The world of Internet has opened avenues for buyers and sellers that weren’t possible before. You can order everything online if you have enough resources. However, buying from the comfort of your home can’t be extended to real estate. People, hoping to make a quick buck, purchase properties on words of mouth without pausing to research about the property themselves. The real estate market has a high volume of brokers that thrive on buyers’ lack of requisite knowledge. Even though information about various properties is available on websites, it pays to do your due diligence.
Buying a property is conditional on a lot of things going happening in your favor. While we can’t control all of them, we can ensure some of them match our expectations. Some things you need to look out for are
Take a cautious approach when using the Internet:
You can get the required information such as the interiors, locality, and private and social amenities about a property with just a simple Google search. While this narrows down your search, you can’t place complete reliance on the data received from such websites. In most cases, the sellers update the photos and the videos about a property. Given today’s technology, it is not hard to morph images to suit individual needs.
Personal on-site inspection:
Websites do not provide information on things like quality of construction, the feel of the locality, the feasibility of commute, and your neighbors. Physical inspection is useful to know inputs that you would have otherwise missed. These inputs can influence your decision regarding the property
Understand the total expenses:
Brokers tell you the costs you’d incur for investing in the property. There are a lot of incidental costs, such as society maintenance and club fees, parking, insurance, repairs, association fees, and other statutory charges, which may drive up the final cost significantly. Diligent research is required to understand your final capital expenditure on the property.
Don’t finalize on properties on discount:
It is easy to want to invest in properties and on realtors that offer discounts and rent-until-handover. If a real estate property, in a promising locality, is being offered on discount, there might be some legal or construction-related issues with the property. However, not all properties on discount have a facade. It is advisable to check against other similar properties before making a decision
Understand your reasons for investment:
If you decide to rent out your property, then it should match what the tenants expect from such property. Landlords have preferences when it comes to letting out properties too. You should understand the kind of tenants a locality invites and then decide if you’d be comfortable letting out to such tenants or not. Proximity to facilities such as good connectivity to various parts of the city, hospitals, and schools can play a vital role in the kind of tenants your locality would attract. If you intend to trade, then you need to consider the appreciation trends of the property in the past
Ensure all permits are available:
Developers could skip out on specific permits, or offer to show them after possession. Buying into their agreement means trouble for you after taking possession. You must verify all the documents and permits before taking possession of the house. You need to obtain a NOC from all the relevant government departments and the financiers from whom the developer had borrowed funds. Any discrepancy now could become a burden, snowballing into legal problems in the future. Only after you’re completely satisfied should, you go ahead with your investment
Ensure there are no pending legal issues
You have to find out if the area that the developer is using is the area that he’s permitted to use. Checking the permitted area for development is vital in case there are any encroachments on private or public lands. Then you would be the recipient of expensive lawsuits because you are the owner of the property now. A transfer of ownership means an acknowledgment of all the risks that come with such transfer. The idea is to minimize the risk exposure
In summary, buying a property is a huge responsibility. There is a significant amount of research that should be conducted before signing the purchase agreement. The time and resources spent in research should not coerce you into making premature decisions. Any misinformed choice can result in years of losses — something that you can avoid with just a little more research
