Buying a newly launched apartment can mean a wider choice of floors and facing, and a payment plan spread over the construction period. It also means you are trusting a builder to deliver something you cannot fully see yet. For a first-home buyer that trust can feel like a leap. A clear, step-by-step checklist turns it into a series of small checks you can actually do yourself.
This guide walks through ten steps, from the registration number to the handover. The ₹ examples are illustrative arithmetic, not prices for any Reeva home.
Step 1: Confirm the registration
Search the RERA number on rera.karnataka.gov.in. Section 3 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) bars a builder from advertising or booking homes in a project that needs registration but does not have it. Read the filed plan, the promoter details and the declared completion timeline. No number, no booking.
While you are on the page, note three things: the promoter's name exactly as registered, the project's land area and number of homes, and the completion date. You will compare these with the agreement later.
Step 2: Read the quarterly updates
Section 11(1) of RERA requires the promoter to update the project page every quarter with bookings and construction status. A page that has not been updated for a long time is a question worth asking. Updates that show steady progress, quarter by quarter, are reassuring.
Step 3: Understand the payment plan
- Booking advance: capped at 10% before a registered agreement (Section 13).
- Construction-linked stages: each payment tied to a milestone like a slab or finishing.
- Get it in writing: the schedule should be in your agreement for sale.
Illustrative example: on a ₹60 lakh home, the booking advance before agreement cannot exceed ₹6 lakh. If someone asks for ₹10 lakh "to hold the unit" before any registered agreement, that is a red flag under section 13.
A construction-linked plan protects you because you pay as the building rises. Ask how each milestone is certified and whether the demand letter will come with a site photo or an architect's certificate.
Step 4: Add GST to your budget
For an under-construction home that is not in the affordable category, GST is 5% with no input tax credit, split as 2.5% CGST and 2.5% SGST. An affordable home (carpet up to 60 sq m in a metro and value up to ₹45 lakh) is at 1%. Stamp duty and registration are extra and follow Karnataka's schedule.
Illustrative arithmetic: on a ₹60 lakh under-construction home, 5% GST is ₹3 lakh, of which ₹1.5 lakh is CGST and ₹1.5 lakh SGST. It is usually charged on each instalment as you pay it, so it spreads across the plan rather than landing at once.
Step 5: Plan your loan
Say your home costs ₹60 lakh. At 80% loan-to-value, you would borrow ₹48 lakh and pay ₹12 lakh plus taxes and charges yourself. At 8.5% a year over 20 years, the EMI on ₹48 lakh works out to about ₹41,656. Try your own numbers in our EMI calculator.
With an under-construction home, the bank releases the loan in stages as demands come in. Until the full loan is released, many lenders charge only interest on the amount paid out, called pre-EMI. That keeps early payments lower, but you are not reducing the principal. Ask your lender which option it offers: pre-EMI, or full EMI from the start.
Check that the project is approved by your lender. Many banks keep a list of projects they have already checked, which can make your loan faster.
Step 6: Plan for rent and EMI together
This is the step first-time buyers most often miss. If you rent today, you will likely pay rent and pre-EMI or EMI together until handover. Illustratively, ₹25,000 rent plus ₹20,000 pre-EMI is ₹45,000 a month. Write down your own figures and check you can carry them for the whole construction period, plus some months of buffer in case of delay.
Step 7: Visit, and visit again
- Check that work on site matches the stage claimed.
- Read the project's quarterly updates on the RERA site.
- Walk the approach road at the time you would commute.
- Visit once in the rain season if you can, to see how the area drains.
- Look at the sample flat, but measure against the plan, not the furniture.
Step 8: Read the agreement slowly
Look for the carpet area, the handover clause, the penalty for delay and the list of fittings. Section 14(3) of the Act makes the builder fix structural defects reported within five years of handover.
Also check:
- The possession date, and what interest you get if it is missed. Section 18 of RERA lets you either leave with a refund and interest, or stay and receive interest for each month of delay.
- The interest you pay if you are late, which should be the same rate the builder pays you.
- What happens if you cancel, and how much is deducted.
- Every extra charge: parking, corpus, maintenance advance, club membership.
Section 13(2) of RERA says the agreement must follow the State's prescribed format. Ask for the draft before paying beyond the booking advance, and give yourself time to read it with a lawyer.
Step 9: Check the builder's track record
Visit a finished project by the same group. Ask residents how handover went. Did the builder deliver close to the promised date? Were snags fixed? Is the building being maintained well? Ten minutes with a resident often tells you more than a brochure.
Step 10: Keep a paper trail
- Save the brochure, price sheet and any ad you relied on. Section 12 of RERA gives you a remedy if they prove false.
- Pay only to the account named in the agreement, never in cash.
- Keep every receipt, demand letter and GST invoice in one folder.
- Deduct TDS where section 194-IA of the Income-tax Act applies, and keep the forms.
Choosing your unit at launch
Early buyers often get the widest choice. Use it carefully:
- Facing and light: visit the site at different times and check which side gets morning or evening sun.
- Floor: higher floors may carry a floor-rise charge. Ask for it on the cost sheet, and weigh it against lift dependence and power backup.
- Neighbours: a unit next to the lift lobby or the generator room can be noisier.
- Future views: check what may be built on the empty plot next door before paying extra for a view.
Common mistakes first-home buyers make
- Booking on the launch-day rush. A good project will still be there after you read the RERA page.
- Paying a large advance before the agreement. Stay within the 10% cap.
- Budgeting the price but not GST and registration. They can add several lakh.
- Not planning for rent plus EMI. The overlap is real until handover.
- Skipping the draft agreement. Every later dispute goes back to what it says.
One-page checklist
- RERA number checked, quarterly updates read
- Booking advance within 10%
- Payment milestones written into the agreement
- GST, stamp duty and registration in your budget
- Loan approved, pre-EMI or EMI option chosen
- Rent-plus-EMI period planned with buffer
- Site visited more than once
- Draft agreement read with a lawyer
- A finished project by the builder visited
Reeva Properties is backed by SUYUG Infra: 4 Mn sq ft delivered, 1.5 Mn sq ft under development. You can read more about the parent builder at suyug.com.