Buying from abroad, without handing anyone a blank cheque
Twelve steps, in order, with the money held in escrow, the title checked by an advocate who does not work for us, and the registry on a video call you can watch from Brampton, Southall or Dubai.
The short version
You never pay a large sum against a promise. Every release of money is tied to a document that exists, on a date you can check.
- Booking money sits in escrow, released on milestones
- Title report signed by an independent advocate
- Registered Agreement to Sell before ten per cent is paid
- Mutation followed to sanction after the registry
What actually protects your money
Trust is not a feature. These six things are, and each one leaves a document behind.
Escrow, not our bank account
Punjab Roots Realty never holds buyer funds. Money goes to the developer, the seller or an escrow account, and escrow releases against a milestone document, not a phone call.
An advocate who is not us
We earn a commission on the sale, so we are the wrong people to certify the title. A practising advocate writes the report, you pay that fee directly, and you can bring your own lawyer instead.
A registered agreement, not a notarised one
An unregistered agreement is weak paper. Under RERA more than ten per cent of the price cannot be taken without a registered agreement, and a court needs one to order the sale through.
Every rupee on the banking record
Payment from your NRE, NRO or FCNR account or by inward remittance, with the bank advice and FIRC filed against each instalment. That file is what lets you take the money out again when you sell.
A power of attorney with narrow walls
One property, named by khasra number. Purchase only. Six months. It cannot be used to sell, mortgage, lease or gift, which is exactly how family disputes start.
Mutation followed to sanction
The registry makes you the buyer. Mutation makes you the owner on the revenue record. Most buyers are left to chase this alone from another continent.
From the first call to the mutation letter
Roughly four to seven months for a plot, depending on how fast the power of attorney clears and how long the seller takes.
Eligibility, before you look at anything
Your passport, your OCI or PIO card, your PAN and your current citizenship decide what you are allowed to own. NRIs and OCI card holders can buy residential and commercial property under the general permission in FEMA. Agricultural land, farmhouses and plantation property sit outside it.
You only see property that has already been checked
Verification happens when we take a project on, not after you have paid a token. Every listing carries its revenue record, its approval numbers and its satellite boundary on Jameen Deal, with the date each was last checked.
A site visit you can watch and forward
We record a geotagged walkthrough with the boundary pillars, the approach road and the neighbouring plots on camera, then join a live call at an hour that works in your time zone. Send the recording to your family in Punjab and let them argue with it before you decide.
An independent advocate writes the title report
A practising advocate runs the thirty year title search and signs a report you can download and forward to your chartered accountant. The advocate's fee is the advocate's, quoted in writing before the work starts. You are free to appoint your own lawyer instead.
Token money goes into escrow
The booking amount is held in an escrow account and released against a milestone document, not against a promise. If the title report fails, or a fact we disclosed turns out to be wrong, it comes back to you.
The power of attorney starts now, not at registry
Consular attestation or apostille, the courier, and then stamping in India within the period the Stamp Act allows, all take longer than people expect. So the paperwork begins the week you book, and it runs in parallel with everything else.
Agreement to Sell, registered at the sub-registrar
Under RERA a promoter cannot take more than ten per cent of the cost without a registered agreement, and a registered agreement is what a court needs to order the sale through if the seller changes their mind. A notarised one is not the same thing.
Money moves through banking channels, and we keep the receipts
Payment comes from your NRE, NRO or FCNR account, or by inward remittance. We file the bank advice and the foreign inward remittance certificate against every instalment and keep them in your file.
A fresh check, because records move
A new revenue record, a repeated encumbrance and litigation search, confirmation that the seller is alive and competent, confirmation that the power of attorney has not been revoked, and every due cleared: property tax, electricity, water, society and any development authority instalment.
You watch the signing on video
The sub-registrar appointment is booked, the stamp duty paid by e-stamp, and a video call runs from the office so you see the deed signed and the biometrics taken. The sale deed names you as the owner, whoever is holding the pen.
Mutation, and every other name that has to change
We apply for mutation and follow it to sanction, then move the property tax record, the electricity and water connection and the society or municipal file into your name. Certified copies come to you digitally; the originals go where you say, to a family member or to a bank vault.
Someone keeps an eye on it after you fly home
Photographs each quarter against the satellite boundary, a boundary wall and encroachment check, property tax paid before the deadline, and a caretaker visit. Scope and price agreed in writing, per year, cancellable.
Two ways to sign, and the safer one is not always the remote one
Most agents sell power of attorney as the answer. It is one answer. If you are visiting Punjab anyway, the other one removes the risk entirely.
Power of attorney
For buyers who cannot get away, or whose purchase cannot wait for the next trip.
- Executed at the Indian consulate, or notarised and apostilled where your country allows it
- Stamped in India within the period the Stamp Act allows, before it is used
- One property, named by khasra number, purchase powers only, six month expiry
- No power to sell, mortgage, lease, gift or take possession
- Revocation status checked again the week of the registry
One trip, three days
For buyers who come home in the winter anyway. We stack everything so you sign in person.
- Verification, title report and agreement all completed before you land
- Sub-registrar appointment pre-booked around your dates
- Site visit, signing and possession inside one visit
- No power of attorney at all, so nothing to revoke and nothing to argue about later
- Mutation and the name changes continue after you fly back
What gets checked, and what you get to see
A green tick with nothing behind it is marketing. Each of these arrives in your file as a document with a date on it.
- Fard and jamabandi from the Punjab land records
- Mutation register and the chain of succession behind the seller
- Registered deed copies covering the last thirty years
- Encumbrance and mortgage position, with the bank's no objection letter
- PUDA, GMADA or municipal licence, change of land use and development charge receipts
- Punjab RERA registration number and the project's quarterly progress reports
- Litigation search on eCourts and the Punjab and Haryana High Court
- Co-sharer position on a joint khata, and any registered partition
- Shamlat deh, panchayat and land acquisition status
- Master plan, green belt, road widening and defence zone restrictions
- Demarcation on the ground, measured against the satellite boundary
- Property tax, electricity, water and society dues, cleared before registry
What we will not do, even if you ask
Every one of these has cost a Punjabi family abroad their money at some point. None of them is worth a commission.
- No cash, at any stageNot one rupee of the price. Cash breaks your right to send the money home when you sell, and it is the first thing a court asks about.
- No agricultural land to an NRIFEMA does not permit it. No local arrangement, nominee or side letter changes that, and the ones on offer are how people lose the land.
- No general power of attorney salesThe Supreme Court settled this in 2011. A general power of attorney, agreement and will is not a transfer of ownership, whatever the seller calls it.
- No buyer money into our accountPayments go to the developer, the seller or escrow. A channel partner asking for the price in its own name is a warning, not a convenience.
- No instalment plan lent by usWe are a channel partner, not a lender. Instalments are the developer's published plan or your bank's NRI home loan, documented in the registered agreement.
- No verified badge without the file behind itIf we cannot show you the document and the date it was pulled, the listing does not carry the tick.
What it costs on top of the price
Stamp duty, registration, the advocate and the post-registry work, converted into the currency you actually earn in.
These are indicative figures for planning, not a quote. Stamp duty and the registration fee are fixed by state notification and change with the budget; professional fees are quoted in writing before any work starts. Confirm the current rates before you transfer money.
Questions about the process
Where does my money sit before the registry?
In an escrow account, or directly in the developer's or seller's account, depending on the deal. Punjab Roots Realty does not receive buyer funds at any stage, which means there is no point in the chain where the price is sitting with the channel partner. Escrow releases are tied to milestone documents: the advocate's title report, the registered Agreement to Sell, and the sub-registrar's receipt. Ask for the release schedule in writing before you send the first payment, and ask who the escrow agent is.
Is the booking amount refundable if the title check finds a problem?
That is the arrangement we ask for on every transaction, and it is the reason verification happens before the token rather than after. If the advocate's report finds a defect in the title, or a fact disclosed to you turns out to be wrong, the booking amount is returned and you have spent only the advocate's fee. The exact refund terms belong in the booking receipt in writing, because a verbal assurance is worth nothing across an ocean. Read that clause before you pay, and ask us to change it if it does not say this.
Do I have to give power of attorney to a relative?
No. If you visit Punjab even once a year, the alternative is to complete everything remotely and sign in person on a three day trip, which removes the question entirely. Where a power of attorney is genuinely needed, insist on a special power of attorney for one named property with purchase powers only and a six month expiry, rather than a general one. The classic loss is not a fraudulent stranger, it is a general power of attorney given to family that was never revoked. Have any draft reviewed by your own lawyer.
What is the difference between an Agreement to Sell and the registry?
An Agreement to Sell is a contract to transfer the property later on agreed terms. It does not by itself make you the owner: section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act is clear that a contract for sale creates no interest in the property, and the Supreme Court confirmed in 2011 that power of attorney and agreement arrangements are not transfers. What the agreement gives you is the right to go to court and have the sale completed. Ownership passes at the registry, when the sale deed is executed and registered, and the revenue record catches up at mutation.
Does Punjab Roots Realty offer EMI on a plot?
No, and you should be wary of any channel partner that does. We are not a lender and we are not the seller, so instalments come from one of two places: the developer's own published payment plan, or an NRI home loan from an Indian bank, several of which lend to NRIs and OCI card holders against Punjab property. Either way the schedule is written into the registered Agreement to Sell with the default and refund terms spelled out, and we track it for you and remind you before each due date.
What happens if the seller backs out after the Agreement to Sell?
A registered Agreement to Sell lets you sue for specific performance, meaning a court orders the sale to be completed rather than only awarding damages. This is exactly why we do not accept a notarised agreement. Timing matters: the limitation period for such a suit runs from the date fixed for performance, so the agreement should tie that date to your final instalment rather than leaving it open. Registering the agreement also puts the world on notice, which makes it much harder for the same land to be sold to somebody else.
Why can I not see agricultural land in my search?
Because as an NRI or OCI card holder you are not permitted to buy it. The general permission under FEMA covers residential and commercial property and specifically excludes agricultural land, plantation property and farmhouses, although you can still inherit them. A great deal of land in Punjab is classified agricultural, so this filter removes a lot of listings, and that is the point. A plot inside a licensed colony is residential once the change of land use is granted, and those you will see.
What does all of this cost on top of the property price?
Budget for stamp duty and the registration fee, which are the large items and are set by the Punjab government, plus the advocate's title report and the post-registry work covering mutation and the name changes. On developer inventory the brokerage is paid by the developer, so the price you pay is the developer's own rate. On a resale there is a brokerage and GST on it. The calculator on this page gives an indicative total in your own currency, and every professional fee is quoted in writing before the work begins.
This page describes how we work and sets out general information. It is not legal or tax advice. FEMA, RERA, stamp duty and Indian tax rules change; have your own advocate and chartered accountant confirm the position before you transact.
Start with the eligibility call
Twenty minutes, in your evening. We tell you what you can buy, what it will cost all in, and what the timeline looks like from where you are sitting. Nothing to pay to find out.
Bring these to the call
- Passport, and your OCI or PIO card if you hold one
- PAN card, or tell us you need to apply for one
- Whether you have an NRE or NRO account already
- Who in Punjab can visit a site on your behalf
- When you next expect to be in India
Our office is at SCO 26, 2nd Floor, Ganpati Enclave, Bathinda, Punjab 151001. Family can walk in and meet the team before you commit to anything.