First, define your requirements!

Size of a house required differs from one family to other.

 Requirements differ from one buyer to another depending on their lifestyle, family size, preference, usage etc. Buying a good apartment or flats from reputed dealer or developer offers you or its residents the convenience of lifestyle facilities like a club-house, swimming pool and gymnasium. 

Defining your preference or requirement helps 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. 

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 concerned authorities. Ensure that the developer has entered into proper development agreements and property has clear titles. 

A home buyer books the property when builder or developer launches 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.  

Understanding Government policy and other legalities such as Stamp duty and Service tax 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. Before buying property, it is advisable to appoint a solicitor to inspect the original title documents of the property being purchased.

Ways to check delays in a construction project

There are about 70% projects which were delayed from the actual date of completion in the year 2011

A construction project when started is set with an original schedule and a completion date, but most of the time it ends up being delayed.

There are various reasons because of which a construction project is delayed. Perhaps most of the construction delays can be prevented and planned properly for the set date.

There are various other factors which are inevitable and lead to a construction delay. One of the important aspects before a construction starts is to maintain the construction schedule in order to stay on budget and complete it on time.

However the project delays in real estate have become very common. There are about 70% projects which were delayed from the actual date of completion in the year 2011. Most of the projects are running behind the schedule by many months. In such instances it becomes very complicated for the home buyers to check any potential delay in his/her project.

Project delays have become a nightmare to most of the home buyers as they will have to wait for years. Most of the builders have an array of clauses for the delay. Also most of them pay their home loan EMI even without getting their home possession and other issues like building plans being changed midway through the construction, or common facilities falling short of expectations arise.

Major causes:  No proper planning

In most of the cases, the construction projects are delayed due to the improper planning of the project. It is very important that a builder should plan beforehand about the project he is going to launch.

Both the customer and the contractor will be responsible for a proper planning. It is very important that the contractor should schedule a sub-contractor for a project on time and if delayed, the schedule will be delayed too. Also in most of the cases items of the contract are inaccurate and are omitted unintentionally.

This will apparently lead to the delay of the supplies on time and the contractor will have to wait until he gets hold of all the supplies. Another reason for the delay is due to the customer’s unstable decision making. Since there will be various options, the customers will be confused between the choices which will again lead to a delay. Also the back-orders and failure to place orders on time will cause a delay in the project and schedule.

Shortage of workers

Shortage of workers is a major problem. The contractor or the subcontractor is short of workers which eventually lead to a delay. There are various problems which a worker and a contractor face while working on a project. Also due to the lack of workers, there will be very few workers who will be employed on the same project which also leads to a delay.

Most workers also do not show up to their work in case they find another preferable job. Also the subcontractor might not be regular to his job causing a delay in the job.

Waiting approvals

There are various approvals before the start of any construction which should be approved by the concerned people. In most cases, the approvals are ignored and delayed. Most of the contractors fail to obtain these necessary documents.

Also in most cases the contractors have to wait for the city inspectors to perform routine inspections before starting the work on the project. In case there are minor errors through the inspection, the contractor will have to wait till they are set right.

External factors

As mentioned earlier, there are various external factors responsible for the project delay. This involves poor weather conditions like rains, tremors, landslides and so on. Also scarcity of water, sewer problem and other factors also lead to a project delay.

How to avoid delays

The authentication: It is very important that a property buyer should check the relevant documents and the authentication of the project from the builder. The buyer can visit the developer’s office to check the authenticity.

Documents like the land ownership detail, land being approved for residential development, project clearance and layout approval, environmental clearance and others should be checked thoroughly.

The most important documents are the sanctioned plans. If the sanction plan is tested while signing the deal, the buyer can confidently go ahead with the builder. All of these documents should be scrutinized well before choosing a developer and signing a deal. Also the property buyer can file an application to the PRO of the authority in order to verify the land title, approved building plan and the completion certificate of the property. All of these procedures should be carried out in the earlier stages.

Online group

It is always better that the home buyers should be a part of an online group. In case if the regulator is absent being a part of the online group will safeguard the interest of the home buyers. There are various online groups like Yahoo, Google and many more wherein one can either state a group or join an existing one. Doing this will help the home buyer to share his/her concern among members and get the right deals.

One of the most important steps to minimize the risks attached with a delayed project is to go in for a construction linked payment plan. It is advisable for the home buyer that he/she should opt for a CLP at the time of signing a document.

Insuring New Apartments

The newly bought apartments should always be encouraged to be insured for the future uses and also to ensure safe living.

One of the home insurance provider companies reported saying that the insurance over the apartment would help any owner to get safe guarded from natural calamities like flood and earthquakes. These insurance policies are such that if at all the owner owns the apartment and after any disaster they are just paved way to do the re construction of the whole building wherein the insurance amount paid by the customers will be funded from it. Neelesh Garg, executive director, ICICI Lombard General Insurance reported saying that the insurance is done only with the consideration of the built-up-area and the construction costs.

The insurance for the apartment needs to be done individually by the owners irrespective of the placement of the flat in the apartment.

Ajay Bimbhet, MD, Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance reported saying that any insurance rejection is possible wherein the case of any apartment carrying down the commercial activity in it. However until and unless the house owner breaches the insurance agreement the insurance will serve the purpose completely.

If in case of the apartment is ahead taking care of the re-construction of the flat, in these kind of situations the apartment will hold the responsibility for the same but not the insurance companies.

Tips for buying apartment

The demand for property is rising day-by-day. Buying an apartment from reputed dealer or developer offers you or its residents the convenience of lifestyle facilities like a clubhouse, 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 need a well thought out.

Tips for Buying an Apartment : A lot of care is needed while buying 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 helps you to avoid future problems and buying an apartment that meets your requirement. Following tips helps you to buy an apartment or property.

Define your requirement : This is first and important thing you need to consider for 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 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 concerned authorities. Ensure that the developer has entered into proper development agreements and 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 builder or developer launches 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, 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 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 out 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 apartment or signing any agreement to buy the property.