City, Planning Authority or Panchayat: Who Approves a Bengaluru Home
On the city's edge, the body that approves a building is not always the one that collects property tax. A plain guide for first-home buyers.
· 6 min read
Reeva journal
Legal & Compliance guides
49 plain-English guides on legal & compliance for first-home buyers in Bengaluru.
Bought a Plot? The Approvals You Need Before You Build Your First Home
You own the land. Now you need permission to build on it. A first-timer's guide to plan sanction, setbacks and the costs nobody mentions.
· 7 min read
Reading a Property Brochure: Which Claims to Check Before You Believe
Brochures are written to excite. This guide helps first-home buyers sort the checkable promises from the decoration.
· 6 min read
Carpet, Built-Up or Super Built-Up: Which Area Should You Compare?
When two projects quote area differently, comparing them is guesswork. Here is how to turn every number into carpet area, the one RERA uses.
· 6 min read
Survey Numbers: A Simple Way to Check the Project Matches Its RERA Registration
A project's name can change. Its survey numbers do not. Here is how a first-time buyer can use them to check that the land matches the registration.
· 7 min read
Common Areas Explained: What You Really Own When You Buy a Flat
You pay for more than the rooms inside your door. Here is what common areas are, who owns them, and what share of the land comes with your flat.
· 7 min read
What 'DTCP Approved' Really Means When You Buy Your First Plot
"DTCP approved" is the most used phrase in Tamil Nadu plot ads. It is valuable, but it is not the whole story. Here is what it covers.
· 7 min read
DTCP, Local Planning Authority or Panchayat: Whose Layout Approval Counts?
A seller says the layout is "approved". By whom? In Tamil Nadu, the answer depends on where the land sits. Here is how to tell.
· 6 min read
Buying Your First Home From a Newer Builder: How to Judge Them Fairly
A long history is comforting, but it is not proof. Here is how to judge any builder, new or old, using papers you can check yourself.
· 6 min read
FMB Sketch Explained: Checking Plot Boundaries in Tamil Nadu
A compound wall is not a boundary. In Tamil Nadu, the FMB sketch shows where the survey lines really run. Here is how to read it.
· 6 min read
OC and CC in Plain English: The Certificates Before You Move In
Your keys are not the last step. Two certificates decide whether the building is complete and fit to live in. Here is what each one means.
· 7 min read
Patta and Chitta Explained: Tamil Nadu Land Records for First-Time Buyers
If you are buying a plot across the Tamil Nadu border, you will hear "patta" in every conversation. Here is what it is and what it is not.
· 6 min read
The Name on the Ad vs the Name on RERA: Why They Can Differ
Many buyers search RERA for the brand they saw in the ad and find a different company name. Here is why, and how to check the link.
· 7 min read
20 Questions to Ask a Builder in Writing Before You Book Your First Home
A friendly sales chat is not a record. These twenty questions, sent by email, give a first-home buyer answers they can hold the builder to.
· 6 min read
"RERA Approved"? What RERA Registration Really Means for Your First Home
RERA registers projects; it does not approve or endorse them. Here is what the registration number tells a first-time buyer, and what it does not.
· 5 min read
Your First Site Visit: A Checklist That Looks Past the Show Flat
A site visit is easy to enjoy and hard to use well. Here is a step-by-step plan for first-time buyers, from before you leave home to the week after.
· 7 min read
Is This the Builder's Real Website? Six Checks Before You Share Your Number
Search a project's name and you will often find several sites. Here is how a first-time buyer can tell which one belongs to the builder.
· 5 min read
Agreement for Sale vs Sale Deed: What Each Does
One is a promise to sell, the other is the sale. When you become the owner, what the agreement protects, and the clauses to read slowly.
· 6 min read
Near Attibele? Which State's Property Records Apply
Sarjapur–Attibele Road runs close to Tamil Nadu. How to tell which state's records cover a home, and why khata and patta are not the same thing.
· 7 min read
Booking Amount Limit: The RERA 10% Rule Explained
A builder cannot take more than ten per cent of the cost before a registered agreement for sale. What that means on a first-home budget.
· 7 min read
Carpet, Built-up and Super Built-up Area Explained
Three area numbers for one flat. What each measures, which one the law defines, and how to compare two homes fairly.
· 6 min read
Encumbrance Certificate: What a Clean EC Can't Show
An EC lists registered documents against a property. What Form 15 and Form 16 mean, how to read the entries, and the four things it never shows.
· 7 min read
Snag Inspection Checklist for Your First Flat
A room-by-room checklist for inspecting your new flat before you accept the keys, and how to record each defect so it counts later.
· 7 min read
Buying Your First Home: The Steps, in Order
Most first-home mistakes are steps done too early. A simple order from rent-vs-buy to keys, with what each step lets you walk away from.
· 6 min read
First Home Possession: What Starts on Key Day
Possession is a short chain of steps, not one day. What begins at each step, from the occupancy certificate to maintenance bills and the five-year defect window.
· 6 min read
Guntha, Acre and Square Feet: A Flat Buyer's Guide
How to convert guntha and acres, read an RTC extent without errors, and use land area to judge how dense a project is.
