Three kinds of sentences
Every brochure mixes three kinds of sentences. A feeling ("a calm place to come home to"). A specification ("vitrified tiles in living and dining"). A promise ("possession by a date"). Only the second and third can be checked, and only they belong in an agreement. Learn to spot which is which.
Big words with nothing to compare
Words like "best", "finest" or "number one" need a comparison to mean anything: best compared with what, measured how, by whom? If there is no answer, read the word as decoration and move on.
Percentages with no source
"Seventy per cent open space" sounds great. Seventy per cent of what? The whole site, or the land left after the towers? Ask how the figure was worked out and whether it matches the approved plan. A percentage without a base is just a number.
Dates
The only date that counts is the possession date written in your registered agreement for sale, which should match the completion timeline declared on RERA. A brochure date, a sales promise or a WhatsApp message is not the same thing. Section 18 of RERA, the refund and interest right, works on the agreement date.
Certification words
Words like "green", "certified" or "approved" should come with a name and a number: which body certified it, at what stage, and is it a final certificate or a pre-certification? Ask for the document. If the claim is real, it is easy to share.
Distances and travel times
"Ten minutes from the IT park" depends on the hour, the route and the driver. Open a map, set the time to your office hours and see for yourself. Ask whether a promised road or metro line is sanctioned and funded, or only proposed.
Pictures
- Renders show a plan, not reality. Look for the small print.
- Stock photos of families, parks or skylines may not be from the area at all.
- Construction photos should be dated. Compare them with the quarterly update on RERA.
The fine print
Asterisks and "T&C apply" lines are where offers, free items and inclusions get their limits. Ask for the full terms and keep them with your papers.
One email that does most of the work
Write to the sales team: "Please confirm which of the statements in your brochure will be written into the agreement for sale or its specification schedule." Anything they confirm becomes checkable. Anything they will not confirm was decoration.
Area claims: the sum to do yourself
Some brochures still print a large area figure, often called super built-up or saleable area. RERA requires the sale to be based on carpet area, the usable floor inside your walls, defined in section 2(k) of the Act. The gap between the two is sometimes called loading.
An illustrative example, not a Reeva figure. A brochure shows 1,200 sq ft. The agreement shows a carpet area of 900 sq ft. Then 1,200 − 900 = 300 sq ft is not inside your home, and 300 ÷ 900 is about a third more than what you can use. If the price is ₹60,00,000, the cost per sq ft of carpet area is ₹60,00,000 ÷ 900, about ₹6,667, not ₹5,000 as the larger figure would suggest. Always compare homes on carpet area.
Your rights if a brochure turns out to be wrong
- Under RERA. Section 12 says that if you suffer a loss because of incorrect or false information in an advertisement or prospectus, the promoter must compensate you. If you choose to withdraw, you can seek a refund with interest.
- Under consumer law. The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 defines a misleading advertisement in section 2(28), and the Central Consumer Protection Authority can act on such ads.
- Keep the evidence. A right is only useful if you can show what was promised. Keep the dated brochure, screenshots of the ad and any emails.
Step by step: checking a brochure in one evening
- Highlight every sentence that is a specification or a promise. Leave the feelings alone.
- Look up the project on the state RERA website. Note the promoter name, the completion date and the approved number of units.
- Compare each highlighted line with the RERA record and the draft agreement.
- Write a list of the lines that appear nowhere else. These are your questions.
- Send the questions by email, so the answers are dated and in writing.
Common mistakes first-time buyers make
- Comparing price per sq ft across different area types. Carpet to carpet only.
- Trusting a render for the view. Stand on the site, or ask what can legally be built on the next plot.
- Counting amenities, not checking them. A clubhouse in the brochure should appear in the sanctioned plan and the specification schedule.
- Throwing the brochure away after booking. It may be the only record of a claim.
A checklist to staple to every brochure
- RERA registration number printed, and matching the state website.
- Carpet area of your unit stated, not only a larger area figure.
- Every amenity you care about found in the sanctioned plan.
- Every certification named, with the certifying body and stage.
- Every date you were told found in the draft agreement.
- Every offer's terms in writing, with an end date.
- Your email asking which claims will go into the agreement, and the reply.
If a line passes all of these, you can rely on it. If it passes none, enjoy the photograph and decide on the paperwork.
One last habit: date and file every brochure you collect, by project. When you sit down to decide, you will compare papers, not memories of a sales pitch.
Before you compare offers, it also helps to see what a loan will cost you each month. Try our EMI calculator, so a brochure never sets your budget for you.