Property Purchase. 10 documents you must verify

Añadido: 2026-05-12

[00:00:02]Hello everyone, welcome to this episode of expert speaks. Today we have picked up a hot topic which you all wanted. The care that you should take at the time of buying and selling of properties.

[00:00:14]Everyone wants to buy the property but it involves looking into various documents. Some we understand, some we do not understand. But to make things much easier, we are going to take you through the list of documents you have to go through at the time of buying or selling of properties. To take you through this complex subject of looking into the different documents you need to see at the time of buying the property, we have called an eminent guest speaker Mr. Sur A from Prop SEA in Bangalore to help you understand every of these details. Stay till the end of the video.

[00:00:47]We are going to talk about the nine documents you must know, you must see at the time of buying and selling of the properties. This is NR money clinic for you and I am Dr. Sundar Khan, your financial guide for a happy living.

[00:01:08]NRI money clinic. No hype, just the right advice.

[00:01:13]Are you a NRA living outside of India for more than 10 years? Have you dreamt of a retired life in India in a beautiful house and a lifestyle of your choice? Your dream can come true only when you take some simple and effective actions. Today I will take you through a stepbystep process to make this dream come true in my webinar stress-free retired life in India. Hello, I am Dr. Chandra Khan, financial guide and founder of YouTube channel NRI money clinic. I have to my credit creating secured retired life for thousands of NR spread across more than 60 countries. If you have an intention to make your dream retirement come true, register for my webinar. More details are in the link below. Dear viewers to talk about the various documents you need to look at at the time of buying of the properties to help you I have brought to the this program the emirate guest speaker today Mr. Sureshier. Mr. Sureshier is a highly regarded estate planning and real estate professional with over 25 years of experience. In the last 10 years alone, he has helped more than 3,000 families both inside India as well as the NRA community in helping them find the right properties and take the due diligence to the core and made them the happy owners of these properties. He holds a diploma in parallegal practice. He's a certified contract law from Harvard Law School and prestigious certified financial planner.

[00:02:49]He is known for his deep understanding of inheritance and succession laws.

[00:02:53]Without much ado, let me try and talk to Mr. Sureshier and find out what he has to teach you all about the different documents pertaining to the purchase of properties. Welcome to this episode Mr. Suresh.

[00:03:07]>> Thank you Mr. Shandra for your inviting having me here. It's a pleasure to share my experiences.

[00:03:12]>> Uh Mr. Suresh, the most often used word in property dealings is the word called sale deed. What is this document? What is its importance?

[00:03:20]>> Good sir. So a sale deed is the final and most important legal document in property transactions. It officially transfers ownership from the seller to the buyer. The sale deed contains details like buyer and sell information, description of the property, the sale consideration that is paid by the seller to the buyer and the rights being transferred under the sale deed. When the sale deed is executed and registered, you become the legal owner of the property. Without it, even if you have paid the full amount, your ownership is not legally complete. And that is why sale deed is most important property document.

[00:03:56]When we talk about the sale deed, often people get it confused with agreement to sell. Is agreement to sell and sale deed are one and the same. Are they different? If they are different, why two documents?

[00:04:09]>> It's a very important question. I've come across many clients just holding the property under the sale agreement.

[00:04:16]Sale deed and sale agreement are not same. These two are different documents.

[00:04:20]An agreement to sell or what we call sale agreement is a preliminary contract. It outlines the terms and conditions under which the sale will happen in the future. So sale agreement eventually is a promise to buy and sell a property in the future and this agreement is entered into between the prospective buyer and seller. The sale agreement will have promises about the payment schedule, timelines and obligations. So essentially sale agreement is a promise whereas the sale deed is actual transfer. So ownership changes only when the sale deed is registered not at the agreement stage.

[00:04:54]So sale agreement never conveys a title over the property. Let me ask you a follow-up question. If two people have got into an agreement to sell, right?

[00:05:04]One option is both agree that we don't want to proceed further and if both agree they can walk out of this contract or if one of the parties does not leave up to the contract the obligations of this agreement to sell can the other file a suit against it.

[00:05:20]>> This is where the drafting of sale agreement is very crucial. So when the sale agreement is being drafted, we also have to foresee this these situations and have a clauses for the default of either of the parties either buyer or seller. There could be different clauses say for example enforcement of promise.

[00:05:39]Yeah, both the parties have a right to go to the court and enforce the promise made by each other. This can happen provided sale agreement is adequately stamped. Say for example in Karnataka when two parties enter into a sale agreement to buy and sell the property.

