Bren Unity

Bren Unity sits in Doddanekkundi, the residential pocket just off Marathahalli in east Bengaluru, close to the stretch of the Outer Ring Road where many of the city's tech parks line up. That closeness is the point of the address. The developer has not published a street address, a pincode or any measured distances, so this page quotes none; the commute is something to time yourself.

Time it properly. Drive or ride from the community to your office at your usual departure hour on a weekday, and repeat the trip home in the evening. Marathahalli's junctions are among the busiest in the city, and where the community's gate meets the main road will decide how much of that you feel. Ask which side of the plot the entrance opens onto.

For the rest of daily life, walk the lanes around the plot. Notice where the nearest grocer, chemist, school and clinic are, whether the walk to the bus stop is on a footpath, and how the roads look after dark. An area that has been settled since before 2011 usually has these things in place, but the only way to know their condition is to go and look.

Bren Unity has two plans. The 2 BHK measures about 958 sq ft and the 3 BHK about 1,251 sq ft, both quoted as built-up area; carpet areas have not been published. Ask the seller for the approved floor plan of the specific flat and the area stated in the sale deed, then walk the flat with the drawing to confirm that nothing has been enclosed or removed.

No entry price can be given, because no flats remain with the developer and the original launch rate was never published. The price is what an owner will accept in the current Marathahalli market. Collect asking prices from a few sellers, divide each by the built-up area, and negotiate on the per-sq-ft figure, adjusting for floor, facing and the state of the interiors.

A completed flat with an occupancy certificate carries no GST on resale. Stamp duty and registration are payable on the full consideration, and the owners' association will usually charge a transfer fee. Before agreeing a figure, ask the seller for:

• The approved plan and the area written in the sale deed
• Floor, facing and the car park that comes with the flat
• The current monthly maintenance and any arrears
• Whether a home loan is outstanding and how the bank will release the deed
• Property-tax receipts for the last few years
• The association's transfer fee and any deposit held

Bren Unity will not appear on rera.karnataka.gov.in, so do not look for it there. The community was completed in May 2011 and Karnataka's RERA rules arrived only in 2017, so registration was never required. That is entirely normal for a building of this age. It does mean the checking falls on you and your lawyer, flat by flat, rather than on a regulator's file.

Ask the seller for the following, and have a property lawyer read them before you hand over a token:

• The occupancy certificate for the block the flat is in
• The seller's registered sale deed and the earlier deeds in the chain
• Khata certificate and khata extract in the seller's name
• An encumbrance certificate covering the years from 2011 to now
• The latest property-tax paid receipt
• A no-dues and no-objection letter from the owners' association
• The sanctioned building plan, to confirm the flat matches it

Where the seller has a loan outstanding, the bank holds the original deed and releases it on closure, so put the sequence of your payment and that release in writing. After registration, apply for the khata transfer in your name, update the association's records and take over the electricity and water connections. Every bill should then reach you and not the previous owner.

Bren Unity is six-floor buildings spread across five acres, with 432 homes between them and the shared spaces on the ground in between. The developer has not published the number of blocks or the share of the plot left open, so ask the owners' association for the sanctioned layout to see how the buildings and gardens divide the site. Everything here is built and occupied, so what you see is what you get, not a render.

A day might start with a session in the fitness centre and a walk through the landscaped gardens, which after fifteen years should be well established rather than newly planted. The swimming pool is the weekend draw, and the children's play area is where younger families gather in the evening. That is the full published list, so do not expect a clubhouse, courts or a party hall unless you find them on your visit.

The questions to ask are about upkeep. Find out the monthly maintenance charge and what it covers, and whether a sinking fund exists for large repairs. Ask when the buildings were last painted and waterproofed, and how water supply and power backup are handled. Check the lift in the block you are considering, since six floors is high enough for it to matter, and look at the condition of the stairwells and parking.