How to buy property in India from Dubai: a step-by-step guide for NRIs

Step 1: Confirm you are eligible to buy

If you hold an Indian passport, you are an NRI and you can buy residential and commercial property in India freely. The same applies if you hold an OCI card. No prior permission from the Reserve Bank of India is needed for either category.

The restriction that catches people out is on land. Agricultural land, plantation property and farmhouses cannot be purchased by NRIs or OCIs without specific government permission - you can only inherit them or receive them as a gift. If a deal sounds unusually cheap for the plot size, this is often why.

Step 2: Work out your real budget, not the sticker price

The advertised price is rarely what leaves your account. Before you shortlist anything, build the full number so you are comparing projects honestly.

• Base price, and whether it is quoted on carpet area or a larger built-up figure
• Stamp duty and registration charges, which vary by state and sometimes by the buyer's gender
• GST, which applies to under-construction property but not to ready-to-move homes with a completion certificate
• Parking, club membership, preferential location charges and other one-time additions
• Maintenance deposits, and the ongoing monthly charge once you take possession
• Currency conversion cost on every transfer you make from the UAE

Ask for a written cost sheet showing every line item before you pay a booking amount. A developer who will not put the full breakdown in writing is telling you something.

Step 3: Shortlist by micro-market, not by city

'Bengaluru' is not a market. Whitefield, Hebbal and Sarjapur behave completely differently, and so do the eastern and western suburbs of Mumbai or the corridors around Hyderabad's IT belt. Infrastructure timelines - a metro line, an expressway, an airport link - usually matter more to the eventual value of your home than the brand of the developer.

This is the step that is genuinely hard to do from abroad, because the information that matters is local and often not online. It is also the single best reason to spend a couple of hours somewhere several developers are in the same room, where you can ask the same question of five different people and notice where the answers diverge.

Step 4: Do the due diligence before you pay anything

This is the part people skip, and it is the part that causes every horror story. Whether you are buying from a large developer or a small one, run the same checks.

• Look up the project's RERA registration number on the state RERA portal and confirm the details match what you were told
• Check the title chain - who has owned the land, and is it free of disputes and encumbrances
• Ask for the approved building plan and the commencement certificate
• For a ready home, ask for the occupancy or completion certificate
• Confirm there is no existing mortgage on the land or the specific unit
• Have an independent lawyer review the agreement for sale - not the one the developer recommends

Step 5: Arrange financing, if you need it

Indian banks and housing finance companies lend to NRIs against UAE income. Loan-to-value is typically capped somewhere around 75-80% of the property value, with tenures shorter than a resident would get, and repayment has to come from your NRE or NRO account or through inward remittance.

Getting an in-principle approval before you shortlist is worth the effort. It tells you your real budget, and it makes you a more credible buyer when you start negotiating.

Step 6: Pay through the right channels

Every rupee has to move through normal banking channels. That means from your NRE, NRO or FCNR account, or as an inward remittance from the UAE. You cannot pay in foreign currency cash, and you cannot use travellers' cheques.

Keep every remittance receipt and bank statement. If you ever want to send the sale proceeds back out of India, these documents are what prove the property was bought with foreign exchange - and that changes what you are allowed to repatriate.

Never transfer a booking amount to an individual's personal account, however senior they sound. Payments go to the developer's registered account, against a receipt.

Step 7: Register the property - remotely, if you prefer

The sale deed has to be registered at the sub-registrar's office with jurisdiction over the property, and stamp duty paid. You can be present for this, but most NRI purchases are completed through a Power of Attorney given to someone you trust in India.

A PoA executed abroad needs to be done properly: signed in front of the Indian consulate in the UAE, or notarised and apostilled, then stamped in India within the required window. Getting this wrong is a common and entirely avoidable delay, so have the draft reviewed before you sign anything.

Step 8: Take possession, and plan what happens next

At handover, do a proper snagging inspection - or have someone do it on your behalf - before you sign off. Get the completion or occupancy certificate, transfer the utilities into your name, and register with the residents' association.

Then decide how the property will be looked after. An empty flat 3,000 kilometres away deteriorates quickly, and a let property needs someone to handle tenants and repairs. Budget for professional property management from the start rather than relying on a relative's goodwill indefinitely.