How do you go about buying a property (land, not built-up) in a relatively unknown/new city?

Haven’t done it as yet - but I’d get a VERY good lawyer to look up the entire deal even if they were expensive. Have heard of many horror stories - especially about people buying stuff on the outskirts. You can have all documents in place and still have some farmers come and block your construction (know of this happening to someone in Gurgaon).

Yeah, seems like everyone has their fair share of horror story regarding this. That's why the concern. What are the legitimate ways to find deals? I understand analyzing areas/localities and I have done that homework, now I'm looking at properties but online listings have this fishy feeling about them (most, I'm sure there are good ones out there.)

You'll need to learn the language of property transactions in your regional language: • 7/12 (saat-baara) • utaara • circle rate I'd also ensure that the transaction papers of ALL previous transactions of said property are in order so you can see the complete chain of custody. Get a trusted broker involved in making sure all the documents are in place. If you're going take a loan, it helps to bring in your bank to do due diligence (even if it costs a few thousands rupees). If a single document is out of place be prepared to spend time and money to regularise the chain of documents so you will have fewer issues selling it in the future.

There are a lot of regional factors, so best to get some local person involved who you can trust. If you're buying land in a rural area, talk to the patwari, who can inform you about parties who might have an official/unofficial interest in the land. If you're buying something in Udaipur, I can put you in touch with my dad. He does this for a living, so he knows the ins and outs here.