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Your dream home is beckoning you to hurry -- you have got your loan approved and you think you have nothing more to worry about or take care of.
Well, its not exactly a rosy picture from here on -- you still need to evaluate aspects related to your house carefully and bring them under the scanner to identify loopholes. This is especially true of the agreement you need to sign with the builder.
Here is a five-point checklist that you need to cross check and validate in your agreement.
Point 1: Actual price of the house
The agreement you enter in with the builder details the various costs that you will need to bear for buying the house. This would include the cost for utilities like electricity and water, parking space, various taxes and, in some cases, even the registration charges. However, the builder may then levy some extra charges for any of these.
What you need to do:
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Point 2: Actual size of the house
The agreement would clearly mention the size of the house you are purchasing. However, there is a clause which states '. . . the plans, designs, and specifications are tentative and the developer reserves the right to make variations and modifications. . .' Therefore, you may agree for a certain size, but the builder can give a different size.
What you need to do:
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Point 3: Carpet area
The area of an apartment or building, not inclusive of the area of the walls is known as carpet area. This is the area in which literally a 'carpet' can be laid.
When the area of the walls including the balcony is calculated along with the carpet area, it is known as built-up area. The built-up area along with the area under common spaces like lobby, lifts, stairs, garden and swimming pool is called the super built-up area.
The carpet area can be 15-30 per cent less than the super built-up area. However, you will not come to know the exact size until the flat constructions is completed.
What you need to do:
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Point 4: Date of possession
The agreement normally mentions a tentative date of possession. However, there have been instances where builders have delayed possession by more than a year.
What you need to do:
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Point 5: Completion certificate
On handing over the house to you, the builder needs to also give a completion certificate. This is issued by municipal authorities who establish that the building complies with the approved plan.
You would need this certificate for registration of your house and other government formalities.
What you need to do:
Other than these five points there more aspects such as the quality of the construction, management of the society, et cetera. For this you can try to add clauses to the agreement or form a society to get the builder to meet your demands.
Since there is no industry regulator you can turn to for the redressal of issues, it is important that you are aware of what you want and what you are getting.