Buying your first home in Bengaluru: a step-by-step guide

To buy your first home in Bengaluru, set a budget that covers every cost and not just the price, choose the location on commute, water and flood risk, check the documents before you pay anything substantial, arrange the loan early, register the sale deed through the state's Kaveri portal, and then move the property records into your name. This guide takes those steps in the order they happen. It is general information, not legal or tax advice: for your own purchase, use a property lawyer, and ask a chartered accountant about the tax.

Budget for the whole purchase, not the price

The price on the listing is only the largest of several payments. Before you look at homes seriously, write down every cost that falls due between the token advance and the day you move in, and decide which of them will come from your savings.

A home loan pays for part of the price, not all of it. Plan to pay stamp duty, registration, interiors and the move from your own money unless your lender confirms otherwise in writing. Home loans in India explains how lenders decide how much they will lend.

Stamp duty and registration are the costs first-time buyers most often underestimate. As checked on 5 October 2026, a sale deed for a home in Bengaluru attracts stamp duty of 5 per cent of the market value, with lower rates for the first sale of a flat valued up to ₹45 lakh; an additional duty worked out on that duty; a local surcharge within the Greater Bengaluru Area; and a registration fee of 2 per cent. Stamp duty and registration in Karnataka sets out every rate with worked examples.

Keep a buffer as well. A delay, a bank valuation below the price or an unexpected repair can each open a gap, and a gap found at registration is far harder to close than one found early.

Choosing where to buy

Location decides what you cannot change later: the commute, the water, the flood risk and, if you ever let the home, who will want to rent it.

• Commute. Make the journey at the hours you will actually travel, on a weekday, before you decide. Lines in service on Namma Metro include the Purple and Green lines and the Yellow Line, which opened in August 2025. Check BMRCL's website for what is running today, and treat a line under construction as a possibility rather than a commute.
• Water. Ask whether the building has a piped BWSSB connection, relies on borewells or buys water by tanker, and ask to see recent bills. The answer shapes both your monthly costs and your summers.
• Power. Ask how each flat is metered, what backup covers the lifts and pumps, and how outages are handled.
• Flooding. Low-lying land near lakes, valleys and storm-water drains can flood in heavy rain. Visit after a downpour if you can, look at the basement parking and the approach roads, and ask residents what happened in recent monsoons.
• Daily life. Schools, hospitals, shops and the journey to work for everyone in the household.

If you might let the home one day, consider who rents in the area as well. Renting out a home in Bengaluru: a neighbourhood guide describes the areas owners often ask about, and the Whitefield guide looks at one of them in depth.

New or resale, ready or under construction

Your first big choice is between buying from a builder and buying from an existing owner, and, for a new home, between a finished flat and one still being built.

Ready-to-move or under-construction compares the two kinds of new home, including what RERA protects. For a resale flat, the resale documents checklist lists every paper to ask for.

Check before you pay anything substantial

Do the checks before the token advance if you can, and certainly before the agreement for sale. A property lawyer should review the documents; the list below is what you should expect them to look at, so you can follow the work.

• RERA registration, for a new project. Search the project on the Karnataka RERA website. A registered project's page carries the approvals, the plans, the carpet areas and the builder's declared completion date.
• Title. The documents that show how the seller, or the builder and the landowner, came to own the property, and that nobody else has a claim.
• Encumbrance certificate. A record of registered transactions on the property, available online through Kaveri for the period from 1 April 2004; for earlier years you file an e-signed application through Kaveri, which goes to the sub-registrar's office. It does not show pending court cases.
• e-Khata. In the Greater Bengaluru Area, a sale cannot be registered without a final e-Khata, so check that one exists, that it is in the seller's name and that it is marked transactable.
• Approvals. The building plan sanction, the commencement certificate and, for a finished building, the occupancy certificate.
• Existing loans. Whether the property is mortgaged, and exactly how that loan will be closed at or before registration.
• Dues. Property tax, association maintenance and utility bills paid up to date.

Nothing you pay should run ahead of what you have checked.

Arrange the home loan early

Apply before you sign anything binding. A sanction letter tells you what you can actually borrow and leaves time for the lender's own legal and technical checks of the property. Those checks protect the lender; treat them as a second opinion, not a replacement for your lawyer.

Compare lenders on the rate and how it resets, the fees, the tenure and the prepayment terms, not only the headline rate. Home loans in India covers the process from application to the last EMI, the eligibility guide lists what lenders ask for, and how an EMI is calculated shows how the tenure changes the monthly payment.

Agreement, payment and registration

For a new home, the agreement for sale is your contract with the builder. Under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, a builder may not take more than 10 per cent of the cost as an advance or application fee before a written agreement for sale has been signed and registered, and that agreement must set out the payment schedule and the possession date. For a resale, the agreement records the price, the payment stages, what the seller must clear before registration and what happens if either side withdraws.

