Questions to Ask a Builder
The questions a sales office would rather you asked after paying.
Free, no sign-up. 6 sections, 39 checks. Edit it to fit your own transaction.
Almost every question below has an answer the sales team already knows. The difficulty is that they are answered differently before and after a booking amount changes hands, and only the first set of answers is negotiable. Ask them in the sales office, with the brochure open, and write down what you are told.
Where an answer matters, ask for it in writing or ask to see the clause in the standard agreement. "That is standard" and "we always do that" are not terms of a contract. If a question causes discomfort, that is information too.
The project and its approvals
- What is the RERA registration number, and may I photograph the certificate?
- What completion date is declared on RERA, and how does it compare to what you have quoted me?
- Is the commencement certificate issued, and for how many floors?
- Has the occupancy certificate been applied for, and what is the expected date?
- Which bank or banks have approved this project for home loans?
- Who owns the land, and is it a direct purchase or a joint development agreement?
- Are there any pending litigations or RERA complaints against this project?
Area and price
- What is the carpet area, in writing, for this specific unit?
- What loading percentage takes it to the super built-up figure you advertise?
- Is the rate quoted per square foot of carpet area or super built-up?
- What is on the cost sheet besides the base rate — floor rise, view premium, club, corpus?
- Are GST and stamp duty included in the figure you quoted, or added on top?
- What is the parking charged at, and is it one bay or two?
- Which charges are one-time and which recur after possession?
Payment and finance
- Is the payment plan construction-linked or time-linked?
- What exactly triggers each instalment, and who certifies that the stage is complete?
- What is the booking amount, and under what circumstances is it refundable?
- If my home loan is declined, what happens to the amount already paid?
- Is there a subvention or pre-EMI scheme, and who pays the interest until possession?
- Which account does the money go to, and is it the RERA-designated project account?
- What is the penalty for a late instalment from me?
Delay, and what it costs you
This is the section sales teams answer most vaguely. Ask for the clause number.
- What does the agreement pay me per month if possession is delayed?
- From which date is delay counted — the RERA date or a grace period after it?
- How long is the grace period, and what events extend it?
- Is the delay compensation paid in cash or adjusted against the final instalment?
- What is the penalty rate you charge me for late payment, and is it the same rate?
- If I want to exit because of delay, what do I get back and over what period?
Specification and handover
- Is the sample flat the same specification I will receive, item by item?
- What brands are specified for sanitaryware, fittings, tiles and the lift?
- What is the defect liability period, and how do I raise a snag after possession?
- What is charged at possession beyond the last instalment — corpus, maintenance advance, legal?
- How many months of maintenance are collected in advance?
- Who maintains the building until the society is formed, and at what rate?
- When will the society be formed and the common areas handed to it?
Before you pay anything
- May I take the allotment letter and agreement for sale home and read them first?
- Will you give me the cost sheet on letterhead, signed?
- Is the person I am dealing with an employee or a channel partner, and who is liable?
- What is the receipt going to state as the purpose of the payment?
- Can the booking be transferred to a family member later, and at what cost?
Ask the delay questions first
Most buyers work through specification and price, run out of energy, and take the delay clause on trust. Reverse it. The delay compensation clause, the grace period and the exit terms decide what happens in the one scenario that actually costs you money, and they are the clauses least likely to be explained unprompted.
Compare the two penalty rates
Ask what you pay for a late instalment and what the builder pays for late possession, and put the two numbers next to each other. They are often very different. That comparison is a fair question to raise, and the answer tells you how the agreement treats you.
Take the papers home
A sales office that will not let you leave with an unsigned copy of the allotment letter and agreement is telling you it relies on you not reading them. Every legitimate promoter will hand them over. Read them somewhere without a closing deadline in the room.
Common questions
Is the booking amount refundable if I change my mind?
It depends entirely on what the booking form and allotment letter say, which is why you should read them before paying rather than after. Many forms treat some or all of it as forfeited on cancellation by the buyer. Ask for the cancellation clause specifically, and ask what happens in the separate case where your home loan is declined.
The builder quotes a different possession date from RERA. Which one counts?
The date declared on the RERA portal is the one the promoter is accountable for, and it is the date a complaint would be measured against. A sales team quoting something earlier is describing a hope. Ask for the difference in writing and note which date the agreement itself names.
Should I pay into the account the sales office gives me?
Ask whether it is the project’s designated RERA account before transferring anything. Payments for a registered project are meant to go into that account so the money stays with the project. Get a receipt that names the project and the unit, not a generic acknowledgement.
Related templates
Site visits, builder questions, home loan papers, allotment and registration.
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