Resale Property Purchase Checklist: for Buying a Resale Apartment/ Flat

Today, it is becoming more and more difficult to get a residence of your choice. Builders make tall claims for under-contruction apartments, quote very high charges, take years for it to complete and at the time of giving the possession, they do not deliver what was promised. Common people like you and me find it difficult to undestand the complex jargon mentioned in the agreement where everything is in favour of the builder and we fall prey to their tactics.
However, some of these problems can be avoided if you go for a ready possession apratment or a resale property. Resale properties are the ones which are already bought & ownded by an existing customer and he is now willing to sell it off due to some or the other reasons. In this series of articles, we will provide a

Checklist for resale property purchase

which the prsopective buyers should keep in mind before signing the resale deal.
The reasons for resale of a property can be many - the real estate prices might have increased, so the seller may be willing to capitalize on that profit. The seller may be in urgent need of money. The seller might be shifting to another location or city. Or the worst of it, there may be problems with the property he has bought, so he wants to dispose it off and get rid of the problems - basically, passing on the problem to the new buyer.

The last situation mentioned above is the worst, so there the new buyer should be extra careful about buying a re-sale property or apartment.
Anyways, lets start with the Advantages Of Buying A Resale Property

Advantages Of Buying Resale Property: Resale Property Purchase Checklist

Continuing further from our previous article, Resale Property Purchase Checklist: for Buying a Resale Apartment/ Flat, in this part we present the

Advantages Of Buying Resale Property: Resale Property Purchase Checklist

. Here are the basic advantages and benefits of Buying a resale property:

1) You get what you see. You dont have to live under the long waiting period of what builder will deliver in case of buying an under-construction flat.

2) You will know what amenities like swimming pool, clubhouse, etc. are actually available

3) You will know the maintence costs and society charges upfront

4) You can move in quickly into your bought flat. So you dont end up paying rent as well as home loan EMI's for you under-contruction flat

5) Since you get the possession immediately, you can avail tax-benefit right from your first EMI payment. Many people dont know this fact - You can claim Home loan tax benefit only when you get the possession of the flat

6) You can enquire about lots of general things from the existing neighbours living in the apartment

7) You can observe the locality and make an informed choice

8) There is no risk of the possession date being delayed by months or years by the builder, like that in case of under-construction flats. However, nothing in this world comes without disdvantages, and the same applies here as well. Head over to the Disadvantages Of Buying A Resale Property

Disadvantages Of Buying Resale Property: Resale Property Purchase Checklist

Continuing further from our previous article, Advantages Of Buying Resale Property: Resale Property Purchase Checklist, in this part we present the

Disadvantages Of Buying Resale Property: Resale Property Purchase Checklist

. Here are the basic disadvantages and benefits of Buying a resale property:

1) Most important thing - You are on your own. Hence, if anything goes wrong with the deal, you will have to face the consequences on your own.
In case of buying an under-construction flat, there will be many people who will book it along with you. Hence, if anything goes wrong, you can fight for it as a group. But in case of a resale deal, you are all alone

2) Good Resale properties are difficult to find. You will have to most of the times depend on a real-estate agent who will pocket a fat commission for the resale property deal.

3) Another disadvantage is that you WILL have to TRUST him. Just because you are paying a fat commission to the real-estate agent, does not imply that everything will be correct in the deal

4) You cant negotiate much on resale properties - especially the good ones. Since they are difficult to find, they are quoted at high rates. Since there are many buyers, rates are higher and there is no scope of negotiations

5) You will need a good trusted lawyer to ensure that all your deal papers are proper and not putting you in a mess. That again comes at a big cost

6) You might end up buying an old apartment, which might require lot of maintenance expenses after you move in

7) You need to be careful about the paperwork and any ambiguous claims on the property by anyone else. next, lets head over to the Checklist for Resale Property Buying Purchase to know what all you should mandatorily check before striking the deal

Checklist for Resale Property Buying Purchase

Continuing further from our previous article, Disadvantages Of Buying Resale Property: Resale Property Purchase Checklist, in this part we present the

Checklist for Resale Property Buying Purchase

. Here is the Checklist:

1) Dont be in a hurry to book an apartment just because you see that in a good locality. As mentioned in the Disadvantages Of Buying Resale Property article, there can be a lot of problems due to which the current owner might be selling the property

2) Try to find out the real reason for the current owner to sell the property. Remember, good things vanish soon and they are usually sold to relatives and known persons. So if you are completely unknown to the buyer, be very careful before making any committment. There might be legal or other problems with the resale property, but the owner might quote it as saying "Relocating to other city or other area", "Am in urgent need of money" and so on. Dont fall for those and do your home work

3) If you are going through a Real-estate agent, make sure you know him. Remember movies like "Khosla ka Ghosla" :)

4) Insist on checking the paper-work even before giving the token booking amount. Atleast take a copy of all the legal documents. Also, you can use RTI application to get the history details of the property from municiple corporations and check if there is any dispute on that. However, RTI applications take minimum 30 days to get an answer

5) Make sure to meet the society members of the property. Ask them about the charges for maintenance, sinking funds, etc. Also try to get info from them about any problems with the property. Ask them if there are any outstanding dues for that property

6) Ask the seller to first get a NOC or No Objection certificate from the society or the builder. Without that, the resale transaction is usually not complete. Be clear with the seller on who pays the charges for the NOC as it might cost big money

7) Check for any utility bills pending at the time of deal - like phone, electricity, etc.

8) Be very clear on parking space. It should be clearly marked on land as well as in the documents

9) Most important - the cost. Insist on the breakup of cost taken by the seller. That should include Parking space charges, lawyer fees, registration fee, society charges, stamp duty, etc. etc.

10) Check for basis fittings like electrical wiring and plumbing.
ALthough the above list gives you a detailed list, there may be many more things to check. It is also advisable to take services of a reliable lawyer for the sale before signing any Real Estate Resale Deals