This checklist is a buyer-side control framework. It does not replace a lawyer’s title opinion, a surveyor’s measurements, an engineer’s technical assessment, a valuer’s opinion or any authority decision. The point is to make sure those different workstreams are opened when relevant and do not disappear into transaction momentum.
The eight checks at a glance
Can you identify the exact property, seller/authorised party and transaction being proposed?
Has the buyer’s lawyer reviewed the legal questions relevant to this property and transaction?
Are physical access, legal access, documentary extent and measured boundary treated as separate questions?
Have the relevant land, registration, planning, building/project and local-authority records been identified for this property?
Do you understand what is observable on site, what is inaccessible and which conditions require technical review?
Are price, advance, inclusions, conditions, timing, possession and other material terms explicit enough to evaluate?
Have the lawyer, surveyor, engineer, valuer, tax/FEMA adviser, lender or other relevant professionals answered the questions within their disciplines?
Do you know what is resolved, what remains open, what must be a condition and whether the property has earned the next commitment?
Use evidence states instead of “verified / not verified”
Property information arrives from different sources. A disciplined buyer does not treat a seller statement, government extract, field observation and legal opinion as interchangeable.
A seller, broker, promoter, occupier or other party has stated something, but the buyer has not yet independently established it.
A document, extract, approval or official record is in the file, but its relevance or legal/technical meaning may still need professional review.
The site visit or inspection recorded a physical condition, route, use or feature as it appeared on the visit date.
The appropriately engaged lawyer, surveyor, engineer, planner, valuer, tax adviser or other specialist has answered the question within their discipline.
The evidence is sufficiently clear and the remaining issue is commercial, practical or risk acceptance for the buyer.
A material contradiction, missing record or unanswered professional question means the buyer should not treat the issue as closed.
1. Confirm the property and the parties
Start by making sure everyone is discussing the same property and the same transaction. A due-diligence file should be anchored to a clear property reference, the seller or authorised party and the asset actually being offered.
- record the address, survey/subdivision, town-survey, unit/flat or other available property identifiers;
- identify the seller and any person claiming authority to act for the seller;
- record the property extent, unit, undivided share or other asset description being represented;
- list what is included or excluded: structures, parking, furniture/equipment, plantation/business assets or other items where relevant;
- keep older names, marketing labels and locality descriptions separate from current official/property-record identity.
Buyer outcome: one identifiable property file rather than disconnected messages, photographs and documents that may refer to slightly different assets.
2. Put title, transfer and legal-effect questions with the buyer’s lawyer
The legal review should be property-specific. It should examine the documents and legal questions that matter to the seller’s ability to transfer the property and the rights the buyer expects to receive.
Aadhan Property Concierge can organise the document set, context, open questions and follow-up around that review. The legal advice and title/document conclusion remain a separate professional engagement with the buyer’s lawyer.
Do not mistake registration records for the legal conclusion
Tamil Nadu e-Sevai currently lists Inspector General of Registration services for Encumbrance Certificates and certified copies. Those records can form part of the buyer’s file, but the buyer’s lawyer remains responsible for interpreting the legal position and any limitation in the record set.
3. Separate physical access, legal access, extent and boundary
These questions are commonly collapsed into one because the property is visibly reachable and fenced. They are not the same.
- Physical access: what route is actually used to reach the property?
- Legal access: what right supports that route where a private/shared segment matters?
- Documentary extent: what extent and survey/subdivision/unit information appears in the relevant records?
- Measured boundary: what does the qualified survey work establish on the ground?
- Possession / occupation: what is actually occupied, fenced or used, and does it align with the property file?
A road, path, gate, compound wall, hedge, tea row or seller-marked corner may be useful field evidence. It is not, by itself, the legal or measured answer.
4. Identify the records, land use and approvals that actually matter
Do not use one universal document checklist for every property. A plot, apartment, old bungalow, agricultural parcel, plantation property and commercial unit create different record and approval questions.
- identify the relevant revenue/survey or urban property records for the exact parcel or unit;
- identify registration records and certified copies needed for the legal review;
- confirm the current local body / planning authority and the land-use or development context where intended use depends on it;
- for layouts, buildings or projects, identify the relevant planning/building/project records rather than relying on brochure labels such as “approved”;
- where a real-estate project falls within RERA, treat the project registration/disclosure record as one separate regulatory evidence stream;
- for Nilgiris or special-property contexts, open any additional parcel-specific statutory or hill-planning question only when relevant to the actual property.
Current Tamil Nadu record routes
Tamil Nadu’s Land Records e-Services provides public land/survey record services. Tamil Nadu e-Sevai currently lists Encumbrance Certificate and certified-copy services under the Inspector General of Registration. The Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules, 2019 remain a core planning/building framework for relevant development questions. Use these as evidence routes, then apply the responsible professional or authority interpretation to the exact property.
5. Understand the physical property and the limits of observation
Documents cannot tell the buyer everything about ordinary use, repair burden or site conditions. The property should be inspected using a brief that matches its type and location.
