প্রপার্টি কেনার আগে কাগজপত্র যাচাই: রেডি বনাম নির্মাণাধীন ফ্ল্যাট

The words ready and under-construction describe the state of the building, not the strength of the ownership behind it. A finished flat can sit on land with a muddled ownership history, and a site with nothing but columns and a boundary wall can stand on land whose papers are clean and well recorded. It is easy to be reassured by what is visible and to forget that the visible part is only half of what you are buying.

The practical difference is what you can check with your own eyes. With a ready flat you can visit, stand in the rooms, open the taps, look at the finishing and, if people already live in the building, ask them what it is like to live there. With an under-construction flat you are judging drawings, approvals, the seller's record and the agreement, because the thing itself does not exist yet.

Neither route is automatically safer. The sensible question is not which type of flat is better, but which risks you are able to check yourself and who will help you check the rest. That is a conversation worth having early, before you set your heart on a particular apartment.

The great advantage of a ready flat is that it can be inspected. Visit more than once, and at different times of day, so that you see how the light falls and how the building behaves when it is busy. Look at ceilings and corners for damp or cracks, check water pressure and drainage, notice ventilation and cross-breeze, and look carefully at shared areas, stairs, lifts and the roof.

If the building is occupied, residents are the most honest source of information you will find. Ask them about water supply, drainage, waste collection, caretaking, lifts and how the developer behaves after handover. Ask too about any charges or conditions that apply to owners in the building, and how those arrangements are recorded.

None of this tells you who owns the land beneath the building. A flat can be complete, well finished and occupied while the ownership chain behind it remains unclear. Ask the seller to explain the story of the property from the land to the flat, and confirm the documents that apply with MGB Holdings or with your own lawyer.

When you buy before completion, you are buying a right: a right to a described flat, in a described building, on a described piece of land, at a future point in time, under an agreement. What protects that right is the agreement and the approvals behind the project, not the show flat or the brochure.

Because the flat does not yet exist, small differences matter a great deal. The size and orientation of the unit, the floor it sits on, the specification of finishes, the shared areas you will use, the condition the flat will be in when it is handed over, and what happens if delivery slips, all belong in the written terms. Read the agreement as though it were the product, because in many ways it is.

This is also where a seller's record matters most. Ask for details of developments the same seller has completed and handed over, and visit them if you can. How a developer behaves on the last day of a project tells you more than anything said on the first.

Start with the land, not the flat. Ask who owns it, how the seller came to hold it, whether the ownership can be traced clearly, whether any part of it is disputed, and whether any claims or restrictions sit on it. Verbal answers are not enough at this stage; ask to see the papers and take advice on what they mean.

Then look at the building itself. Was it constructed in line with the approvals it holds, are the utilities connected in the correct name, and are there outstanding charges affecting the property or the shared areas? These are the questions that decide whether a completed building is straightforward to own or quietly complicated.

Finally, look at what you personally would be buying: the agreement with the seller, your share of the land, your rights over shared areas and parking, and the ongoing charges that come with living in the building. The exact list of documents to examine depends on the property, so confirm it with MGB Holdings or your lawyer rather than working from a generic list.

Begin with approvals. Ask which authority approved the plan, whether that approval is current, and whether what is being built on site matches what was approved. Ask for the position in writing, and have your lawyer confirm what the approvals do and do not cover for the specific project you are considering.

Next comes the land, and the questions are the same as for a ready flat: who owns it, how it was acquired, whether it is free of disputes, and how the land will be shared between the people who buy flats in the finished building. Ask how the seller's rights over the land are recorded, and take advice on whether those records support what you are being offered.

Then read the agreement properly. Look at the delivery terms, the specification, what happens if the seller is late, what happens if you are late, how disputes would be handled, and who is actually signing on the other side. Read all of it before you pay anything, and have your lawyer explain any clause you do not fully understand.

With a ready flat, the main risks are ownership and condition, along with any unresolved charges on the building or the land. Condition can be inspected and, to a large extent, judged with your own eyes. Ownership cannot be judged by eye at all, which is why it deserves the most careful attention of the two.

With an under-construction flat, the risks are approval, delay, quality, and the distance between what was promised and what is eventually delivered. More of your protection depends on the honesty of the seller and the quality of the written terms, because you cannot walk into a flat that has not been built.

Your own circumstances matter too. How soon you need to move in, whether you can wait through a construction period, whether you are living in Bangladesh or abroad and how often you can visit the site, all shape which route suits you. There is no single right answer, only a right answer for your situation.

Visit before you commit. For a ready flat, go at different times of day and look at the building with a critical eye. For an under-construction project, visit the site, ask how the work is progressing against the plan, and where possible visit a development the same seller has already completed and handed over.

Ask your questions in writing and keep the answers. Verbal assurances are of little use a year later, and anything promised as part of the purchase, whether a fixture, a finish or a date, belongs in the agreement rather than in a conversation.

Bring in a lawyer before you sign and before you pay. Your lawyer acts for you rather than for the seller, can tell you what to verify with the relevant authorities, and can point out clauses that need changing. Keep your own copies of everything you sign, and do not hand over original documents to anyone without a written receipt.

MGB Holdings Limited, part of Miya Group, sells verified apartments, houses, land and commercial space across Bangladesh, and develops its own residential, commercial and land projects. If you are weighing a ready flat against an under-construction one, our team can explain what applies to the property you are considering and what you should check next. We deal in property sales only and do not offer anything for rent.

Contact us by phone or WhatsApp on +880 1805 993897, email properties@miyagroupbd.com, or visit the office on the 5th Floor, AB Shopping Complex, Mirpur-2, Dhaka.