[00:05:52]So 0.5% of the value of property or sale consideration need to be paid as a stand duty. Then it is enforcable in the court of law. So often we come across people executing the sale agreement on it 100 rupees stamp paper, 500 rupees stamp paper which does not give legal enforceability. In some cases this sale agreement also may have a clause about the penalty to be paid by the defaulting party. Suppose when the buyer defaults there could be clause for the future of advanced amount. If the seller default there could be a clause by the payment of compensation. So what action can be taken or impossibility can be taken. It depends upon the clauses that are contained in the sale agreement. We have heard in a lot of cases people get into an agreement to sell and this contract becomes open-ended and people will not act on it for years together giving rise to litigation. The seller can't sell it.

[00:06:46]The buyer doesn't pay the money and all complications will happen. This is not something which is unusual to hear about. So is it fair to say it's equally important to draft your agreement to sell keeping in mind all possible scenarios and and clauses put into it.

[00:07:03]Somebody defaulting, somebody not hiring, the agreement becoming open-ended or with a condition that it should be completed within such and such a time. All these things have to be looked into.

[00:07:13]>> Correct. Correct. Exactly. Right. Your sale agreement is about the terms and conditions and obligations of the parties. This should be clearly drafted in the agreement.

[00:07:22]>> So there is no standard draft for the agreement to sell or is it the on a case by case basis people will uh draft this agreement to sell.

[00:07:31]>> Most of the things may be standard. Say for example even time to complete the same uh deed. I may want 30 days, you may want 90 days. It cannot be standard.

[00:07:40]The documents that are required uh to be provided by the seller depends upon the type of property with agricultural land, residential land, apartment, complex and so on. Okay. So there could be a clause in the sale agreement to provide all required documents. There are certain clauses which could be standard but mostly it is customized especially default clause.

[00:08:01]>> Fine. I understood this part. uh often uh heard terminology in property matters is one should have clear title to the property at the time of buying or selling. What does the word clear title really mean? So clear title means that the property is free from legal disputes, no claims or encumbrances and the seller has the full right to transfer it. So to put it in a simple terms, a clear title means there are no ownership conflicts, no unpaid loans or liabilities and there are proper documentation across past transactions over the last 15 20 years. A property without clear title can lead to litigation, financial loss or even loss of ownership. So that's why the title of verification is very critical in property transactions. So always be advised to buy such property where the title is very clear.

[00:08:56]Now the question of clear title many a time a buyer goes to a lawyer and the lawyer says that the the title is clear.

[00:09:04]How do I know that the lawyer has looked into each and every aspect of it? Is it essential for someone to have a second opinion on that or is there a standard checklist to follow to check the clear titles?

[00:09:17]>> Though there are certain standard checklist again documents depends upon the property which you are buying. Yeah, of course we trust the professionals and we believe that such professional advocate or lawyer has done the due diligence in a proper way. If you in case of any suspicion or a doubt, it is always recommended to have a second opinion clearly highlighting your area of concern or before you go for the second opinion. Wherever you have a concern, doubt about the report of the lawyer, please ask these questions to them. Have a clarity from them. Perhaps you may have you may take undertaking on these points that considering all these concerns still the property title is very clear.

[00:09:54]>> If a lawyer gives an undertaking that in his opinion it is clear does it absolve him of all the responsibility of giving that opinion.

[00:10:02]>> You use the word opinion. So okay so when any professional gives uh his understanding of the property documents it is just a opinion. Okay, it's not binding.

[00:10:12]>> It does not give any guarant no one gives any guarantee on the title because the lawyer would have arrive with this opinion on the base of the document that are submitted. He may not have access to documents which are not submitted which may impact the title flow or a clear title. So any professional gives final decision as opinion. So, so if the the purchase of the property involves larger consideration, probably it is better for somebody to look at a second opinion to make sure that you know something is not overlooked.

[00:10:42]>> See, normally any lawyer when prepares the report, it will be in a chronological order about the title flow under that documents. My submission to every buyer is please take some time read this document attempt to understand the report wherever you are understood make note of these points go back to your professional advocate or a lawyer sit with him and get the clarification on these points if you're convinced well and good otherwise you can go for the second opinion >> uh sometimes I have heard people will come with a revenue document like I have paid the tax or I have some other document which which shows that their name is linked to that particular property. Can this be treated as the title document of the property?

[00:11:26]>> This is one of the biggest misconceptions on property documents.

