Sobha Indraprastha

Sobha Indraprastha stands in the Minerva Mills Compound in Gopalapura, Rajajinagar, pincode 560023. The easiest way to direct a visitor is to tell them to look for Sujata Theatre; the towers are right across from it. Rajajinagar is one of the older neighbourhoods of the city, close to its central belt.

That central position is the trade you are making. Compared with a new suburb on the edge of the city, the drive to many older business areas should be shorter. In return, you accept a denser, busier neighbourhood where the roads were laid out long before tall towers arrived.

Daily life in a settled area like this tends to be local. Markets, clinics and services have grown up over decades, so small errands rarely need a long trip. Specific schools, hospitals and metro stations with their distances have not been published, so we will not name them here.

Before you buy, test the journeys you actually make. Drive to your office at the time you leave on a normal weekday and time the evening return too. Try the school run from the gate. If someone in the family relies on buses, walk to the nearest stop and see how long it takes.

Sobha Indraprastha is sold out with the builder, so treat this as a map of what was built and what to check when an owner offers you a home. Seven plans exist, all quoted as built-up area. Three-bedroom flats are about 1,950 and 2,280 sq ft. Three-bedroom duplexes are about 2,875 and 2,970 sq ft.

Four-bedroom flats come in about 3,179 and 3,994 sq ft, and the four-bedroom duplex measures about 3,715 sq ft. Ask the owner for the carpet area printed in the sale deed, since that is the space you actually live in.

Resale asking prices depend on the tower, the floor, the view and the state of the interiors. Collect quotes for two or three similar homes before you negotiate. No GST is payable on a finished home, but stamp duty and registration apply on the sale value.

Before agreeing a figure, ask the owner for:

• The full asking price in writing, with the car parking slots named
• A no-dues letter for maintenance from the association
• Details of any corpus or deposit that moves to you with the home
• The bank's closure letter if a loan is still open
• A list of the fittings and furniture included in the sale

Sobha Indraprastha has no RERA registration number on record for this project. Projects in Bengaluru are registered with the Karnataka RERA authority, so search its portal by name and developer before you pay any token. For a home that was completed in 2018, the building's approvals and the seller's title count for more.

Ask your lawyer to collect and read these before you sign:

• The occupancy certificate for the tower your home is in
• The sanctioned building plan, so you can match your unit to it
• The seller's registered sale deed and the earlier deeds in the chain
• An encumbrance certificate covering at least 13 years
• The khata in the seller's name and recent property tax receipts
• A no-dues letter from the apartment association

Make sure the name on the sale deed is the name of the person you are paying. If a home loan is still running, the bank has to release the original deeds at the time of sale. After registration, move the khata into your name and give the association a copy of your deed.

Sobha Indraprastha is two tall towers of 37 floors on 9.5 acres, with 356 homes between them and the shared facilities spread across the rest of the land. The open-space figure has not been published, so walk the grounds and see how much green there is between the towers and the boundary.

Start a weekday with a lap of the jogging track or an hour in the gymnasium, then a swim before the office. After school, younger children have their own play area, while teenagers use the basketball court and the other outdoor courts. Landscaped gardens make for an easy evening walk.

When it rains, the games room and a table tennis table keep people busy indoors. The clubhouse is where most residents meet, and a spa and sauna are there for those who want to unwind at home. For birthdays and family gatherings, the party area saves you hiring a hall.

The project is complete, so every one of these facilities is built and in use. Ask the association what the monthly maintenance covers across two towers, how lifts are serviced, and whether any major repairs are planned that owners will be asked to fund.