Investing in property has become easier than ever. For instance, you can search through a wide range of properties on the palm of your hand using Zameen’s Mobile App. Plus, you can also skim through the listings of properties available for sale on Zameen.com. The checking and verification of property documents in Pakistan is another very important step in the property buying process. So, in order to help you out in this regard, we have compiled a list of documents that you need to look out for before buying a property in Pakistan.
Pro Tip: If you are purchasing a property for the very first time, then you need to avoid these mistakes that are usually made by first-time homebuyers.
List of Important Property Documents in Pakistan for Investors
Below is the list of documents that you need to verif before going ahead with your property investment.
- Sale Deed
- Mother Deed
- Approved Plan of the Property
- Bank Approval Certificate
- Encumbrance Certificate
- Power of Attorney
- Property Tax Receipts
- Completion Certificate
Let’s discuss each of these real estate papers in detail.
Sale Deed
It is one of the most important property documents in Pakistan. Sales deed is an agreement where details of both buyer and seller of the property are mentioned. It is a document that is necessary to prove the ownership of a property and serves as a legal statement of the title of the property.
Mother Deed
In the world of real estate, tracing the ownership of a property is very important, especially when you are purchasing or selling it. Mother deed is a legal document that gives you a complete history of property transaction and list of the owners’ name, since ownership changes every time a property is purchased or sold. This document will also help you identify the original owner of the property that you are buying.
Approved Plan of the Property
Anti-encroachment drive that is being carried out in Islamabad and other cities of Pakistan has made it way more necessary than before to fetch the document showing the map of the property approved by local authorities. This property document is to assure that the design of the property that you are purchasing has no legality issues.
Bank Approval Certificate
When you go for a home financing scheme that is offered by many banks in Pakistan, you are provided with a bank approval certificate. It is also one of the most important property documents in Pakistan that is released by a bank once a property is scrutinized and checked for legality issues in the light of the predefined construction laws laid down by the local authorities.
On a lighter note, you can take a look at our guide for applying for a home loan in Pakistan, if you have plans for acquiring a home financing scheme.
Encumbrance Certificate
This document is proof of any legally registered transaction against property such as mortgages and title transfers. Encumbrance certificate assures you that your property does not have any types of mortgages and pending loans associated with it.
Power of Attorney
In the case of a property transaction, the Power of Attorney is one of the most important real estate papers that gives an individual the authority to rent, sell or purchase a property on behalf of someone else. However, this document is also required to be registered and verified by a legal entity.
Property Tax Receipts
Take a thorough look at all the receipts of the previously paid property taxes to make sure there are no pending taxes. If your property seller claims that the taxes have been paid but does not show you the property tax receipts, get in touch with the concerned taxation authority i.e. Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to fetch relevant details.
Capital Gains Tax (CGT), Capital Value Tax (CVT), Stamp Duty and Withholding Tax or Advance Tax are the types of property taxes. You can learn more about them by reading one of our previous blogs in which we have thoroughly discussed different aspects of property taxes in Pakistan.
Completion Certificate
A completion certificate is one of the key property papers that is awarded to a property project after its completion. This document states that the property has been constructed according to the defined standards. It also certifies the legitimacy of a property project. So, acquiring possession of a new property without having a completion certificate is not advisable for anyone.
For instance, if you live in Karachi, you would need to request the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) to issue you a completion certificate. Similarly, in the case of Lahore and Islamabad, the authorities responsible for the issuance of the certificate of completion for each of these two cities are Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and Capital Development Authority (CDA), respectively.
These were all the important property documents in Pakistan that you need to check and verify when you are ready to sign a real estate deal. In case you have any questions regarding the above-listed property papers, feel free to reach out to us at blog@zameen.com.
Meanwhile, if you have plans to sell out your property anytime soon, then here’s a step by step guide for selling a property in Pakistan.
To read more of our informative pieces covering different aspects of real estate transactions in Pakistan, log on to Zameen Blog, one of the country’s best property blogs.
