Invest in Goa. Real Estate.

Many people dream of their home by the sea. Someone once arrived on vacation for two weeks in Goa, wants to move to a sunny paradise forever, but does not know how to do it. We have prepared for you an article on how to buy a home in Goa.

In the article, you will learn the main mistakes people make when purchasing real estate in India, about the pitfalls that can occur when buying and processing documents, about prices, and expenses.

Buying and registering real estate. The main mistakes.

  1. “I’ll do it myself, I don’t need an agent.” It’s a very common mistake, don’t do this. Hire an agent and you will save time, nerves, and money. Yes, even money. The agent will help in finding high-quality and weed out low-quality. As a result, you will not need to overpay more money for repairs than you spend on an agent.
  2. “I won’t register a company, I will register a house on Rajesh. I know him for a long time, he definitely won’t throw.” Forget it. No one will give up real estate for a few million rupees. You won’t prove anything in a court.

Purchase and registering real estate. Pitfalls.

  1. Having no business visa. To purchase property in India, you need a company. You need a business visa to open a company.
  2. Payment by third-party methods (cash, card, etc.). Payment must be made only from the account of the Indian legal entity.
  3. Informal sales contracts. To evade taxes, the owner of the land or house will try to convince you that you don’t need a contract. So, you need it. The sale and purchase agreement guarantees your safety. Otherwise, the owner may sell the plot to someone else.

How to start real estate purchase procedure?

Register a company

Before you go to India, you need to apply for a business visa. If you flew to India on a tourist visa, you will not be able to open a business visa on the spot. You need to leave / fly out of the country, apply for a business visa and enter / fly into India on a new visa.

Attention! To obtain a business visa, you need to have an invitation from a company registered in India.

Any real estate for foreigners can be issued exclusively to a legal entity. To do this, you need to open a company.

There can be up to 4 people in the composition of the company’s managers. It is desirable that you are also the founder, and other founders are your relatives.

Walkthrough:

  • Opening business visa
  • Opening company
  • Opening bank account
  • Preparation of constituent documents
  • Preparation of legal addresses
  • Preparing KYC
  • Transfer of share capital to your company’s account in India

(Transfer must be made from your personal account in any country other than India)

The company registration process takes about 2 months.

Hiring a lawyer and making a deal

The stage of opening the company is completed. Now we turn to the preparation of documents for the acquisition of real estate. Some of the documents should already be ready both on your part and on the part of the owner or developer (affects the type of property and the type of documents required).

Even when purchasing housing in the country of origin, people often entrust realtors and lawyers with the hassle of registration. It would be a very wise decision to do the same in a foreign country whose laws you hardly know.

After the preparation of documents, the transaction is carried out. At this stage, the lawyer will check all the documents on the property from both sides and will accompany the transaction. Be sure to check all documents and contracts personally. If you have any questions, ask your lawyer and do not make a deal until everything is crystal clear.

By the time the Sale Deed is signed, the lawyer must prepare the Title certificate and the Agreement to sell.

Agreement to sell

Typically contains:

  • The object description;
  • Property location;
  • The object characteristics;
  • Deposit amount;
  • Payment procedure;
  • Date of full payment by the buyer;
  • Date of signing the sales contract (executed and registered);
  • Date of transfer of ownership of the property to the buyer;

May contain:

  • Regulations on violations;
  • Reimbursement provisions;

The sale agreement must be witnessed and signed by at least two witnesses. It is also registered by the seller’s lawyers.

Payment stages

The most common and secure payment plan is called the Linked Payment Plan.

  • 10% in advance for booking a house/plot;
  • 3% agent commission;
  • 10% in a month;
  • 10% at each stage of work until the end of construction (if you buy real estate under construction) 100% at the time of signing the contract, if you buy a finished apartment or plot of land;

Completion of the transaction and obtaining ownership rights if it is an apartment in a standing condominium

After all work is completed and you are ready to take possession of the property, you must sign the Sale Deed (Purchase Agreement). The document must contain your signature and the developer’s signature. And also you should get all the missing documents:

  • Blueprint of the plan from the builder
  • Completion certificate
  • Commencement certificate
  • Builder’s no objection certificate
Buyer’s rights
  • Familiarize yourself with all legal documents, certificates, permits that the developer has;
  • Be aware of any significant property defects of which the selling party is aware;
  • Obtain proper registration of the transfer of rights with full payment;
  • Own real estate according to the contract of sale;

Real Estate Buying Tips

One of the founders of our company Kiki Planet and the owner of Kiki Villa in Arambol Paresh Nawani answered questions and gave his advice on buying property in Goa.

Q: Do I need to hire an agent?

A: An agent is needed for a number of reasons, such as:

  1. Search for house. The agent moves around the settlements and identifies properties suitable for purchase.
  2. Interacts with locals in their native language.
  3. Pre-checks documents based on many years of experience.
  4. Receives confirmation of ownership from the village council. Only in the local language.
  5. Helps to determine the history of the land by talking to the locals in their own language. This will help avoid buying land with a bad history.

Q: Do I need to hire a lawyer?

A: A lawyer is needed for the following reasons:

  1. Conduct due diligence of documents.
  2. Conduct a land survey.
  3. Prepare a sales contract.
  4. Register the contract with the Government of Goa.

Q: Do I need a third party – an intermediary?

A: You will need an intermediary because:

  1. He will be able to manage the entire process from start to finish. It is desirable that he be included in the circle of persons managing the company.
  2. Coordinate agent and lawyer, and interact with the owner.
  3. Be an official witness in sales transactions and registration of documents with the Goan government.

Q: Is a sales contract required?

A: Oh yeah. A sales contract is required to confirm ownership. With a contract, you can:

  1. Register the change of ownership with the Goa government.
  2. Change property data in the village council.
  3. Change the owner’s data on receipts for electricity and water supply.
  4. To register new property as proof of address.
  5. Buy and register a car.

Q: How and in how many installments is payment made?

A: This is individual for each case. All payments are negotiated between buyer and seller. In the end, everyone ends up in a win-win situation.

Q: Is there required list of documents prior to construction.

A: Depending on the exact location, there are several options.

  1. If the land area is less than 500 square meters, then only permission from the village council is required.
  2. If the land area is less than 500 square meters, but the constructed building will be used for commercial purposes, such as a hotel, then additional permits from the environmental pollution control department and the fire safety and electricity department will be required.
  3. If the land area exceeds 500 square meters, then additional permits will be required from the city department and rural planning of the Goa government.

Q: Does the time of year or the tourist season affect the rise and fall in property prices?

A: No

Practical Tips:

  1. The best solution for buying real estate and investing at the moment are the areas of northern Goa and the south of Maharashtra. The new airport in the city of Mopa (Maharashtra), which has already been built and is completing its technical equipment, will open up many options for tourism.
  2. Areas in north Goa such as: Arambol, Mandrem, Korgao, Kerim are still affordable and have great prospects for development in the future, due to the change in economic environment that the opening of a new airport can provide.
  3. Pay attention to such areas of Maharashtra as Kerim and Shiroda.