When it comes to purchasing a property in India, one must be extremely careful and err on the cautious side before making a final decision. There are several legal and regulatory obstacles one has to face before finalising a property.

The property market can be classified broadly into primary and secondary. Primary property is the one where one buys a brand new property directly from the developer. Speaking of the secondary property market, it is composed of sub-sale properties, established residential areas, mature locations and previously owned houses. Both primary and secondary property markets have their pros and cons. To list a few:

Various variables solidify themselves and come into play when one decides to purchase a property in India. Before beginning with the property buying, it is important to define a budget. Your budget will be dependent on your take home salary.  After fixing the budget, following are the crucial steps:

Narrow down the property location

The first step of buying a property is to narrow down a location that is most ideal for your needs. If you are taking a loan, find out if home loan providers operate in the area as some areas may be under dispute. Also, check whether home loan is available in that particular location or not.

Choose property type

Select a particular type of property keeping in mind the size of your family and their needs. The property can be an independent floor, apartment, gated communities. If you are buying a property under construction, ensure that all sanctions and permissions are in place. Check if the property is legally verified and whether it will be completed within the promised time.

Decide on a payment schedule

For an under-construction property, the payment schedule needs to be decided considering in mind how much funds are available. Getting the property financed through a home loan aids in paying for the property through EMIs. Check out the home loan procedure for purchasing a property with flexible interest rates and tax benefits. If not through home loan, the payment of the property goes as per the construction plan after the payment of the booking amount.

Property verification

The property needs to be evaluated in case the buyer is planning to take a loan against it. If the property is being mortgaged, then the lenders will also conduct technical and quality checks. The verification of the property should be done with the checking of the title deed, encumbrance certificate, checking property tax slips, checking the approved plan, etc.

There are a few risks involved for the buyers which are as follows:

• Title risk: Lenders/Buyers have to check whether the title of the property is clear. There are chances where the details of the property are not digitized which make the process a bit cumbersome. (Some states provide encumbrance certificates online).

• Transactional risk: Investing in resale market brings the risk of not having access to original documents before the registry. To prevent such risks, it is suggested to take an approved construction plan at the first time and not wait for the original documents. For primary property verification, most of the state RERA websites provide information on the sanctions and approvals.

• In case of a home loan, the lender/banker has to bear several risks including the verification of the seller and the property.

Additional charges:

Stamp duty charges and a registration fee are also applicable when one invests into a property. One should know the market value and the stamp duty charges which depend upon the zone you will be living in.

In inclusion to the above charges, there is a document preparation fees applied when investing into a property which includes charges for preparing documents for the loan and for closing the paperwork.

After having finalising the location and paying the charge, a sale transaction process has to be followed described below: