After buying a house, we tend to relax and think that we have completed entire process..Unfortunately we are wrong and there is a lot need to be done after buying a house, infact it is as hectic as buying a house..I am listing down 10 Things You Must Do Immediately After Buying a House which are very critical & should be completed as fast as possible.
1. Storage of Property Documents: Immediately after buying a house or land, you should make atleast 2-3 set of photocopy of all documents related to purchase. If you have bought house on Loan then kindly ensure you have taken a photocopy of all the documents before handing over the originals to bank…Trust me its very difficult to get photocopy of documents from bank. All the original documents with u should be stored properly & safely either in Bank Safe or you can install electronic safe in house & keep your original documents in safe. The 3 photocopy sets with you should be stored at 3 different locations. One set can be kept at home for reference so that u need to pull out originals if u need any detail, Second set can be kept with any trustworthy person whom u can trust either your parents or siblings and 3rd set can be kept in your office (Pls ensure the keys of cupboard is only with u else its not safe).
2. Digitalization of Documents: It is always advisable to scan complete set of documents and can be stored in digital form either in external hard disk or cut 4 DVD’s..Again keep 1 DVD in Bank Locker, 2nd at Home & 3rd in your office and handover 4th one to any trustworthy person. Digitalization of record always helps in emergency.
3. List of original Documents submitted with Bank: From the day you start processing your Home Loan..Kindly make a list of documents you are submitting with bank & keep photocopy with u. On the day of registry you must have handed over original sale deed and other imp original documents with bank…Immediately after that ask Bank to issue a letter mentioning all original documents submitted by you to bank…I had bad experience in this regard as the list issued by HDFC was incomplete..Thankfully i was maintaining record of all documents, i was submitting to bank as and when required…After hard fight and escalation to top level, finally i got complete list of documents, which i submitted with HDFC..Any ignorance in this area can cause major problem for u in future becoz banks only go by records & after 15-20 years no one will trust you on what all docs u submitted at the time of availaing loan so start following up with bank from next day of registration to issue list of docs with bank….Secondly some banks sign & seal the self declaration from your end that you have submitted following docs with bank but always insist on list of documents issued on bank’s letter head mentioning that bank has received following documents from your end.
4. Watermark your Sale Deed: After registration, you might need to handover photocopy of your sale deed for electricity meter transfer, Property tax transfer, with society/association etc..Normally ppl take help of agents for all this work & handover photocopy of sale deed to agents…It is very very unsafe practice and can lead to misuse of sale deed…It is advisable to create watermark copy of sale deed using adobe writer and watermark it with Do Not Copy…Always handover watermark copy to agents or in Govt offices.
5. Transfer of Electricity / Water Meter in your Name: Most important activity after buying a house. Immediately after buying a house transfer electricity & water meters in your name…Infact before property registration, find out NOC format for such transfers and take signature of previous owner on NOC at the time of registration only…After getting his money, he might not listen to u :). Electricity & Water Meter in your name are most reliable & authentic proofs of property ownership.
6. Transfer name in Property tax / Khata / EC records with local Municipal Body: Next important task after buying a house is to transfer Property tax records, EC & Khata in your name…Some people assume that it will be done automatically based on property registration but i am sorry friend, we are living in India and nothing moves on its own so start follow up on this process as soon as u can.
7. Transfer Society Share certificate in your name: In all apartments each property owner has undivided lad share and Society Shares…It is important to transfer the same in your need or u need to request for amendement in deed of declaration. For this u need to handover photocopy of sale deed immediately after buying a house and request for share transfer or amendement in deed of declaration.
8. Make a Will: Property investment is very big investment and it is very important & critical to make a will mentioning who will inherit property purchased by u, in the event of any unfortunate incident..Normally ppl at young age tend to ignore this and think that what will happen to us but we are wrong..Lets accept life is very uncertain and if we want that our dependents should not suffer after us then its our responsibility to care of this.
9. Update all Records with new address: You can update your address records like Passport, Banks, Investments, Driving license, Ration card, Voter Id etc. It is always advisable to update ur permanent address after buying a house in all records even if u r not staying their.
10. Check with Local Property lawyer: Last but not the least, check with good local property lawyer if u missed out on any important administrative point as per rules and regulations of ur area.
Above mentioned tasks are very important & to be completed after buying a house. After finishing these tasks, you can sit back, relax and enjoy a cup of tea in balcony of your flat.
Hope i have covered all the must do things after Buying a House.
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