A brochure shows the best angle of a layout. A site visit shows everything else. Before you pay a token advance on any open plot around Hyderabad, walk the ground with this checklist in hand.
Before you leave home
- Get the survey number and layout approval number. Ask the seller for both in writing. You will verify them later, but having them in hand changes the tone of the visit.
- Check the RERA registration. Layouts that require registration should show a project number on TG-RERA. Note the promoter name so you can match it on site.
- Pin the plot on a map. Measure the real driving distance to the ORR exit, the nearest bus route and the nearest school — not the distance quoted in the ad.
On the ground
- Access road width and ownership. Is the approach road a public road, or does it cross private land? A layout road that ends at someone else’s field is a problem.
- Layout board. Approved layouts usually display the approval details at the entrance. Photograph it.
- Boundary stones and plot numbering. Ask the site staff to show your exact plot’s corner stones and compare them to the layout plan.
- Internal roads, drains and street lights. Are they laid, or only marked with lime? What is promised, and by when?
- Low-lying land and water flow. Look for signs of standing water, a nearby nala or tank bed. Visit once after rain if you can.
- High-tension lines, graveyards, quarries. Look up and around. These affect both resale and loan eligibility.
- Neighbouring construction. Houses already built in the layout are the best sign of genuine demand.
- Water and power. Ask whether individual connections are possible now, and at what cost.
Questions to ask the seller
- Is the layout HMDA- or DTCP-approved, or awaiting LRS? (See HMDA vs DTCP.)
- Which banks have approved the project for plot loans?
- What is the full cost — plot price, development charges, registration, and any club or maintenance fees?
- What happens to the token if the documents do not check out?
Rule of thumb: never pay a token on the day of your first visit. Go home, verify the documents, and come back.
After the visit
Take the survey number, approval number and seller details through our document checklist. If anything does not match what you saw on site, stop and ask why.
REAL Investors accompanies buyers on site visits across Hyderabad’s ORR corridors. Book a visit and we will walk the ground with you.