[00:11:30]Revenue documents like you mentioned tax receipts ka or RTC they only show the possession of the property, usage of property or payment of property taxes but they do not prove ownership. time and again including the Supreme Court and high court of many other states have given a verdict that revenue document does not convey the title. Revenue documents are not equal to title documents. So ownership comes only from the title documents such as sale deed, give deed or partition deed. So many beers assume that if taxes are being paid, if kata is issued in their name, the title is clear. But that is not true. Ultimately you get the title only through the registered sale date, give deed, partition date and so on. So revenue documents are not titled document. They are only secondary documents to prove the title. That's all. It only tells us the possession of the property with such a person. At the time of buying of properties, people insist on encumbrance certificate.

[00:12:28]>> Correct?

[00:12:29]>> What is an encumbrance certificate? What is its important? And if encumbrance certificate has to be obtained by a buyer before he buys that property, how many years of encumbrance certificate one should have in his position? This encumbrance certificate in short we call EC is issued by the office of the subregister. This EC is a record of registered transactions on a property over a specific period. So you want to know what are all the transactions that have taken place on a specific property and registered with the office of the sub register. The document which we need to look into is EC. Just to simplify it, I compare EC with a bank statement. When you obtain a bank statement for a period, let us say for example a financial year. The statement records all the debits and credits in a particular account. It gives a record of transactions. Similarly, an incumbent certificate records all the transactions that are registered in the office of the subregister. Why this is necessary? It helps us to know whether property is already sold to someone. Are there any loans or migages? Are there any court attachments? Are there any registered claims or liabilities? But the important point to understand is that encumbrance certificate only reflects registered transactions with the office of the subregistar. It does not show any unregistered issues or disputes. So EC is only one of the document we depend upon to substantiate the title documents. So first important document is legal document like sale deed, gift deed, partition deed. We substantiate with revenue documents like karta and property tax receipts and then further substantiate with encumbrance certificate. So an encumbrance certificate shows if there is any lean against that property.

[00:14:09]>> Correct.

[00:14:10]>> Right. And as you said if it is registered then only it gets recorded in the records or let's say if somebody has done an equitable mortgage then it may not get reflected on on the inance certificate.

[00:14:20]>> Correct. Correct. Right.

[00:14:22]>> Okay. So if such a some other form of dispute is there on the property how can somebody know a clean encumbrance certificate they'll get it then how do you know that there could be other liabilities standing against that property >> property transactions uh normally follow the principle of at most good faith so party has to disclose with at most good faith there is no other way to >> that's the only thing >> that the only thing >> okay people buy the property then they say that you have to convert this into you ka kata has to be changed. And in our Karnataka, we have heard about something called a kata, b ka. For the benefit of my audience, please explain what is ka, what is a kata, b kata, which is there in karnataka. What is its importance? And when somebody buys the property, what is the significance of getting ka you know marked against his name? Please explain that in uh for the benefit of >> sure. See this ka is a municipal record maintained by the local authorities like municipal corporations punch tmcs. It allows a property owner to pay the property taxes apply for utilities like electricity connection water connection drainage cage and all and get building approvals and construction approvals. It is a record maintained by the municipal authorities or revenue authorities. It is about fixing the responsibility on a person who is responsible to pay the taxes and manage the property. So again many assume that ka is a title. Karta is not at all a title. It's a revenue dog.

[00:15:47]It's only maintained by the municipal authorities. There is a lot of discussion about a kartha and b ka. This is term generated by the public not officially. Okay. So BBMP maintains the register of all the properties in their books. So initially when the city is not that much growing you know all the properties are in orderly way developed these all the records are in the books of municipal authorities. Say for example in Bangalore it is BBM that means these areas are properly developed approvals are obtained and the construction approvals are taken and records are maintained in the but when the city is developing areas are developing we have found many people are not complying with the required regulations okay there is a compliances pending of compliances so in such cases the local authorities have started maintaining the reg details of these properties in another book known as Book and when the document is issued for properties which are registered in the B book this is known as B kata and other property is known as a kata but this is not official terminology basically okay so ultimately for the consumers the meaning here is that when the a kata is issued that means that the property complies with all the regulations when the local authorities have issued b kata it indicates that there are deviations or there are pending compliances so ultimately ka is not a proof of ownership it is only an administrative record but now this ka is linked to the tit title document across the Karnataka through the software that is being developed by our government which is good to protect the title over the property to to protect the mismanagement of property. Okay. So without kata now no transactions can be registered in the subar's office and this ka has become online which now we call under the terminology e karta it means electronic.

[00:17:32]So when the electronic kata is issued it is linked with the adhar of the owners of the property. So tomorrow if any transaction to be undertaken on these properties other wasted OTP is necessary. So fraud can be prevented. So ea is a one good step taken by the government. It's a good governance to protect the properties from any fraudulent transactions. So we strongly recommend all the property owners to obtain ea wherever the properties in across.

