Buyer Guides · 8 min read
How to Evaluate a Builder Before You Book
Brochures are written by agencies. Delivery records are written by time. Here are the seven checks that separate the two.
Published · Updated
Visit A Building They Handed Over Five Years Ago
Not the newest one — the oldest one. Look at the lobby ceiling, the basement drainage, the lift interiors and the external paint on the weather-facing elevation. Five years is long enough for shortcuts to appear and short enough that neglect cannot be blamed on age.
Then talk to two residents without the sales team present. Ask what took longest to fix after handover.
Read The Delivery Record, Not The Portfolio Count
A portfolio page lists projects. What you need is the gap between each project's originally declared completion date and its actual occupancy certificate date. RERA filings make this checkable for anything registered after 2017.
- Declared versus actual handover dates on past projects
- Complaints filed with the state authority and how they closed
- Whether earlier phases of the same estate were completed
- Whether the promoter still manages what it built
Look At How They Behave While Selling To You
A developer that discloses a pending approval before you ask, publishes a cost sheet with every charge itemised, and saysUpdate Soon. Pressure tactics at booking predict pressure tactics at possession.
Ask About Post-Handover
Who runs facility management after the association is formed? Is there a defect liability process with written timelines? Is the developer retaining any assets in the estate? A promoter with a permanent stake in the campus is structurally more reliable than one that exits at handover.
