There is too much choice in the realestate market in India – you must understand what is your budget sothat you can narrow your search into a manageable process. Otherwise, your realestate broker will spin you around. Give the broker your budget and tell themthat its not movable. Don’t believe them when they say your budget is too low.There are properties of all types available in India today.

The budget is not just the cost ofthe property – it must include numerous non-obvious costs such asbroker fees, stamp duty, registration fees and home insurance premium. Allthese payments will come out of your pocket.

Location is key. It will affect thequality of life that you have in and around your home. Additionally, a betterlocated property will get a much better resale value if you decide to sell.

Before you put in your life’s savinginto buyinga property in Virar, you might want to consider renting in yourdesired location for a few months. It will give you a good flavour of what lifecould be like in the area.

When thinking of location you mustconsider the following: proximity of schools, your commuting time to and from work,modes of transport around the property, local amenities and shoppingconvenience, proximity to family, friends and your community, noise levelsaround the area and avoiding undesirable irritants (such as the proximity ofgarbage dumps, electrical sub-stations, sewage canals).

Finally, if you are viewing theproperty on a weekend, the traffic and noise situation might often be verydifferent from the weekdays, so do check the desirability of the location atdifferent days and times of day.

Prioritize what is important to you.If you are married, collectively agree with your spouse on what you are willingto compromise on. Otherwise, smooth talking real estate salesmen will takeadvantage of you by showing you too many different properties on criteria thatwill not be important to you.

Is a large kitchen important to you?Do you need an attached bathroom to every room? Do you want lots of storagecapacity? Do you need a study for your home office? Do you need a terrace orgarden for the kids to play in? Do you want to buy an old home which might haveold construction and aged plumbing, or you will only look at new homes whichwill be modern but you will pay a premium for the freshness?

Registration is theprocess of recording a copy of a document, transferring the title in immovableproperty to the office of the Registrar. Registration acts as proof that atransaction has taken place. The registration of a document serves as a noticeof the transaction, to the persons affected by the transaction. Registrationalso serves as an implied notice to any person subsequently acquiring interestin the property, covered by the registered document. When a document, which iscompulsorily to be registered, is not registered, it fails to confer any titlegiven by the document. The real purpose of registration is to ensure that everyperson dealing with property for which compulsory registration is required, canconfidently rely on the statement contained in the register, as being a fulland complete account of all transactions by which the title may be affected. Acertificate of Registration is mere evidence that a document has beenregistered. It is not proof that it has been executed. When the execution of adocument is directly in dispute between two parties, the fact that the documentis registered is not sufficient to prove its genuineness. Registration does notautomatically dispense with the necessity of independent proof that thedocument was executed. Registration is done after the parties execute thedocument. The agreement should be registered with the Sub-Registrar ofAssurance under the provisions of the Indian Registration Act, 1908 within fourmonths from the date of execution of the document. However, if due to anyunavoidable circumstances, the document is not registered within the timelimit, then the document can be registered only on making an application to theSub-Registrar of Assurance within a further period not exceeding four monthsand on payment of appropriate fine