Buying a first home in Surat: a checklist

A first flat is bought once and lived in for years, and most of what goes wrong was visible on the first visit to somebody who knew where to look. This is the list we give friends. It is in order: the early items rule a place out cheaply, the later ones cost an afternoon each.

Before you visit

1. The RERA number. Every project sold off-plan in Gujarat must be registered with GujRERA, and the registration lists the promoter, the approved plans and the completion date. Look the number up on the GujRERA site before you go; a project that cannot give you one is not a project yet.
2. Who is selling. A builder, a broker or an owner? On this site the listing says which, and the seller's business name is the one on their KYC. Ask a broker whose side they are on and what they are paid.
3. The carpet area, not the built-up. Prices in Surat are quoted per square foot of "super built-up" area, which includes the corridors and the lift. The number that says how big your rooms are is the carpet area, and RERA requires it to be stated.

On the first visit

1. Water. Ask where it comes from — SMC supply, a borewell, or tankers — and when it comes. Look at the overhead tank and ask how often it is cleaned.
2. Power backup. Which circuits does the generator cover: the lift and the corridor, or your flat too? Ask what the diesel charge is per month.
3. The afternoon sun. A west-facing flat in Surat is a warm flat from March to June. Visit at 3pm once, whatever the broker suggests.
4. Drainage and damp. Look at the ceiling corners of the bathroom and the kitchen, and at the wall below every window. Ask how the building fared in the last monsoon.
5. Parking and the road. Is the parking space allotted and written into the sale? How long does the lane take to leave at 9am?

Before you pay anything

1. The title chain. For a resale flat, ask for the previous sale deed, the society's NOC and the last three years of maintenance receipts. For a new one, the builder's title and the development permission.
2. Society charges. Maintenance per month, the sinking fund, and any one-off "development" or "transfer" charge the society levies on a resale.
3. The loan, in writing. A bank's sanction letter is a title check you get for free: a bank will not lend against a flat with a title problem. Get the sanction before the token amount, not after.
4. Stamp duty and registration. In Gujarat, budget around six per cent of the agreement value for both, on top of the price. It is not included in anything the builder quotes.

None of this needs a lawyer for the first pass, and all of it needs one for the last. Take the list with you, and walk away from anything that fails the first three.