Buying land in Andhra Pradesh without visiting: a due diligence checklist

Everything on this list is cheaper than the mistake it prevents, and most of it becomes impossible once you have paid.

Buying land you have not seen is not reckless in itself — plenty of people do it successfully. It becomes reckless when the checks that would normally happen by standing on the plot simply do not happen at all.

Before anything else: does it exist as described?

Somebody independent of the seller has to physically visit and confirm the basics.

• The plot is where the documents say it is.
• The extent on the ground is broadly the extent on paper.
• The boundaries are identifiable.
• Nothing is already built on it, occupied, or being used by somebody.
• Access exists — a plot with no legal approach is worth a fraction of one with a road.

A surprising proportion of problems are caught here, before a single document is read. An "independent" visit means somebody who is not the seller and not the seller's agent.

The title chain

Encumbrance Certificate, long period

Ask for thirty years. Read the chain: does each transfer follow from the last? Are there gaps, or names that appear from nowhere? Is there a charge that was never discharged?

The seller's own title deed

Verify the seller acquired it in the way they say, and that the document is registered. Compare the property description — survey number, extent, boundaries — with the EC and the revenue records.

Revenue records

Do they name the seller? If they name somebody else — a parent, a sibling — ask why before going further. An incomplete mutation on the seller's side becomes your problem the moment you buy.

Where several owners exist

Inherited property with multiple heirs needs all of them, or a registered partition establishing that the seller holds this specific portion. A sale signed by one of four siblings is a dispute waiting.

Encumbrances and dues

• Outstanding loan against the property, and whether any discharge was registered.
• Vacant land tax arrears — they follow the property.
• Any pending litigation. Ask directly, in writing, and take local advice on how to check.
• Whether the land is subject to any acquisition proposal or restriction. This varies locally and is worth asking about specifically.

Is the price sensible?

Get an independent view of prevailing rates in that specific locality — not the district average and not the seller's figure. Rates on land vary sharply over short distances, and an outsider is the natural target for a price that is 30% high.

If you are buying remotely

Power of attorney. If somebody will sign for you, the document needs proper execution and, from abroad, usually consular attestation. Start it early — it is slower than people expect and everything else waits on it.

Payment. Move money through banking channels, against documented stages, never against verbal assurance. Be particularly careful with advances paid before the title work is complete.

Registration. Attend, or have your representative attend. Obtain the registered document and check it against what was agreed.

The day after you buy

Ownership is the beginning of the obligation, not the end of it. Within the first months:

1. Complete the mutation into your name.
2. Mark the boundary physically and record the corner coordinates.
3. Photograph the plot, dated, as a baseline — this is the image every future comparison will be made against.
4. Register for the tax and pay it in your own name.
5. Put some arrangement in place for somebody to look at it periodically.

A plot bought carefully and then left unattended for eight years arrives at the same place as a plot bought carelessly. The due diligence buys you a clean start; keeping it clean is a separate discipline.

This is a general checklist, not legal advice, and it is not exhaustive. Engage an advocate in the district where the property lies before committing to a purchase.