Assetz Stratos

Assetz Stratos sits in Vasanth Nagar, the Cunningham Road pocket of central Bengaluru, some 3.5 km from MG Road. This is the settled heart of the city rather than a growth corridor. The streets, the bus routes, the hospitals and the schools have been in place for decades, and the question is not whether services exist but how long the traffic makes them take.

A working day here is measured in minutes of city traffic, not kilometres of highway. Offices in and around the city centre are within a short drive or a long walk, and the MG Road stretch covers shopping, restaurants and banks. The developer has not published distances to any specific office, school or hospital, so time your own commute at your usual hour before you decide.

The trade-off of a central address is the approach. Cunningham Road and the lanes off it carry heavy traffic at peak hours, and parking on the street is scarce. Check how the building's own parking is allotted and whether your flat comes with covered bays. The developer has not published a street address or pincode for the project, so confirm the exact plot with the sales team before you visit, and walk the lane at night as well as by day.

Assetz Stratos was built in two layouts. The 3 BHK measures roughly 2,327 sq ft and the 4 BHK roughly 2,450 sq ft. The gap between them is little more than 120 sq ft, so the 4 BHK buys an extra room by tightening the others rather than by adding much space. The developer has not said whether these are built-up or saleable areas, and no carpet areas are published, so measure the flat you are offered against the sanctioned plan.

Neither price is published; both are on request. With handover in December 2017, ask Assetz Property first whether any home remains unsold. If not, the price is set by the owner, and the things that move it are the floor, the facing, the condition of the flat and the fittings left behind. Because no price and no size basis are published, no per-sq-ft figure can be worked out here.

A completed home with an occupancy certificate carries no GST. Stamp duty and registration are payable in Karnataka on the full sale price. Ask for a cost sheet that lists:

• The area the price is charged on, and whether it is built-up or saleable
• Floor and facing, and any premium attached to them
• The number of covered car parking bays included
• Clubhouse membership and the current maintenance deposit
• Any transfer fee charged by the owners' association on a resale
• Stamp duty and registration as separate lines

Assetz Stratos has no RERA registration number on record for this project. Assetz Property describes it as BBMP/BDA approved, and it was completed in December 2017. Search the Karnataka RERA website (rera.karnataka.gov.in) by promoter and project name. If the building was finished before registration was required, no entry will exist and the completion papers do the work instead.

For a completed apartment, whether bought from the developer or from an owner, ask for:

• The occupancy certificate for the building
• The sanctioned building plan showing your flat
• The mother deed and the chain of title for the land
• An encumbrance certificate for the years since the land was acquired
• The khata and the most recent paid property tax receipt
• A no-dues letter from the owners' association

If the seller is an owner, also take the seller's registered sale deed and confirm the same name appears on the khata and the tax receipt. Check whether any internal walls or balconies have been altered from the sanctioned plan, since that affects both the khata and a bank loan. The purchase registers on a sale deed, after which the khata is transferred to you. A lawyer's title opinion is worth its fee on a central-city building with a long ownership history.

Assetz Stratos comes without a published site plan, plot size, number of homes or building height from the developer. Ask for the sanctioned plan and the master plan, and since the building has stood since 2017, check them against what you see on the ground. The images in circulation are as planned by the developer unless the sales team confirms a space is built and in use.

Daily life here revolves around a compact set of facilities rather than a sprawling township. A morning could begin in the gymnasium and end in the swimming pool. Children have a play area and a separate children's play area, and the sports facility covers the evening game. The clubhouse is the meeting point, and the cafeteria is the place for coffee without leaving the building.

The amenity list also names a golf course. In a central-city building on a small plot that is unusual, so ask exactly what is meant, whether it is a putting green, a simulator or something else, and whether it is in use. Rainwater harvesting is part of the design. Before you decide, ask the owners' association what the monthly maintenance charge is, what it covers, and how the pool and the clubhouse are staffed.