Smart things to know about buying resale property

1. The buyer must establish the title of the seller and whether he/she is the real owner.

2. The buyer must use the services of a legal expert or a lawyer to check if the documents pertaining to the resale of the property, that were given by the builder or original developer, are in order.

3. The documentation should be clear. They should be duly stamped and not already mortgaged. Otherwise, there could be issues if and when the buyer wants to take a loan against the same property or sell it subsequently.

4. In case the buyer is looking for a home loan to finance the purchase, keep in mind that most banks will have stringent preconditions for older properties. They may insist on a higher down payment for the home loan or may be unwilling to provide a loan for a longer tenor.

(The content on this page is courtesy Centre for Investment Education and Learning (CIEL). Contributions by Girija Gadre, Arti Bhargava and Labdhi Mehta.)