Documents to Check Before Buying Land in Maharashtra

The 7/12 extract names the recorded holders of the survey number and lists rights registered against it. Where several names appear, none of them can transfer clean title alone.

The FERFAR mutation entries show how those rights arrived — each sale, inheritance and partition in sequence. Read together, the two establish whether the seller's claim to ownership is complete and properly recorded.

A title search report is prepared by an advocate tracing ownership back over a defined period, typically thirty years, from registered documents and revenue records. It is the item most often skipped and the one most likely to surface a problem that the 7/12 alone would not show — a gap in the chain, pending litigation, or an undisclosed claim.

An encumbrance certificate from the sub-registrar lists transactions registered against the property over a stated period, including mortgages and charges. A clear certificate indicates the land is not pledged as security against a loan.

The Collector NA order converts the land to non-agricultural use and specifies the permitted use. Confirm the survey number matches and the permitted use is residential if that is what you intend.

For a plot inside a layout, layout approvals from the planning authority are a separate requirement from NA conversion. Where the development is a registered plotted scheme, check its RERA registration on the authority's portal.

For coastal land, the Coastal Regulation Zone classification governs whether construction is permitted at all, and at what distance from the high tide line. A plot can be lawfully owned and still not lawfully buildable.

Confirm site access — specifically, whether the approach road is a recorded public road or crosses private land. An access arrangement that depends on a neighbour's goodwill is a liability that transfers with the plot.

Finally, ownership passes on registration of the sale deed, not on signing an agreement to sell and not on paying a booking amount. Budget for stamp duty and registration, which are calculated on the agreement value or the ready reckoner value, whichever is higher. Rates vary by local body and are revised periodically, so confirm the current figure for your specific location before committing.