Pay by bank transfer, never in cash, and keep every receipt. Under the Income-tax Act, 2025, if the price or the stamp duty value is ₹50 lakh or more, a buyer paying a resident seller must deduct tax at source of 1 per cent of the price or the stamp duty value, whichever is higher, and deposit it with the government. A seller who is not resident in India falls under different rules, so speak to a chartered accountant before the first payment.

When you buy, ownership passes to you only through a registered sale deed. In Karnataka, registration runs through the Kaveri 2.0 portal: the deed and the parties' details are entered online, the sub-registrar's office checks the draft, the stamp duty and fees are paid online, and the buyer, the seller and the witnesses attend the office at a booked slot, where the buyer's and seller's photographs and fingerprints are taken. A deed has to be presented for registration within four months of the date it was signed. Stamp duty and registration in Karnataka walks through each step.

Possession and the snag list

A new flat should be handed over only once the occupancy certificate has been issued. RERA expects the buyer to take possession within two months of it, so plan the move around that certificate rather than the brochure date.

Before you accept the keys, inspect the flat in daylight with a written list:

• walls, ceilings and floors, for cracks, damp and hollow or uneven tiles;
• doors, windows, locks, grilles and balcony drains;
• every tap, flush, drain and water heater point, with the water running;
• switches, sockets and the distribution board;
• the fittings, finishes and specifications the agreement promised.

Report every defect to the builder in writing and keep the reply. Under RERA, if a structural defect or a defect in workmanship, quality or services is brought to the builder's notice within five years of possession, the builder must put it right without charge within thirty days. Collect the documents and plans for the flat and the common areas as well.

For a resale flat the handover is simpler, but record it all the same: the original documents, every key and access card, the meter readings and the association's confirmation that dues are clear.

After registration

The purchase is not finished when the deed is registered. In the weeks after:

1. Check that the e-Khata moves into your name. In the Greater Bengaluru Area, the registered sale reaches the e-Khata system from Kaveri to start the change of owner, with a short public notice before the record is updated; track it on the e-Khata portal and follow up with the ward's Assistant Revenue Officer if it stalls.
2. Pay property tax in your own name through the city corporation's property tax portal.
3. Move the electricity account with BESCOM and the water connection with BWSSB into your name.
4. Join the owners' association and update your details for maintenance billing.
5. Get a fresh encumbrance certificate that shows your sale deed, and keep the originals safe.

Buying a home to let

If the flat is an investment, judge it as one before you buy: the rent it can realistically earn, the months it may stand empty, maintenance, property tax, the loan and the tax on the rent. Rental yield and cash flow shows how to put those numbers together. A home that suits tenants, near work and transport, with reliable water and a well-run association, is easier to let and to keep let.

Once it is yours, the work changes: finding and screening a tenant, the agreement, the move-in record, rent, repairs and inspections. Nest Partners manages rental homes in Bengaluru for owners who would rather not do that themselves. There is no sign-up fee, and the property-management fee starts when rent collection starts; the owners page explains the service and pricing sets out the fee.

Common questions

How much should I keep aside beyond the price?

Enough for stamp duty and registration at the current rates, GST if you are buying from a builder before completion, legal and loan fees, interiors, association deposits and a buffer. Work each out for the home you are considering rather than relying on a rule of thumb.

Does the home loan cover stamp duty and registration?

Do not assume it does. Plan to pay them from savings, and ask your lender in writing what its sanction covers.

Can I buy a flat that has only a B-khata?

B-khata properties are recorded in the e-Khata system, but a B-khata marks planning deficiencies, such as a layout without approval or a building without an approved plan or occupancy certificate. Treat it as a reason to slow down, and ask your lawyer and your lender what it means for this particular purchase before you go any further.

The steps in order

1. Set the full budget, including duty, registration, interiors and a buffer.
2. Get loan eligibility from more than one lender, then a sanction.
3. Shortlist areas by commute, water, flood risk and daily needs.
4. Decide between new and resale, and between ready and under construction.
5. For a new project, check the RERA registration and the builder's past projects.
6. Have a property lawyer review the title, encumbrances, e-Khata and approvals.
7. Negotiate, and write every promise into the agreement.
8. Pay only by bank transfer, deducting tax at source where it applies.
9. Register the sale deed through Kaveri within four months of signing it.
10. Inspect before possession and report defects in writing.
11. Move the e-Khata, property tax, utilities and association records into your name.
12. Keep every original, receipt and certificate together.

If any step raises a question you cannot answer, pause and ask your lawyer before money moves. A delay costs far less than a mistake.