- approach road / street, entry, parking or service access;
- surrounding uses and immediate context;
- road-to-site level, slope, drainage, runoff and retaining where relevant;
- visible building condition, roof/moisture, obvious alterations and maintenance issues;
- utilities and practical use;
- areas not accessible, conditions not observable and seller representations not independently established.
A site visit creates field evidence. Technical significance remains with the appropriate engineer or specialist. The canonical site-visit service uses the evidence states Observed / Represented / Documented / Professional conclusion / Unknown to keep those distinctions visible.
6. Make the money, timing and conditions explicit
Commercial terms are part of due diligence because transaction momentum can make unresolved issues seem less important than they are.
- record the price and what is included;
- record any advance / token and the circumstances in which the buyer is expected to pay it;
- identify financing, document, survey, approval, vacancy/possession, repair or other conditions that remain outstanding;
- record who bears identified costs, dues, rectification or document-delivery obligations where material;
- do not treat negotiation progress as proof that the legal, survey, planning or technical work is complete.
Where the buyer is being asked to make a material payment or sign a binding document, the exact legal wording and consequences should be reviewed by the buyer’s lawyer.
7. Close the specialist workstreams that this property actually needs
Every property does not need every professional. The property and unresolved question should determine the workstream.
- Lawyer: title, transfer, legal access, agreements, powers/authority, legal effect and other legal questions;
- Survey professional: measurement, subdivision, boundary and survey reconciliation;
- Engineer / technical specialist: structure, retaining, drainage, slope, building services or other technical condition;
- Planner / competent authority: development, land-use, building or permission questions;
- Valuer: formal valuation where required;
- Tax / FEMA / finance adviser: buyer-specific regulated or financial questions;
- Lender: finance underwriting and sanction conditions.
Aadhan can coordinate those inputs and keep the unresolved questions in one buyer-side readiness view. Coordination does not transfer the professional conclusion to the concierge.
8. Make a readiness decision before the next commitment
The end product of due diligence should be a decision view, not a large folder. Each material question should be in a clear state and the buyer should know what happens next.
The material questions for the next stage are sufficiently answered and remaining trade-offs are understood.
The buyer is willing to advance only if specified documents, professional conclusions, rectifications or transaction conditions are satisfied.
The issue may be resolvable, but the current evidence is not strong enough for the next commitment.
The evidence changes price, scope, timing, inclusions or another commercial term.
A material contradiction, unacceptable risk or unresolved dependency means the property should not advance.
Stop / escalate triggers
- the property described in documents cannot be reconciled with the property being shown or occupied;
- seller/authority/record identities conflict materially and the responsible source has not resolved the conflict;
- physical access exists but legal access remains material and unresolved;
- survey extent or boundary is disputed, unclear or materially different from what is represented;
- the buyer’s intended use depends on an approval, change of use or future permission that has not been established;
- a significant structural, retaining, drainage, slope or building-services concern has not received appropriate technical review;
- the transaction is moving toward advance, agreement or registration while material legal/professional questions are still only representations;
Adjust the checklist for the property type and location
The eight families stay consistent, but the evidence burden changes materially by asset and buyer situation.
Move survey identity, access, layout/development status, land use, boundary, levels and drainage toward the front of the checklist.
Add building-record history, alterations, roof/drainage, dampness, retaining, services and maintenance burden to the land/title review.
Add unit identity, project/building records, RERA where applicable, common areas, association/maintenance, parking and shared-building condition.
Add revenue classification, water/access, survey extent, structures, intended future use and any parcel-specific statutory/operational questions.
Add lawful/practical use, tenant/lease evidence, current income/outgoings, shared property, physical condition and explicit return assumptions.
Add buyer-status/FEMA/tax/banking advice where relevant, authority to act, document custody and a stronger evidence/communication trail.
Coimbatore and the Nilgiris
The same eight checks often require close attention to the exact street/corridor, planning land use, layout/building record, access/parking, drainage, current works and surrounding urban use.
The checklist expands toward the full approach road, slope, drainage/runoff, retaining, roof/moisture, hill-planning questions, parcel identity and any property-specific statutory screening.
Do not let one record answer a different question
Useful registration records or copies are evidence inputs; they do not replace the buyer’s lawyer’s title/document review.
Useful for parcel identity, revenue classification and survey context; they do not answer every legal title, access or planning question.
Answers a permission/approval question; it does not establish seller ownership, clear title, measured boundary or physical condition.
Where applicable, it is a project-regulatory evidence stream; it is not a substitute for property-specific title, approval, site and transaction review.
Shows observable field evidence; it does not create legal, survey, structural, geotechnical or valuation conclusions.
A lender’s process serves the lender’s underwriting requirements and should not be treated as the buyer’s complete due-diligence substitute.
Current primary sources used for this checklist
These sources establish current public record and regulatory routes. They do not certify a particular property. Property-specific legal, survey, planning, engineering and valuation conclusions remain separate.