21 June 2026
Twelve things to check before you pay a token amount
The token is the point at which your leverage disappears. Everything on this list is easier to ask for before you pay it than after.
A token or booking amount is usually paid in a hurry, on the strength of a property people have fallen for, and often before anyone has read a document. Once it is paid, every subsequent request sounds like an accusation. Ask first.
1. The title chain. The sequence of documents showing how the property passed to the current owner. Ideally traced back thirty years, or to the original allotment for a plot or a flat from a development authority. A gap in the chain is not a formality.
2. The encumbrance certificate. Obtained from the sub-registrar for a stated period, it lists registered transactions on the property — chiefly mortgages and sales. It shows a registered loan; it does not show an unregistered one, so ask the seller directly as well.
3. Whether there is a loan running, and with whom. Extremely common and entirely workable — the seller's bank hands over the original documents at registration once the outstanding is cleared from your payment. It has to be planned into the payment schedule, not discovered on the day.
4. The approved building plan, and whether the building matches it. Walk the property with the sanctioned plan. Covered balconies, an extra floor and a converted stilt are the usual deviations, and they are the buyer's problem after registration.
5. The completion or occupancy certificate. For a completed building, the local authority's certificate that it was built to the sanctioned plan and is fit for occupation. Its absence affects water and power connections and any later sale.
6. Mutation records. Also called dakhil kharij, khata, or the record of rights depending on the state — the revenue record showing the current owner. Registration transfers ownership; mutation updates the government's record of it. Both matter.
7. The latest property tax receipt. It confirms who the authority regards as the owner and that there are no arrears. Arrears follow the property.
8. Society or association NOC and dues. For an apartment, the association's no-objection for transfer and a written statement that maintenance is paid to date. Ask how long the NOC takes; three weeks is common and will affect your timeline.
9. Utility dues. Electricity, water and gas, cleared and evidenced with the latest bills.
10. For an under-construction unit, the RERA registration number. Search it on the state authority's portal and read the quarterly progress filings, not the brochure.
11. The agreement to sell, in writing, before the token. It should record the price, the payment schedule, the completion date, who bears which cost, what happens to the token if either side walks, and what happens if the title turns out to be defective. A token paid against a WhatsApp message is a token paid against nothing.
12. Your TDS obligation. On a consideration of ₹50 lakh or more, the buyer deducts 1% under section 194-IA and files Form 26QB. Agree in writing with the seller that the payment schedule is net of it, or you will be arguing about it at the sub-registrar.
Get the documents reviewed by an advocate who does property work in that city. The fee is a rounding error against the purchase, and the questions they ask are not the ones on this list.