[00:17:57]>> So if they have a kata prior is in the even.

[00:18:03]>> Right. Right. Okay. Uh we have heard one more terminology called RTC's. Uh the record of rights. How does record of rights differ? RTC differs from kata.

[00:18:14]What is RTC? By the way, >> see primary RTC is a short term for record of rights, tenency and crops.

[00:18:21]This RTC as a document revenue is a revenue document maintained by the revenue authorities like office of Tasilar and other local village offices.

[00:18:30]It is primarily pertaining to the agricultural line. So this RTC includes details like owner's name, type of land, crop details, okay, area and classification, how many acres and gas, whether is a dry land or wet land. So it is an important document for verifying agricultural land ownership. But again, it should be supported with the title document. Whereas kata is primarily issued for the developed lands, house properties. So whereas when it comes to agricultural land, the primary document we depend upon is RTC apart from the title document. So it's safe to say RTC and Kata are similar but used in different types of properties.

[00:19:04]>> Correct. Correct.

[00:19:06]>> Right. Correct.

[00:19:07]>> I have heard another terminology called DC conversion. What is DC conversion and when it is required?

[00:19:14]>> See mankind uh wants property uh every person wants to buy a property and we need to move to the villages or outskirts of the towns and cities which are primarily agricultural lands. So government also should have a control and record of usage of land to provide amenities. Suppose if the government has record of agricultural lands then that will help them to plan to supply for the water for the irrigation. If the government has a record of the developed land for the residential use they will have a proper planning. They can do the proper planning to provide amenities like roads, infrastructure, electricity, water, drainage. So without these records it's very difficult for the government to plan and provide better amenities to the people. So it's very important that when the land is being used for other purposes than the agriculture, it has to be converted by the deputy commissioner. Okay.

[00:20:06]>> So the DC stands for deputy commissioner.

[00:20:08]>> Commissioner. Correct.

[00:20:09]>> So he he is the acting authority of that.

[00:20:11]>> Yeah. He is a revenue in charge of the district.

[00:20:13]>> Okay.

[00:20:14]>> Okay. So district commissioners are empowered within the frame rules of the local area development to approve the conversion of land from agricultural use to non-aggricultural use. When it comes to non-aggricultural use, it can be again residential use, commercial use or industrial use. So since we focus on agree residential use when any layout is being developed in the outskirts of the town or city which were which was earlier yeah an agricultural land then we start with looking at the title documents about the land owner. We also look at RTC for how long RTC is being held in his name and we also look at whether the land is converted by the DC for the residential purpose. Okay. If the DC conversion has not happened, this is known as unauthorized layout. In such cases, B kata is issued.

[00:21:03]>> Oh, >> pending compliance.

[00:21:05]>> So they may regularize it and then they may get an a ka.

[00:21:09]>> Huh. Then there is lot of process as of now it is not happen.

[00:21:12]>> We have heard the word called alienation. Is it the DC conversion same as an alienation?

[00:21:16]>> No, that is alienation is nothing but transfer giving them.

[00:21:20]>> It's a it's a transfer.

[00:21:21]>> Transfer alenating the property.

[00:21:24]>> Okay. One more question for you is we have heard about this mother deed.

[00:21:30]>> What is the importance of the verifying the mother deed? What constitutes a mother deed and what is meant by title change?

[00:21:38]>> So when you buy a property, it is not that just you see the title document in the name of the present owner. We also have to see the title flow over a period at least for 20 to 30 years.

[00:21:48]>> Okay, that is what we call title chain.

[00:21:50]And the mother the previous documents which shows the ownership of the previous owner. These are all known as mother deeds. It is very critical in property transactions. We always advise our clients to verify the title chain for the last 20 30 years if possible.

[00:22:03]Okay. Is there really discrepancies in the title flow? Sometimes there could be there could be no link between the transactions ownership of the properties. So to ensure that there is a clear title flow, we recommend to go through the mother deeds. So this ensures that the ownership has been transferred properly. There are no breaks or inconsistencies. There are no hidden claims. So skipping this step is one of the biggest risk in real estate.

[00:22:26]Many people buy the property depending upon the sale deed what I'm holding in my name without looking into the previous flow of title. So there should be a continuous title uninterrupted undisputed uh the flow of title from person to person.

[00:22:42]>> Yes that is what people clear title.

[00:22:43]>> Okay let's say if one party has held this title for 30 long years and there is no change of names have happened can they go and buy the property?

