Non-resident Indians or NRIs have played a significant role in the Indian Real Estate Market. They invest in real estate either for business purposes or to settle down in India after they retire. They can also avail themselves of a lot of tax benefits if they invest in real estate. Also, repute Real Estate companies provide residential options for buyers according to their convenience, size of family, need for facilities, and budget. 

Buying an apartment in India is a hassle-free job for the NRI’s as well after RBI has introduced a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). However, there are a few things that the NRIs should know about, before buying property in India. 

Document required by the NRI’s:

Those NRI’s who are planning to invest in real estate must know about the documents that are required for buying apartments. The list of documents that are required for them are: 

• pan card  
• pio or oci card 
• passport 
• recent passport size photograph 
• address proof

Loan Sanction Method for the NRI’s:

NRI’s can still apply for home loans in India. To avail home loans for NRIs, RBI has granted permission to banks and housing finance institutions that are currently registered with the National Housing bank to provide home loans for the NRIs who are looking forward to buying a residential property in India. The only condition is that the transaction has to be made in Indian Currency. 

However, the loan can only be disbursed to either the seller’s or the developer’s bank account directly, and not directly to the NRI’s bank account. Then, they can replay it using their deposits in NRO(Non-Residential Ordinary) /NRE(Non-Resident External) account or FCNR (Fixed Deposit Foreign Currency account) deposits.

Get rid of the broker:

While buying an apartment, the NRIs need to get rid of the brokers, to ensure that the price of the property and commitment is pure and original. It is always wise to purchase property directly from a reputed builder who has built the flats over years.  

Verification of the Builder: 

NRIs should conduct a mandatory crosscheck of the builder by inspecting their websites, social media accounts, and other online forums. One can also contact existing customers online to know about their experience with the apartments. 

POA for buying property:

If the said person doesn’t reside in India, through POA (Power of Attorney), NRI can choose someone out of their wish, let that be a relative, friend, or even a colleague, to complete the transaction on their behalf.