How to buy a flat? Beginners guide to buying a flat

So you are ready to buy a flat, but not sure exactly as to how you want to go about it. This beginners guide presents you the things you must consider if it is the first time you are buying a flat. Many of us might get lured by the glossy booklets provided by the developers and are contented with the exteriors and the location of the flat.

Like any property transaction, buying a flat involves a considerable amount of life savings for any individual. Thus the following three questions must necessarily be answered: How? Where? and What? 

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How should you buy your flat? How involves the kind of process involved in buying a flat -once you have short-listed the apartment of your choice. 

Documents to be verified while Buying a Flat

Land Ownership Documents

Usually before constructing a flat the builder can operate in two ways - either as the land owner or as the developer. As a customer you must consider if the land ownership documents are available with the builder or not. Other items include the total built up area (Saleable area), common area etc. which the builder should inform you about. For more information on saleable area, carpet area, super built up area and how you can differentiate among apartments based on payment plans and undivided share of land you can read this article.

Approvals from Local Bodies

The builder should also obtain approvals from the local body, the Pollution Control Board, Fire and Rescue department's Fire NOC (No objection certificate), Local body building permit etc. You must also understand if the land tax receipts, building permit certificate has been obtained by the builder or not.

Land Title

The land title will be in possession of the builder and the customer can ask the builder for it to ensure that the land owner does not create an issue later about encumbrances.

Electricity and Water Receipts. Apartment Association

Once you occupy your apartment you would need to get receipts for electricity and water deposits, building tax etc. and the builder would do an ownership change to you. The builders liability really ends only when the apartment owners association has been formed and the maintenance of the flat has been handed over to the association. The hand over usually happens 3 to 6 months after the flat becomes ready for possession.

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What should you look for in the flat and amenities? What refers to the kind of flat you are trying to purchase. A flat is not just a space for you and your family but it comes with a host of other features. You must go through all these attributes of a flat to ensure nothing has been missed out. Amenities you must check for: 

Car Parking - How many car parking spaces do you get? Is it included or does it come with an extra cost? Is it a covered or non-covered parking? Would you get more that one parking if requested?

With the trend of families owning one or more car parks, car parking could become a significant cost if not thought about when you buy a flat. 

Fire Safety - Fires in apartments do occur even if rarely. Fires can happen due to electrical short circuits, gas explosions etc. and can quickly spread in apartments which are spaced close to each other. Do consider if your flat is equipped with fire safety measures like CO2 fire extinguishers, proper fire exists for the movement of people as well as all it abides by the rules as laid down by the Fire department in your local area.

Air Conditioning -  Do you have provision for split air conditioning? Is air conditioning centralized or is it present in all bedrooms?

Water Supply: Is water provided through sump and over head tanks? Is their provision for rain water harvesting? Does water come for borewells or is it supplied by the local corporation?

Telephones - Is there wiring for telephones in bedrooms, drawing rooms in the flat ? Will it cost for additional wiring for your apartment?

Generator - Is there a back-up generator for the flat in case of power outage? What is the load restriction in an apartment during power outage? During an outage is power available only in flats or will lifts, gyms and other facilities work as normal.

Electrical - Are there adequate number of fan and light points in your flat? Will the builder fix MCB or ELCB (Circuit Breakers) and does your flat have an independent light meter or is common to the whole building?
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What if you are buying based on a sample flat ?

Although seeing is believing and experiencing your new home through a sample flat might be a pulsating experience for a home buyer, there are fallacies with this approach.  A sample flat is one of the marketing techniques used by builders to convince customers of what they can expect when they get to live in their proposed house.

For full list of factors to be considered while seeing the sample flat read this article.

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Where should you buy your flat? 

Research studies conducted across the world, especially in developed economies, have used multiple methodologies to determine real estate values and the parameters determining. Some of these factors which lead to appreciation for your flat based on your location include:

1. Access to Light rail transport (LRT)
2. Distance to Central Business District
3. Comparable Sales Approach
4. Proximity to Regional Shopping centers
5. Promixity to Highways and Expressways
6.Clustering 

To read more about these individual factors you can read this article on locational factors.