Sobha Silicon Oasis

Sobha Silicon Oasis has its front gate just off Hosa Road in Begur Hobli, a short run from Electronic City. You are roughly 1 km from Hosur Road and 2.1 km from NICE Road. The second link lets you bypass the city centre when you head for the southern and western suburbs. For anyone working in Electronic City, that pairing is the main reason to live here.

Daily needs are close at hand. A hospital, Blossom Multi Speciality, lies some 200 m away, and Bluebell Public School roughly 400 m away, so a school run or a clinic visit can be done on foot. For a weekend walk, Harlur Park is 2.9 km off. Over the last decade Hosa Road has filled with other apartment blocks, shops and places to eat, so this is now a settled address.

The catch is the road itself. Hosa Road is too tight for the traffic it now carries, and the stretch out to Hosur Road slows down badly in the rush. Drive it when you would normally leave for work, and again on the way back in the evening. Then time the full route to your office before you make an offer to a seller.

Sobha Silicon Oasis sold every home, so this is a guide to what was built and what to check on a resale. The two-bedroom flats come in 1,364 or 1,430 sq ft, and the two differ mainly in balcony and utility space. The three-bedroom flats are 1,514 or 1,535 sq ft, and the third bedroom is small enough that many owners turn it into a study. Row houses, spread over more than one level, measure roughly 2,936 sq ft.

Sobha no longer quotes a price. Owners have listed the smaller two-bedroom plan from roughly Rs. 1.25 Crore, and row houses from roughly Rs. 2.90 Crore. Wing, floor and condition move these figures a lot, so treat them as a rough guide only.

Compare the flat on offer with its original drawing. Look for combined rooms, a closed-in balcony or a moved kitchen, and ask whether the association approved each change. On a completed resale no GST applies, but stamp duty and registration do. Before you agree a price, get these from the seller:

• The agreed price and what fixtures stay with the flat
• Car parking allotted to the unit
• Unpaid maintenance and the association transfer fee
• Club membership transfer charges
• Status of any home loan the seller has on the flat

Sobha Silicon Oasis holds a separate Karnataka RERA registration for each of its five building phases, so first find out which wing the flat is in. The first registration, PRM/KA/RERA/1251/310/PR/170824/000032, covers Wings 1 to 6. The later phases carry the same prefix and end as follows: Wing 7 in 170913/000120, Wing 8 in 170824/000118, Wing 9 in 170913/000119, and Wings 10 and 11 together in 170913/000121. Look up the right one on the state website, rera.karnataka.gov.in.

On a resale of a finished home, collect:

• Occupancy certificate covering that wing
• Registered deed of the seller, plus the first agreement signed with Sobha
• Khata standing in the seller's name, with recent tax receipts
• Encumbrance certificate running from the first sale up to today
• The sanctioned plan, to compare with the flat
• A clearance letter showing no dues to the association, and the lender's consent if a loan is open

Once the deed is registered in your name, apply for the khata transfer and move the club membership and maintenance account over. Sobha has taken its project page down, so lean on the owners' association for old approvals and repair records.

Sobha Silicon Oasis has eleven wings of flats plus a cluster of row houses sharing 15.19 acres. Listings put the green share at 45 to 55 percent, and the lawns separating the wings are wide for a community of 917 homes. They are laid out as palm parks with a stream running through and rock gardens, and an observatory deck serves as a lookout over the grounds. Because everything is built, you can judge this on foot rather than from renders.

An ordinary day might start with laps in the upper lap pool, while children splash in the lower leisure pool on weekends. The clubhouse holds the gym, a games room and table tennis. Outside there are courts for basketball, badminton, tennis, squash and volleyball, and a track for jogging and cycling loops the site.

For working parents there is a day care, and younger children have a play area near the lawns. The library gives you a quiet corner, while a party hall and an amphitheatre host celebrations. Retail spaces inside the gates cover small daily errands. An organic waste converter and guards on duty around the clock complete the picture. Walk from your chosen wing to the club and to the main gate, and ask the association about recent upkeep of the pools and lifts.