Purchase Tips

With a view to prevent our valued customers from falling into pitfalls in their real estate transactions, Keralagrid.com offers you tips to follow while purchasing property.

• Have an idea about the Market Trends about prevalent rates of property in the vicinity and also the last known transactions.
• Identify the property you wish to purchase.
• Formulate commercial terms before buying.
• Clearly distinguish between the negotiable terms and conditions of the contract and the fixed terms e.g. price, payment schedule, time of completion etc.
• Avail the services of keralagrid.com, a pioneer in the field and list your requirements with a reputed broker.
• Ask for photocopies of all the deeds of title related to the property to be purchased. Take legal help preferably through an advocate, to examine the deeds to establish the ownership of the property.
• Ascertain the survey number, village and registration district of the property as these details are required for registration of the sale.
• Clear previous encumbrances and loans, if any on the property before the purchase of the property. The title of the Vendor to the property must be clear and marketable.
• Finalise commercial terms of purchase of the property. Ascertain transfer fees, stamp duty and registration charges to be paid on purchase of the property.
• Ascertain outgoings to be paid for the property i.e property tax, water and electricity charges, society charges, maintenance charges etc.
• Request Vendor to obtain, if applicable, consent, permission, sanction, no- objection certificate (NOC) of various authorities such as the (a) Society (b) the Income Tax Authority (c) Municipal Corporation (d) the competent authority under the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act and (e) any other authority.
• Ask for a pre-approval letter from the lending institution if you require a loan for making payment of the consideration amount.
• Pay attention to details like the Permanent Account Number of Vendor and Purchaser under Income Tax laws. Payment of stamp duty on the formal agreement or document for transfer of the property, duely signed by both the Vendor and Purchaser and the registration official.
• After payment of the entire sale price, take over legal possession of the property along with the documents of title in original from the Vendor of the property.

Change the name of the holder of the property from the seller to the purchaser’s name in the records of the society, Electricity Company, Municipal Corporation, Index II etc.

Who pays the Stamp Duty – the Buyer or the Seller?
Stamp Duty is a tax, similar to sales tax and income tax collected by the government, and must be paid in full and on time. A stamp duty paid instrument/document is considered a proper and legal instrument/document.

The liability of paying stamp duty is that of the buyer unless there is an agreement to the contrary. Section 30 of Bombay Stamp Act, 1958 states the liability for payment of stamp duty.

• Approved plan of the building along with the number of floors.
• Confirm whether the floor that you are buying is approved.
• Ascertain whether the land on which the builder is building is his or he has undertaken an agreement with a landlord. If so, check the title of the land ownership with the help of an advocate.
• Check the building byelaws as applicable in that area and ensure that the builder is building without any violation of front setback, side setbacks, height, etc.
• Check if the specifications given in the agreement to sell of the sale brochure match on the ground or not?
• Confirm whether urban land ceiling NOC (if applicable) has been obtained or not. Also check whether NOCs from water, electricity and lift authorities have been obtained.

Disclaimer: keralagrid.com cannot be held responsible for the advise, views and suggestions provided by our legal and taxation experts. The information contained here in should be used for reference only and keralagrid.com will not be responsible for any claims arising out of the use of any information displayed herein.