Is it the first time you are trying to assess your property value or you are looking forward to purchasing a property? Well, then you must be terrified of the thought of not understanding how real estate works. Or worst, you might even be unsure of whether you have overpaid for a property. We can understand your anxiety and that’s why we have brought to you a list of measures that you can take before evaluating any property or even purchase.
During these times, most of the people bank on a valuer or real estate institution to get hold of the information you require in the first place. But let me remind you, there are many fraudulent paper-works as well which may misguide you into purchasing a property with a dispute or overpay. So, what can you do to mitigate those fears and reduce your risk of falling into the trap? Well, this is why self-help is the best help that you can get and we are here to guide you through the same.
How to prepare yourself from masked property valuations
Before we begin with the long list of precautions that you can take, we would like you to understand the process of valuations and prepare yourself likewise. The first and foremost thing to do is research on your own. Many people do that currently, thanks to the internet and real-estate apps. Yet there are 40% of the buyers who could not figure out that their property evaluation was masked. So, how can you narrow down your research to the most precise ones? To begin with, do not go for believing in websites that are into real-estate. Real estate firms powder the current state of the projects to enhance its value. So, make sure you check all the details provided by them on the internet and compare it with similar properties on other websites. This will give you a rough idea about the average selling price.
Connect with the owner and plan a preliminary visit to the house. Meeting in person allows the owner to be more open about the details of the property like its age, area, recent renovations, and you can also visibly verify along with other aspects such as the locality and other amenities. Now, you are prepared for the next steps. Now, you must be thinking it takes a lot of time to find a suitable home and will cost much effort to visit every property you like. Yes, you are right but once you get the basic idea from visiting one or two properties, you can use the idea to evaluate properties from now on. However, there are other measures that you also need to take care of which we will discuss in the next section.
Top 5 precautions that need to be taken during property valuation
- The first precaution you need to take is to test the clarity of the title. Each property is entitled to an individual and having a clear title of the property owner. You can also investigate the authenticity by studying the documents and taking a look at the original deeds.
- The power of attorney plays an important role in the buy/sale of a property and property valuation. Many times a property is sold by someone who holds the power of attorney and not the owner. However, you must ensure that the legal owner is present during the valuation or purchase of the property.
- Land tenure and bills can also help you in your property valuation. For instance, you should look at the records of NOCs and dues for the land taxes or renewal of lease which will help you judge the actual value. This will reduce your risk of paying more and uplift the value of the property. Sometimes, the agents will hide or miss out on this point, and later on after the transfer, you will have to bear the consequences.
- Income tax fraudulency is another aspect that you need to check. You need to find out if there are any tax dues on or for the property and the tax filing report of the seller. Furthermore, if the seller is NRI, taxes are deductible which you will find on the government official websites for tax.
- Lastly, make sure that your payments have proper documentations along with Tax file returns.
So, these are the precautions that you need to take during property valuation or even purchasing a property.
