Investing in a property is a major financial decision, whether you are looking for a house, a flat, a villa or a plot. In Bangalore, purchasing property comes with its own set of challenges.
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Here’s a checklist to ensure that you don’t get blindsided and make an informed decision before buying property in the city.
While the rules apply to any location, some of the aspects are featured specialties of Bangalore.
1. Not Just Location, Look For Bottlenecks
- Analyze the entry and exit points of the project. If access is through a narrow railway under-bridge, a railway crossing or a single-lane road, traffic nightmares are guaranteed.
- For example, the Panathur area in Bellandur faces extreme congestion due to a narrow railway underpass.
- Check peak-hour traffic conditions on Google Maps before deciding.
2. Builder Reputation: Research on Your Own
- Never trust a builder’s reputation blindly, even if it’s a Tier-1 builder like Prestige, Brigade, Sobha or Salarpuria.
- Don’t just blindly trust Google reviews. Most developers keep a high budget for advertisements and reviews. This means many of their positive reviews might be posted by their own employees and channel partners. Don’t allow fake reviews to influence you.
- Look for reviews on past projects completed by the builder. This is where many present residents of those projects will post their genuine rants. Reviews on existing projects also give a fair idea about how the post-sales support from the builder.
3. Check Reddit and Subreddit Reviews
Search builder-specific threads on Reddit to get honest reviews from past buyers. Pay special attention to feedback on project delays, construction quality, and post-sale support.
4. Perform RERA checks
- Visit the Karnataka RERA website and check for cases filed against the builder.
- Find the complete list of complaints here: https://rera.karnataka.gov.in/promoterComplaintReport
- For example, there are several RERA complaints against Nitesh Estates and the RERA court orders mentioned that the builder ran low of funds. Similar cases were reported for Mantri Developers. Beware of any promoters running into funding issues.
- Search for RERA complaints on the project itself, including delays in possession, refund issues or legal disputes.
- Even a moderate number of cases should be a major red flag.
- You can look for project related complaints here: https://rera.karnataka.gov.in/projectComplaintReport
5. Verify Surroundings with Google Earth
- Check for hidden drains, planned CDP roads, garbage dumps, or industrial zones near the project.
- Many builders conveniently hide undesirable surroundings in their marketing materials.
- Just check the 1-star Google reviews for Sumadhura Eden Gardens, many customers have reported that the builder deliberately hid vital facts about the project surroundings.
- Similarly, look for the 1-star Google reviews for Brigade Utopia, you’ll hear feedback directly from the home buyers.
6. Don’t Get Tricked into Buying Bad Units
- Don’t fall for the tactics when builders say that most units are booked. They usually do this to get rid of less desirable units first. The premium units are released later at higher prices.
- Stick to your requirements for direction, layout, and floor plan—don’t compromise. If whatever units you like are already booked, that project may not be for you.
- Many builders falsely advertise row houses as villas. Check if your neighboring villa has any adjacent walls. If it does or if the gap between two villas is too narrow, it’s not a villa at all! It’s a row house.
7. Avoid Properties Too Close to Lakes
- Many lake-adjacent properties are built on lake-beds and risk legal disputes.
- Builders resort to heavy bribing to encroach and convert lake-beds into construction suitable lands. But such constructions end up having weak foundations due to loose soil. There have been many cases of buildings sinking by several inches or more, due to this very reason.
- Mosquito infestations and foul odors from stagnant water in lakeside areas make living conditions miserable.
8. Caution with Tier-2 Builders
- Builders like DNR, Sumadhura, Heritage, Adarsh, Assetz, etc, are actually Tier-2 builders, although they price their projects like Tier-1 builders.
- While Tier-1 builders too can have long project delays, the post-sales customer support with most Tier-2 builders are horrendous. Customers are often kept in the dark about potential delays and the waits seem never-ending.
- Of course, project delays often happen due to bureaucratic obstacles. But if a builder has a history of delays in multiple projects, you know what to expect.
- So, if you’re going with a tier-2 builder, always choose projects that are nearing completion rather than those with a long timeline.
9. Prefer Ready-to-Occupy Properties
- What you see is what you get—no surprises.
- No risk of delayed possession or construction quality issues. You can see things for yourself, talk to residing neighbors, etc.
Don’t Make Compromises
Buying a home or plot is a once-in-a-lifetime investment, often involving crores of rupees and decades-long home loans.
Even the smallest red flag should be a reason to reconsider. Stay informed and make decisions based on solid research, not just sales pitches!
