Lesson A1·05 · Construction status
Pre-launch to resale — you're not choosing a flat, you're choosing a risk
5 min read · 5 stages · 1 trade-off
The trap, first
A dealer calls: "Pre-launch offer, sir. 20% below market. Only for select investors, before the official launch." It sounds like early access. Here's what it usually is: a project being sold before RERA registration — which RERA flatly prohibits. No registration means no escrow protecting your money, no filed completion date, no penalty if it never gets built.
That 20% isn't a discount. It's the price of lending an unregistered project your money with no legal safety net. Every construction stage trades price for certainty — and this lesson is that trade-off, mapped.
See it before you read it
The five stages
Selling before the official launch — and frequently before RERA registration, which makes the sale itself illegal. RERA bars advertising or selling any registrable project before registration. The pitch survives because the discount is real; so is the possibility that the project never breaks ground. If a "pre-launch" has a RERA number, verify it on the portal. If it doesn't, walk.
RERA-registered, construction starting, sold on a construction-linked plan. This is the cheapest legal entry into a project — you're paid for your patience (3–5 years) and your builder risk with the lowest per-foot price. GST at 5% applies. The builder's delivery track record is the whole game here.
Towers visibly rising; price has climbed from launch. Less time risk than a new launch, still GST, still delivery risk. The useful check: compare the RERA-filed completion date against visible progress — a project 30% built with 18 months left on its filed timeline is telling you something.
Complete, with an Occupancy Certificate — the document that makes "ready" legally true. No GST (a genuine 5% saving vs under-construction), no delivery risk, no rent-plus-EMI overlap. You pay the premium for certainty. One rule: ready without an OC isn't ready — it's an under-construction flat wearing paint.
Buying from an existing owner, not the builder. No GST, immediate possession, often better locations (older projects got the better land). The risk moves from the builder to the paperwork: chain of title, seller's registered sale deed, society dues, and an Encumbrance Certificate become your whole due diligence.
The analyst's cut
Test yourself — 5 questions before the next lesson
1. GST applies to which purchase?
GST (5%) applies only to under-construction property. OC-received and resale purchases are outside GST — a real saving worth pricing in.
2. A project is being sold "pre-launch" with no RERA registration number. Legally, this is:
No registration = no escrow, no filed timeline, no penalties — and the sale itself violates RERA. The discount is the compensation for zero protection.
3. The document that makes a "ready-to-move" flat actually ready is:
The OC certifies the building is complete per approved plans and fit for occupation. Ready without OC = under-construction with paint.
4. In a resale purchase, the main risk shifts from the builder to:
No delivery risk in resale; the entire due diligence is whether the seller actually owns what they're selling, free of claims.
5. A new launch is 15% cheaper than the ready tower next door, same builder, same specs. The honest way to read that 15% is:
Early-stage discounts are compensation, not charity. Whether the compensation is adequate depends entirely on the builder's delivery history and the RERA filing.
📹 Watch this explained in 60 seconds on the Videos page.