How to check a plot before you buy it: a 10-step checklist

1. Know exactly who is selling

Ask for the seller's ID and PAN and compare the name with the name on the papers. If an agent or a relative is selling, ask for the owner's written authority and speak to the owner yourself. Be careful with sales through a power of attorney: the Supreme Court has said these are not a proper transfer of ownership, so insist that the owner signs the registered sale deed.

2. Get the chain of title

Ask for the latest registered sale deed and the earlier deeds. Together they show who owned the plot before and how it reached the seller. A gap in the chain, or a plot that came by gift or inheritance without papers, needs a lawyer's opinion before you go on.

3. Check the revenue records and mutation

The land records (in Uttar Pradesh, the khatauni and khasra extracts, which you can usually see online or at the tehsil) should show the seller as the owner. Mutation, called dakhil-kharij in many states, is the step that puts a new owner's name in those records. If the seller's own name is not there, the sale is not ready.

4. Confirm the land use and approvals

• A residential plot should lie in a residential zone of the master plan.
• In a colony, ask for the layout or map approval from the local development authority.
• Farmland cannot simply be used for houses: it needs a change of land use first.
• Ask whether any part of the plot is reserved for a road, a park or a public use.

5. Take an encumbrance certificate

The sub-registrar's office gives a certificate that lists registered dealings on the plot, such as mortgages and sales, for a period you choose. Ask for at least 13 to 30 years. A bank loan on the plot must be cleared, and the lender's papers returned, before the sale.

6. Look for disputes

Ask the seller to confirm in writing that no case is pending on the plot. Ask neighbours and the local ward office. A plot with a family dispute or a pending court case can be blocked even after you have registered it.

7. Visit and measure

• Walk the boundary and check that the pillars or walls match the map.
• Measure the area yourself; many plots turn out smaller than the papers.
• Check the road: its width, and whether it is a public road or a private strip.
• See whether water, electricity and drainage reach the plot or are only promised.

8. Ask who else has a claim

Co-owners, siblings and the seller's family may have a share. Ask for their written consent or their signatures on the sale deed. A single missing heir can make a claim years later.

9. Pay safely

• Pay by bank transfer, not in cash, and keep every receipt.
• Pay a small token first, the balance at the registry.
• Do not pay the full amount against only an agreement or a promise to register later.

10. Register and mutate

The sale deed is signed and registered at the sub-registrar's office on the stamp paper you pay for, with two witnesses. After the registry, apply for mutation so the revenue records carry your name, and keep the originals safe. The stamp duty and registration fee depend on the state, so check the current rates before you plan your budget.

Documents to ask for

• Seller's ID and PAN
• Latest sale deed and earlier deeds
• Revenue records and mutation proof
• Layout approval or map (for a colony plot)
• Encumbrance certificate
• Latest property or land tax receipt
• No-dues or no-objection letters, if any