's lived in the property for a year is worth more than any glossy brochure.
A note on this list
We run all six of these checks during onboarding and at the start of every new project. We share the results with buyers who reserve a property — we call these the "Compliance Review" outputs. If something changes mid-build, we'll tell you. The list is here so you can run the same checks independently — both as a sanity-check on our work and because it builds the verification habit that every diaspora buyer should have.
