Buying at Early Stage Construction — Bengaluru Checklist
At 1 percent complete there is no slab to look at. You are buying a drawing, a registration number and a track record, and all three can be checked.
Buyer checklist | Karnataka RERA | 70% escrow rule | Our Rating: 4.3/5 useful
Our verdict: early entry is a legitimate strategy and usually buys you 8 to 15 percent on price. It is only sensible if you verify six specific things first.
What early stage construction actually looks like
A project described as 1 percent complete has usually cleared the site, begun excavation and perhaps poured a few footings. There is no structure, no sample flat in the building, and nothing that tells you anything about the finished product. Buying at early stage construction therefore means evaluating a developer rather than evaluating an apartment.
That is not a reason to avoid it. Every project that gets delivered was once at 1 percent, and the buyers who came in then paid materially less than the ones who waited for a visible slab. On the Bengaluru projects we have tracked across a full cycle, the gap between launch pricing and the price two to three years later runs 8 to 15 percent.
The question is what you can verify when there is nothing to see. The answer is more than most buyers realise, because the regulatory filings, the escrow mechanism and the developer’s own delivery history are all public or obtainable, and together they cover most of the real risk.
What you are paying for, and what you are not
You are paying for three things. The first is price: the launch rate, before the developer raises it as inventory sells. The second is choice: at 1 percent, every floor, every orientation and every corner unit is still available, and the park-facing high-floor apartment you want is not already gone. The third is a long payment runway.
You are not paying for certainty. The specification can change within the limits the agreement allows, the amenity mix can be re-sequenced, and the handover date is five or more years out. Anyone who needs to move within three years should be looking at ready inventory and paying the 10 percent premium that costs.
The payment runway is the most underrated part. On a construction-linked plan you typically pay 10 to 15 percent at booking and the balance against slab milestones over four to five years. On a Rs 1.5 crore apartment that means roughly Rs 18 lakh now and the rest spread across 20 quarters, which is a very different cash-flow profile from a ready purchase.
The six early stage construction checks, in order
| # | What to check | Why it matters at this stage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | RERA registration for this phase | Each phase registers separately. A neighbouring phase’s number does not cover yours |
| 2 | Declared completion date on the certificate | This is the enforceable date, not the one quoted in the sales room |
| 3 | Quarterly progress reports on the portal | Shows whether work is actually tracking, filed by the promoter under law |
| 4 | Land title and approvals | Plan sanction, commencement certificate and a clean chain of title |
| 5 | Escrow account named in the agreement | 70 percent of collections must sit in a separate project account |
| 6 | The developer’s last three deliveries | Filed date versus actual handover, which you can verify by visiting |
Check five is the one most buyers have never heard of. Under the RERA framework the promoter must deposit 70 percent of the amounts collected from allottees into a separate account for that project, and may withdraw from it only in proportion to the stage of completion, certified jointly by an engineer, an architect and a chartered accountant.
That mechanism is the single biggest change from the pre-2017 market, because it is what stops money collected for your tower funding land acquisition somewhere else. Ask for the account details to be named in your agreement, and ask whether the project account is with a scheduled bank. A developer who will not answer that question has told you something.
Check six is the one that actually predicts your outcome. Pull the last three completed projects from the same developer, find their filed dates and their actual handover months, and visit one of them if it is in the city. Early stage construction risk is overwhelmingly developer risk, and a delivery record is the only reliable instrument for measuring it.
The phased-township exception
There is one situation where early stage construction carries much less risk than usual, and that is a later phase inside a township the same developer has already built out. The land is assembled, the approvals pathway is established, the site team is in place, and several earlier phases are standing and occupied as evidence.
The current example in north Bengaluru is the eighth residential phase at Bhartiya City, which stood at about 1 percent completion in July 2026 on 11 acres inside a 125-acre campus where seven earlier phases are delivered or advanced. A buyer there is at 1 percent on the building but zero percent on the township, which is a different proposition entirely.
Contrast that with a first phase on raw land in an outer corridor, where the same 1 percent figure means the developer has never built anything on that site, the approvals may be partial and the social infrastructure is entirely future. The construction percentage is identical; the risk is not comparable. Our review of that eighth phase works through how much credit the track record deserves.
What early entry should cost you less
| Entry point | Typical price position | What you accept |
|---|---|---|
| Launch, 0 to 5% complete | Base | Five-year wait, nothing visible |
| Structure up, 30 to 50% | Base plus 8 to 15% | Less choice of unit, shorter wait |
| Near possession, 85%+ | Base plus 15 to 25% | Leftover inventory, but you can see it |
| Ready, with completion certificate | Base plus 20 to 30% | No GST, no wait, highest price |
| Indicative ranges from Bengaluru projects we have tracked through a cycle. Individual projects vary widely. | ||
The last row carries a detail worth knowing. A completed apartment with an occupancy or completion certificate attracts no GST, while an under-construction purchase carries 5 percent with no input tax credit. On a Rs 1.5 crore home that is Rs 7.5 lakh, which eats a meaningful part of the discount you collected by entering early.
Add pre-EMI interest and the gap narrows further. If you draw 60 percent of a Rs 1.2 crore loan over four years before handover, the interest you pay while living somewhere else runs into double-digit lakhs. The launch discount has to beat GST plus pre-EMI plus your rent, and on a five-year build it often only just does.
When to walk away
Walk away if the phase you are being sold is not itself registered, or if the sales team offers a different phase’s registration number. Walk away if the declared completion date is more than 30 months beyond what the construction team describes as the target, because that gap usually signals funding or approval uncertainty.
Walk away if no quarterly progress report has been filed for a project that launched more than six months ago, if the agreement will not name a project escrow account, or if the developer’s last delivery ran more than two years beyond its filed date. Any one of these is enough on its own.
And walk away if the only argument being made to you is that the price will rise. That may well be true, but it is not a reason to buy early stage construction; it is a reason the developer wants you to buy today. The reasons to buy are price, unit choice and a payment runway, measured against a verified developer.
Who early stage construction suits
It suits the buyer with five or more years of horizon and no immediate housing need, typically someone who already owns or rents comfortably and is buying the next home or an investment. The construction-linked plan lets that buyer commit roughly 15 percent of the ticket now and fund the rest out of income and bonuses.
It does not suit anyone selling their current home to fund the purchase, because the timing will not line up and a five-year rental gap costs more than the discount. It also does not suit a buyer who needs to see the product, and there is no shame in that; specification disputes are the most common source of handover friction.
If you are weighing this choice, our guides on which possession date to believe and what RERA registration does not guarantee cover the two traps that catch early buyers most often. The current north Bengaluru example is Nikoo Homes 8, from Rs 93 lakh.
Frequently asked questions
Is buying at early stage construction risky?
It is developer risk rather than product risk. The regulatory filings, the 70 percent escrow rule and the builder’s last three deliveries let you measure most of it before you pay anything.
How much cheaper is a launch price?
Typically 8 to 15 percent below the same project with its structure up, and 20 to 30 percent below ready inventory. GST of 5 percent and pre-EMI interest consume a good part of that advantage.
What is the 70 percent escrow rule?
The promoter must keep 70 percent of buyer collections in a separate account for that project and withdraw only in proportion to completion, certified by an engineer, architect and chartered accountant.
Does a later phase in a built township carry less risk?
Considerably less. Land is assembled, approvals are established, the site team exists and earlier phases are standing as evidence. The construction percentage looks identical but the risk is not comparable.
How much do I pay at booking?
On a construction-linked plan, usually 10 to 15 percent of the ticket, with the balance against slab milestones over four to five years. That spread is one of the main advantages of entering early.
