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Buyer Guide

Real Estate Investment Checklist India 2026 — Pre-Purchase Due Diligence Guide

20 May 2026 · 3 min read

Complete pre-purchase due diligence checklist for Indian property buyers — RERA, NCLT, title, flood risk, bank APF, fair pricing, and legal verification. Updated for 2026.

Real Estate Investment Checklist India 2026

Most Indian property buyers spend more time negotiating car purchases than verifying a flat worth 50 times as much. This checklist covers every independent verification step — from RERA to NCLT to the Encumbrance Certificate — before you commit a single rupee.

Legal and Title Checks

  • RERA registration active: Verify on state portal. Status must be Active or Renewed. Lapsed or Withdrawn = Avoid.
  • Encumbrance Certificate (EC): Obtain from state SRO (Kaveri Online for Karnataka, IGR for Maharashtra). Request 30-year EC. Confirm no active mortgage, lien, or disputed ownership.
  • Mother Deed chain: The land ownership chain from original government grant to current seller must be unbroken. Any gap in the chain = title defect requiring legal opinion.
  • NCLT/IBBI insolvency check: Search builder and parent group on nclt.gov.in. Any IBC Section 7/9/10 admission = immediate Avoid.
  • eCourts litigation: Search builder on ecourts.gov.in. Cheating or forgery FIRs under IPC 420/467/468 = hard Avoid.
  • Khata / municipal approval: Bangalore: confirm A-Khata from BBMP. Other cities: confirm valid municipal assessment. B-Khata = no utility connections, no bank loan.

Builder Financial Health Checks

  • Promoter pledging: For NSE/BSE-listed builders, check promoter pledging percentage on stock exchange filings. Above 50% pledging = financial stress signal.
  • RERA escrow compliance: Request Form F escrow statement. 70% of all collected amounts must be in the escrow account. Compare balance against completion %.
  • APF (Approved Project Finance) list: Ask which banks have approved loans. Zero APF approvals 12+ months post-launch = all major lenders have rejected the project.
  • Auditor qualification: For listed builders, check annual report for any qualified auditor opinion — signals accounting irregularity.

Location and Climate Risk

  • CWC flood-hazard zone: Check bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in for the CWC flood atlas. Category-A flood zone without engineered mitigation = hard Avoid. Brickplot applies a ≤5.4 score cap.
  • CPCB AQI (5-year average): Check the nearest CPCB monitoring station's historical AQI. Annual average above 200 within 2km = ≤6.9 cap on liveability axis.
  • Water source: Borewell-only water in Cauvery or Krishna Stage-V deficit zone = long-term water risk. Confirm Cauvery/BWSSB water connection or tanker water costs.
  • Infrastructure access: Confirm road width meets RERA-submitted layout. Check for any road-widening proposals that may affect the front setback.

Construction and Delivery Checks

  • QPR completion %: Check RERA QPR on state portal. A project 24 months old with under 30% completion and an 18-month delivery window has a near-impossible schedule.
  • Last QPR date: If no QPR update in 90+ days, builder is in RERA default. Treat as stalled.
  • OC status (for RTM projects): Verify Occupancy Certificate from BBMP or municipal authority. No OC = illegal for occupation. Cannot get utilities or mortgage registration.
  • STP (Sewage Treatment Plant): Projects over 50 units must have a commissioned STP. Without one at possession, BBMP will not issue OC. Brickplot applies a ≤5.9 cap for missing STP.
  • Parking ratio: RERA-disclosed parking count divided by total units. For premium/luxury segments, ratio below 1.0 is a hard cap trigger (≤6.4).

Pricing and Value Checks

  • Carpet area vs super built-up area: Always negotiate on carpet area. Super built-up includes common corridors, stairwells, and a loading factor that can be 25–40%. Compare PSF only on carpet area.
  • Micro-market price benchmark: Use Brickplot's Fair Price Calculator — 161 localities, 7 cities, based on RERA-registered transactions from Oct 2025–Apr 2026. A premium above 15% needs justification.
  • Stamp duty and registration: Budget 5–7% above purchase price for stamp duty (Karnataka) or 5–6% (Maharashtra). Use the Stamp Duty Calculator for exact figures by state.

Before You Sign

  • Get a property lawyer to review the sale agreement — specifically the penalty clause for delayed possession (must be symmetric), the force majeure carve-out, and the dispute resolution clause.
  • Verify the sale agreement RERA number matches the portal registration number exactly.
  • Check the Brickplot verdict for the project: Buy Now (≥8.0) means all hard caps cleared and above-average scores. Avoid (<6.5) means at least one serious risk axis or hard cap triggered.