· 6 min read
Getting the Khata in Your Name After Buying a Flat
After registration comes khata transfer, and it is your job. Which office handles it, the papers you need, and how it works for new apartments.
· 6 min read
Possession Letter: What to Check Before You Sign
The possession letter looks like a formality but can affect your rights. What it records, what to ask for with it, and which lines to watch for.
· 7 min read
Sale Deed Registration Day in Karnataka: A Guide
How registration day works at the sub-registrar's office, what to prepare, what the officer checks, and the usual reasons documents are sent back.
· 6 min read
Title, Khata and Mutation: Three Records, Explained
Three records, three offices, three jobs. What each one proves, what to do when they disagree, and the order they change after a sale.
· 6 min read
'No Record Found'? Check the Village Spelling
Karnataka property portals match spellings exactly. Why one village has many English spellings, and how to search by place to find the record.
· 6 min read
The 11E Sketch: A Simple Guide for Karnataka Home Buyers
When only part of a survey number is sold, the 11E sketch shows exactly which part. What it is, who applies for it, what to check on it and what it cannot prove.
· 7 min read
DC Conversion in Karnataka: What a Home Buyer Must Check
Land around Bengaluru mostly started as farm land. A DC conversion order is what lets it be used for homes. How to read one and the mistakes buyers make.
· 6 min read
E-Khata, B-Khata and Property Deeds: A First-Buyer's Guide
Khata records a property for tax; deeds record who owns it. A plain guide to e-khata and B-khata in Bengaluru, and to the six property deeds you are most likely to meet.
· 7 min read
FAR, FSI and Setbacks: What They Mean for Your First Flat
Three planning rules decide how big a building can be, how much ground it covers and how far it stands from its edges. Here is why a flat buyer should care.
· 6 min read
Form 26QB for Joint Home Buyers: How Many Forms and Why
Bought your first home with your spouse or a parent? Form 26QB is filed once per buyer-seller pair, for every instalment. What to keep ready, and the five common mistakes.
· 6 min read
GST on an Under-Construction Flat: Why It Applies and When
Why a flat bought before completion attracts GST and a ready one usually does not, why the completion certificate decides it, and how GST differs from stamp duty.
· 7 min read
Carpet Area vs Super Built-Up: The Loading Maths for a First Home
Two area figures, only one defined by law. Here is how to work out loading yourself, and why the per-square-foot rate depends on which figure it is quoted on.
· 7 min read
How to Check a RERA Certificate Before You Book a Flat
A RERA certificate has about eight fields, and most listings show only the number. How to read every field, what the dates really mean, and how to verify it online.
· 6 min read
How to Check a Plot's Area on the Documents, Not the Brochure
Multiplying length by breadth is the easy part. The real check is matching that number against the sale deed, the land record, the survey sketch and the approved layout.
· 6 min read
How to File a K-RERA Complaint: A Plain Guide for Home Buyers
Who can complain, which forum hears what, what to attach, and where an appeal goes. A calm, step-by-step guide to the Karnataka RERA complaint route.
· 7 min read
How to Read a Karnataka Survey Number, Village and Hobli
Every property in Karnataka has a postal address and a revenue address. Only the second unlocks land records. Here is how the survey number, hissa, village, hobli and taluk fit together.
· 6 min read
Mother Deed and Title Chain: Checking Who Really Owns the Land
No single paper proves ownership in India. A clean title is shown through an unbroken chain of registered deeds, starting with the mother deed. Here is how to read one.
· 6 min read
NRI Buying a First or Family Home in India: The FEMA Basics
Working abroad and buying a home for yourself or your parents in Bengaluru? What FEMA allows, how to route payments, what repatriation looks like later and what paperwork to keep.
· 7 min read
Form 9 and Form 11: Panchayat Khata Explained Simply
Outside city limits, the property register belongs to the gram panchayat. Form 9 and Form 11 are its two key extracts. What each shows and what neither proves.
· 7 min read
RERA's 70% Account Rule: How Your Payments Are Protected
Seventy per cent of what buyers pay must go into a separate project account and leave it only as building progresses. What the rule covers, who certifies withdrawals and its limits.
· 6 min read
Your RERA Rights as a First-Home Buyer, Section by Section
RERA protects buyers, but only if you know which section to point to. The eight sections that matter, in the order you will need them during a purchase.
· 7 min read
Buying a Flat on Sarjapur Road: A First-Home Legal Checklist
Sarjapur Road crosses several jurisdictions and a lot of once-agricultural land. A calm, step-by-step legal checklist for first-home buyers, from RERA to the occupancy certificate.
· 6 min read
TDS on Buying a Flat: Section 194-IA for First-Time Buyers
When you buy a home, you, not the seller, may have to deduct tax and pay it to the government. Who it applies to, when it happens and what goes wrong if you miss it.
· 6 min read
FAQ
About these guides
What do the legal & compliance guides cover?
49 short guides on legal & compliance for first-home buyers in Bengaluru, each answering one question in plain words.
Are these guides advice for my case?
No. They explain how things usually work. For your own purchase, check with your bank, a lawyer or a tax adviser.
Where can I read every guide?
The <a href="/blog">Reeva blog</a> lists every guide, newest first, and the <a href="/glossary">glossary</a> explains the terms they use.
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