[00:22:52]>> Yes. This is one of the safest bet we can make. Last 30 years only one person is holding the property. There is sale it registered in his name. We look at EC for the last 30 years from the date he has brought the property to look is are there any incumbrances or claims. We also look at the kata for the last 30 years whether it stands issued in his name and it is one of the best bet to buy the property.

[00:23:13]>> Uh Suresh you are a practitioner of real estate. You run this firm called PropSaver. Can you tell me exactly what do you do in PropSaver? So propsa is a short term for property services. So here we offer two services. One is pertaining to real estate. Other is pertaining to inheritance what we call estate planning. So in real estate segment we offer services like due diligence of property documents, scrutiny of property documents, drafting of various documents like sale deed, sale agreement, give deed, partition deed and so on. Assisting in the registration of documents, assisting in obtaining various documents from the government agencies and departments. So we offer all the services except buying, selling and renting. So we we ensure that all the property documents comply with the regulations and the owner >> professional side of it. You look at the >> Exactly. So this is one service we offer in real estate segment. The other segment we have is estate planning. So estate planning is all about inheritance of assets. So today people pass away without any plan for the distribution of the results after their life and there are lot of complexities and issues are being faced by the legal hires. Okay.

[00:24:21]They may have to get a succession certificate from the court legal aid certificate or a family tree from the revenue department. There could be discrepancies and disputes among the legal hires. There is no clarity in the distribution of properties. So we try to assist the families in getting all these documents. We also help them in making a will or a family trust or a charitable trust, a power of attorney for the management of assets and also advanced medical directive where a person can appoint an agent or attorney who is authorized to take healthcare decisions on his behalf. This is all we do in estate planning segment.

[00:24:53]>> When you say, it's a living will you talking >> living will. Exactly. It's a living. So these are the two services we offer. We offer only professional advice. We don't sell any products or other.

[00:25:04]>> Right. Uh one last question for you Suresh. uh a person comes presents a document which looks absolutely crystal clear right can somebody go and buy the property or is there an essentially he someone has to go and verify the physical property I'm asking this with extreme responsibility lot of people NRIs get trapped in this thing that they see the property the lawyer gives a opinion and the guys will send from there the money but subsequently they realize there are lot of problems do you advise people to physically verify the property apart from verifying the legal documents.

[00:25:41]>> It is very very important to verify the property before you give any advance even you pay advance money. It is still more important when it is a vacant plot or a site. There are cases where we have seen these plots are sites only on paper not physically present. Okay. Not just only physically go and visit there.

[00:25:59]Ensure that all the boundaries are clearly planned. Please carry a tape and measure the measurement whether does it match with the document. We have seen the site measurement is 30 40 but actually it could be 28 into 38. So these also equally important. So in case of apartments or flats. So please go and visit there. Look at the amenities.

[00:26:18]Okay. Look at the uh other features like you know drainage, supply of water, is there any issues with the management of the association? Okay. What are the dues generally maintenance dues or management dues? All these are important. Have a word with the association. So physical visit is very very and always ensure that the property is vacant before you go for the registration of a sale deed.

[00:26:41]You must get the vacant position of the property.

[00:26:44]>> So you should not have a tenant in place at the time of buying the >> we don't advise. What happens if the tenant does not vacate after the sale deed is executed?

[00:26:52]>> Dear viewers, properties are very attractive. Who doesn't like to own a very good property? But it comes with its set of issues. the documents verification, trustworthiness. The lawyer gives an opinion and it stands as an opinion. It's in your best interest you verify each and everything. If required, take a second opinion. Look into the physical position of that property. Visit make sure that you are paying for a property which is existing otherwise what you thought to be an attractive investment probably will work out to be a nightmare in your life. Mr. Sur thank you very much for simplifying all these documents for the benefit of my viewers. I'll keep troubling you again and again and call you to look at sir >> probably some of the practical case studies that we have seen and what the buyers can or the sellers can learn from the real life case cases and where people really earned and and this can become a lesson for everyone. Thank you very much for your kindness to come all the way and share your uh experience for the benefit of my viewers. Thank you sir.

[00:28:00]>> It's my pleasure. It's my pleasure.

[00:28:01]Thank you. Thank you very >> dear viewers. Our channel grows only because of your subscription. Many of you watch the channel forget to subscribe. Please hit that subscribe button right now and press the bell icon. Do not forget to share these videos with your near and dear ones, friends and relatives and on all the social media on which you are connected with. Thank you very much for watching this episode on NRM clinic. I shall be back with you with yet another expert with yet another topic next Tuesday.

[00:28:28]Till then stay safe. J hint.

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