Beginners Guide for Buying an Apartment

The demand for property is rising day-by-day. Buying an apartment from a reputed dealer or developer offers you or its residents the convenience of various lifestyle facilities like a club-house, swimming pool, gymnasium etc. Buying property is the decision of a lifetime and you need to be equipped with the right know how. It’s important to learn of the origin of the property, continuous flow of the title and present status of the property before buying the property. Buying a property for self occupation or investment is perhaps one of the biggest investments made by a person during his lifetime. A landmark decision like purchasing property needs to be well thought out.

Tips for Buying an Apartment

A lot of care is needed while buying a new flat to avoid legal hassles. If proper planning is not done prior to property buying, your property can turn into a nightmare. A well thought out plan helps you to avoid future problems and to buy an apartment that meets your requirement. The following tips helps you to buy an apartment or property.

• Define your requirement: This is the first and most important thing you need to consider while buying an apartment or property. Requirement of home buyers differ from one buyer to another depending on their lifestyle, family size, preference, usage etc. Defining your preference or requirement helps you to save time on unyielding and time consuming deals for inappropriate properties. It will also help your real estate agent to come up with the right property faster. You will have to focus on factors like financing, real estate service providers, paperwork involved and other legal and regulatory issues.

• Legal aspects of property: Once your requirement is defined and you found right property, check the legal aspect of the property. Be sure that the developer has acquired approvals and No-Objection-Certificate (NOC) from the Municipal Corporation, Area Development Authorities, Electricity Boards, Water Supply & Sewage Boards and other concerned authorities. Ensure that the developer has entered into proper development agreements and the property has clear titles. Every bank conducts a legal check on your documents to validate their authenticity before sanctioning Home Loan. As a buyer, it gives you confidence that your property has been inspected by experts and your property is legally clear and technically sound.

• Property under construction: A home buyer books the property when the builder or developer launches a new project or property under construction. For a project under construction, you should ask for the allotment letter and development agreement. The development agreement is linked between the builder and the landowner and contains details regarding the terms and conditions on which the landowner has permitted development of his property. In case of constructed properties, you should ensure that the seller has the title and possession of the property as well as the right to transfer the property. Check whether dues such as property tax, society tax, water and electricity bills, etc. have been paid in full. Make sure to take possession of all relevant documents

• Duties and Taxes: Understanding Government policy and other legalities Stamp duty, Service tax etc will be extremely handy in making an informed choice of property. The stamp duty is usually a percentage of the transaction value levied by the state government, on every registered sale. The final sale deed should be stamped and registered at the appropriate local area office. The service tax will be charged on those payments made on residential projects which are still under construction.

A lot of care is needed from the beginning right from site visits till the registration of the flat. Check the distance from facilities like schools, work place, colleges, transport facilities, markets, hospitals, etc. Check on amenities provided in the building and if any additional cost is involved for the use of these amenities. If the building is under construction, confirm tentative time for completion and enforce suitable penalty in case of delay. Visit the developer’s earlier projects to check the quality of the construction, landscaping, and other amenities.

Before buying property, it is advisable to appoint a solicitor to inspect the original title documents of the property being purchased. It is advisable not to secure any property in a hurry and without subjecting all the property documents to rigorous legal scrutiny. Find out any minor claims, court litigations, government acquisition proceeding, zonal regulations and other subsisting charges on the property. You should approach a financial institution in order to check if they would provide a loan for that particular property. Planning will help you be out of the panic mode and keeps you on your toes for unplanned emergencies. Do your homework well before buying an apartment or signing any agreement to buy the property.