Most buyers evaluate a project the way they fall in love: quickly, emotionally and around a single feature they liked. A better approach is to run every shortlisted project through the same fixed checklist, so you compare like with like and catch the gaps a show flat is designed to hide.

The checklist below moves from paperwork to physical reality to money. Work through it in order, write your answers down, and any project that cannot satisfy the legal and financial sections should not advance regardless of how good it looks.

Legal and approvals

This is the non-negotiable first gate. A beautiful project with a shaky legal foundation is a liability, not an asset.

  • RERA registration number, verified on the state RERA portal, matching the project you are viewing.
  • Clear and marketable title, ideally confirmed through a lawyer's title search and the encumbrance certificate.
  • Sanctioned building plan and approvals from the relevant local authority, matching what is being built.
  • Commencement certificate for under-construction projects, and occupancy or completion certificate for ready ones.
  • Land-use classification consistent with residential development.

The developer behind it

Once the project's own paperwork passes, assess the entity delivering it. A clean legal file still depends on a builder who can finish. Review their completed projects, their delivery timelines versus commitments, and their compliance history on RERA.

For under-construction purchases, the developer's credibility carries as much weight as the project itself, because you are buying a future delivery, not a present asset.

The physical product

  • The specific unit's carpet area in writing, and its loading factor versus super built-up.
  • Floor plan efficiency: light, ventilation, wasted circulation space and furniture fit.
  • Facing, floor and any obstructions to views or sunlight for the exact unit.
  • Construction quality visible in a sample or, better, a completed building by the same builder.
  • The amenities that are actually built or funded, not merely illustrated.

Location and liveability

A project is only as good as the life around it. Assess connectivity to your workplace, schools, hospitals and daily needs at the times you would actually travel, not at a quiet mid-morning visit.

Look for stable fundamentals: existing infrastructure over promised infrastructure, water availability, drainage and how the surrounding area is likely to develop. Promised metro lines and roads are a bonus, not a basis for the decision.

The financial picture

  • Total cost of ownership: base price, floor rise, parking, clubhouse, GST where applicable, stamp duty and registration.
  • The payment schedule, and whether it is genuinely construction-linked for under-construction projects.
  • Maintenance charges and the likely corpus, which affect your monthly outflow for years.
  • Home-loan approval of the project by reputable lenders, as a secondary diligence signal.
  • A sober view of resale and rental demand for that configuration in that micro-market.

Turning the checklist into a decision

Score each project honestly and refuse to let one strong feature paper over a failed gate. A project that scores brilliantly on design but cannot produce clean title has not passed; it has failed the only test that protects your capital.

When two projects both clear every gate, then and only then let preference, lifestyle fit and price decide.

The honest takeaway

A checklist does not remove judgement, it disciplines it. Its value is that it forces you to look at the boring, decisive things before the exciting, superficial ones.

This is general guidance, not legal or financial advice. Verify every legal and financial item against original documents and current rules for your city, and engage a lawyer and advisor before you commit.