Nandi Citadel

Nandi Citadel has its address at Akshaya Vana, Chandrasekarapura, on 1A Main Road, pincode 560076. The project belongs to the Bannerghatta Road belt in the south of Bengaluru. Beyond that, the developer has not named nearby offices, schools, hospitals or stations, or given distances to them, so we do not add any.

That makes your own visit the real test. Because the community is lived in, the traffic you meet on a weekday morning is the traffic you will live with. Drive from the gate to your office at your normal hour, time it, and repeat the trip on the way home. Note where the congestion builds and whether a two-wheeler would cut the time.

Then walk the streets around the gate. Look for the nearest grocery, pharmacy and bus stop, and check how the approach road looks after rain. Ask residents where their children go to school and which hospital they use; they will know the answer from experience.

For a resale flat, also check which side of the campus it faces. With 15 blocks spread over 12.8 acres, a flat near a busy road edge and one on a garden side can feel very different at night.

Nandi Citadel is sold out with the developer in every layout, so this is a guide to what was built. Sizes are built-up area; carpet areas were not published. The smallest home is a studio of about 445 sq ft. There are two 1 BHK plans of about 575 and 610 sq ft, and four 2 BHK plans of about 985, 1,025, 1,030 and 1,080 sq ft. The 1,025 sq ft plan was built as two studios combined, which may suit a family that wants to rent out part of it.

At the larger end, five 3 BHK plans measure about 1,285, 1,305, 1,400, 1,415 and 1,430 sq ft. With no developer price list, the price is whatever you agree with the owner.

On a resale there is no GST, but stamp duty and registration are payable on the agreed value. Before you agree a figure, ask the seller for:

• The built-up and carpet area as stated in their sale deed
• Whether a covered car park is included and where
• Any pending maintenance, tax or utility dues
• The block and floor, and the direction the flat faces
• Recent sale prices in the same block, from the association

Nandi Citadel has no RERA registration number published yet. You can still ask the seller or the association whether one was issued and search for it on the Karnataka RERA website, rera.karnataka.gov.in. For a completed resale, though, the documents below carry most of the weight.

Ask the seller for:

• A copy of the occupancy certificate for the block
• The seller's registered sale deed and any earlier deeds in the chain
• An encumbrance certificate covering recent years
• The khata in the seller's name and the latest tax receipt
• A no-dues letter from the owners' association
• A loan closure letter from the seller's bank, if the flat was mortgaged

Have a property lawyer check these before you pay a token. If you are taking a home loan, your bank will run its own legal check, which is a useful second opinion.

On completion, register the new sale deed in your name at the sub-registrar's office, then apply for the khata transfer and move the power and water accounts. Tell the association in writing so the maintenance bills come to you.

Nandi Citadel spreads 831 homes over 12.8 acres in 15 four-floor blocks, so the buildings stay low and the ground between them carries the gardens and play spaces. Any plan you are shown is the layout as planned by the developer; since the project is finished, check it against what you see on the ground.

An early start could be a walk on the jogging track or a session at the yoga pavilion, then the gymnasium or the swimming pool at the clubhouse. The landscaped gardens include wetland patches, which make the morning walk quieter than a row of lawns.

Children have a play area and a skating rink, and older ones can use the cricket nets or the multipurpose sports courts after school. When it rains, the indoor games room takes over. Weekends bring barbecues at the BBQ pits, and there are two party halls, so two families can hold events on the same evening.

After several years of use, how well these spaces work depends on the owners' association. Ask what the monthly maintenance charge is, when the pool and gym were last serviced, and whether any repair levy is planned.