For sale or purchase of any property it is essential, that the property must hold clear & marketable title i.e. the property is saleable and is free from any defective rights. Before purchase of any property, it is required to examine the documents of ownership in Govt. revenue records; to ascertain as to whether the property has clear and marketable title and to confirm as to whether it is affected by any encumbrances, rights or interests of any third party, The purchaser through his advocate/solicitor should investigate in this matter before entering in to an agreement. For investigation of title, the advocate/solicitor or his authorized search clerk make the inquiries with the office of Talathi, Tahasildar, City Survey Officer, Collector etc. and collects the information of mutation entries related to the ownership of the property from Govt. revenue records; for the last minimum 60 years; and prepares the report on the sequence of change of ownership from one hand to other up to date; along with all the information of third party rights if any. This exercise is called “Title Search Report”. Based on the Title Search Report, response to public notice, and examination of title deeds (i.e. original conveyance / sale deeds declarations and other revenue & public documents more particularly described in the chapter of “Documents of Ownership”) the advocate/solicitor concern after getting satisfied that there is no risk to purchase the property, issues “Title Clearance Certificate” to the effect that the property holds clear and marketable title together with search report.
Purchase of the immovable property like ownership flats, apartments and row houses entail pecuniary involvement which generally run into lakhs and crores of rupees and therefore requires any person who ventures into such an acquisition to take utmost caution in such a purchase whereby his/her hard earned monies are suitably protected and the roof over his/her head involves no legal complications. Nowadays people are becoming more aware of the legalities involved while purchasing a property
General rules to be followed while purchasing property
- Identify the property one wish to buy and formulate commercial terms
- Market Trends about prevalent rates of property in the vicinity and last known transactions
- The location of the property in view of future development & connectivity by transport
- Distinguish between terms and conditions of the contract with are negotiable and those which are fixed e.g. price, payment schedule, time of completion of the transaction etc
- Ask for photocopies of the all deeds of title related to the property to be purchased. Examine the deeds to establish the ownership of the property by seller, preferably through an advocate. Ascertain the survey number, village and registration district of the property as these details are required for registration of the sale. Previous encumbrances and loans, if any, on the property must be cleared before completion of purchase of the property. The title of the Vendor to the property must be clear and marketable.
- Finalize commercial terms of purchase of the property. Ascertain transfer fees, stamp duty and registration charges to be paid on purchase of the property.
- Ascertain outgoings to be paid for the property i.e. property tax, Request Vendor to obtain. If applicable, consent, permission, sanction, no objection of any authority required.
- Permanent Account Number of Vendor and Purchaser under Income Tax laws, Payment of stamp duty on the formal agreement or documents for transfer of the property, signing by both the Vendor and Purchaser and registration
- After payment of the entire sale price, take over legal possession of the property along with documents of title in original from the Vendor of the property
- Mutation of the land in favour of the purchaser.