Dommasandra turns up in many Sarjapur Road ads as a landmark. “Close to Dommasandra” helps you find a site. It does not tell you anything about the paperwork of the home you are buying.
Reeva does not build at Dommasandra, so this is written purely as buyer guidance. The same checks work near any busy junction on the corridor.
What we can say on paper
Dommasandra is in Anekal taluk, Bengaluru Urban district, Karnataka. Projects on land there register with K-RERA, and deeds are registered through Karnataka's Department of Stamps and Registration. Below the taluk level, read the details off the revenue record of the specific land.
A landmark is not a jurisdiction
Busy junctions often sit near the edges of villages and local bodies. Whether a site is under a panchayat, a town body or a city body does not depend on how developed the junction looks. It depends on notified limits, which the state can change.
Why does this matter to you? The local body decides who issues your khata, who collects property tax and who approves the building plan. Two buildings a few hundred metres apart can have different answers. You only find out by reading the documents for the land under your building.
Words you will see, in plain English
- Survey number: the government's ID for a piece of agricultural or revenue land. Big plots may be split into sub-numbers.
- RTC (Pahani): Karnataka's record of rights, tenancy and crops. It shows who the land is recorded under.
- Conversion order: permission to use agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes, such as housing.
- Khata: the local body's record that a property is on its tax books, in a named owner's name.
- Encumbrance certificate (EC): a list of recorded sales and mortgages on the property over a chosen period.
- Occupancy certificate (OC): the authority's confirmation that the finished building can be lived in.
Your five-point checklist near any junction
- RERA number. Search it on rera.karnataka.gov.in.
- Survey number and village. Note them from the register.
- Plan approval. Who approved it, and does the building match?
- Khata and tax. Which body issued the khata, and is tax paid?
- Encumbrance certificate. This shows loans or sales recorded against the land.
How to run the checks, step by step
- Start with RERA. Open the project's page on the K-RERA website. Write down the promoter's name, the survey numbers, the approving authority and the completion date. Save a screenshot with the date.
- Match the land. Ask the builder for the title deed and RTC for each survey number. The numbers and village must match what RERA shows.
- Check the land use. Ask for the conversion order. Housing on unconverted agricultural land is a serious red flag.
- Check the plan. Ask for the sanctioned plan. Count the floors on the plan and on site. They should agree.
- Read the EC. Look for any mortgage. A project loan is common, but the builder should explain how your unit will be released from it.
- Ask your bank. Ask which lenders have approved the project. Their lawyers have reviewed the title, which is a helpful second opinion.
- Get your own lawyer. For one of the biggest purchases of your life, a property lawyer's fee is small. Ask for a written opinion.
What this costs you, roughly (illustrative only)
Say you are looking at a ₹65 lakh home, which is a practice number and not a Reeva price. If a lawyer charges ₹15,000 for a title opinion, that is about 0.23% of the price. Compare that with the 10% booking amount, ₹6.5 lakh, that RERA Section 13(1) allows a builder to take before the agreement is registered. Paying for a check before you risk a much larger sum is simple arithmetic.
Common mistakes near busy junctions
- Judging by the road. A wide road and a mall nearby say nothing about the title of a specific plot.
- Accepting "BBMP limits" or "panchayat area" on a salesperson's word. Ask which body issued the khata and see the document.
- Checking only the builder, not the land. A good builder can still be on land with a problem. Check both.
- Ignoring distance on foot. "Close to" in an ad can mean a long walk. Walk it, and drive it at peak hour once.
- Not saving records. Keep a folder, on paper or on your phone, of every document and screenshot. You will need it for the loan and the registration.
Questions for the site visit
Take this list on your phone and tick each one off as you go. You do not need to ask them all at once. Spread them over the visit and the follow-up email.
- Which survey numbers is this building on, and which village are they in?
- Which authority sanctioned the plan, and in which year?
- Which body issued the khata for the land, and is property tax up to date?
- Is there a project loan on the land, and from which lender?
- How will my unit be released from that loan at the time of sale?
- Which banks have approved the project for home loans?
- Where does water come from today, and where will it come from after handover?
- How is sewage treated, and who runs the plant after handover?
The last two are not legal questions, but they decide how comfortable the home will be to live in. A clear answer on water and sewage is as important as a clear title for a family moving in.
Ask in writing
If a salesperson tells you something about approvals, ask for it on email or in the agreement. A spoken promise is hard to rely on later.
A good email is short. List your questions with numbers, ask for copies of documents, and ask for a reply by a date. A builder who answers clearly is telling you something about how they will behave after you pay.
A quick decision rule
If the RERA page, the title papers and the plan all agree, and the EC has no unexplained loan, you can move to the next stage with confidence. If any one of them does not agree and nobody can explain why in writing, pause. Another good home will come along. A missing document rarely appears after you have paid.
Curious about the stretch further along? See our Sarjapur–Attibele Road page.