What a Broker Should Prove Before You Let Them Sell Your Flat

You are in another country. The broker is standing in your flat with the keys and a buyer on the phone. Everything after that point runs on trust you have no way to audit from ten thousand kilometres away. The audit has to happen before, and it comes down to six things a broker can show you in an afternoon. A broker who will not show you these is telling you something.

One: the RERA registration number

Real estate agents register with the state authority under RERA, and the registration is public. Maharashtra publishes a searchable list of registered agents. Karnataka publishes one on the state portal. Ask for the number, then look it up yourself rather than accepting a screenshot.

Two things to check once you find the entry. The name on the registration matches the person you are dealing with, not a cousin or a former employer. And the registration has not lapsed.

An unregistered agent can still sell your flat. What you lose is the authority you could have complained to.

Two: a written mandate with an end date

The mandate says what the broker is allowed to do, for how long, and on what terms. Verbal arrangements are where the disputes start, because six months later two brokers both claim the buyer.

Decide between a sole mandate and an open listing before you sign either. A sole mandate gives one broker exclusivity for a fixed window and buys you their real effort. An open listing spreads the flat across several and buys you reach, at the cost of nobody owning the outcome. Both work. What does not work is a sole mandate with no expiry, which locks the flat to a broker who has stopped answering.

Three: the commission, in a number, in writing

Ask for the percentage, who pays it, whether it is charged on both sides of the deal, when it becomes payable, and whether GST sits on top. Get the answer in the mandate rather than in a message.

The moment it becomes payable is the part sellers skip. Commission due on agreement rather than on registration means a broker gets paid on a deal that later collapses.

Four: comparable sales they closed, with addresses

Any broker can quote a price for your flat. Ask for three sales they closed in your building or the two nearest ones, in the last twelve months, with the project name and the month. You are checking whether the valuation comes from transactions or from a listing portal, because listing prices and transaction prices are different numbers and only one of them is what you will get.

A broker with no closed comparables in your micro-market may still be a good broker. They are not the one who knows what your flat is worth.

Five: how a remote seller signs

You are not flying in for every signature. Ask how they have handled this before: which documents need you in person, which run on a power of attorney, and who drafts it. A broker who has sold for owners abroad will describe the sequence without hesitating. One who has not will say it can be managed.

Read selling an Indian property without visiting India before you accept anyone's version of the sequence. The power of attorney is the document that gets misused most, and a general POA does not transfer title.

Six: what they will not touch

Ask what they do not do. A broker who says they handle everything, including the tax, the repatriation and the title work, is either running a coordination business they have not described or overstating. The TDS on a sale by an NRI, the lower-deduction certificate and the remittance forms are a chartered accountant's job. Our guide to TDS on sale of property by an NRI covers what the buyer is required to deduct.

The order to do this in

Registration number first, because it costs you five minutes and ends the conversation with the wrong people. Comparables second, because that tells you whether the price is real. Mandate and commission last, in writing, once you have decided.

Where to find one

66 MG Road keeps a directory of verified residential sales brokers. Everyone in it applied and had their registration and record checked before the listing went live. Browsing is free, listing is free, and we take no cut of the sale. If you would rather not browse, tell us what you are selling and where and we shortlist two or three.

Nothing on this page is legal or investment advice. Verification means we checked credentials and record. It is not a warranty of anyone's work.

FAQ

How do I check if a property broker in India is RERA registered? Ask for the registration number, then search the state authority's public list of registered agents rather than accepting a screenshot. Maharashtra publishes a searchable agent list at maharera.maharashtra.gov.in. Karnataka publishes one on the state RERA portal. Confirm the name matches the person you are dealing with and that the registration has not lapsed.

Should I give one broker a sole mandate or list with several? A sole mandate buys real effort from one broker for a fixed window. An open listing buys reach with nobody owning the outcome. Either works. A sole mandate with no expiry date does not, because it locks the flat to a broker who may stop working on it.

When does a broker's commission become payable? Whenever the mandate says. Push for payable on registration rather than on agreement, so a deal that collapses after the agreement does not leave you owing commission on a sale that never happened. Confirm in writing who pays, whether both sides are charged, and whether GST sits on top.

What should a broker show me before I sign a mandate? The RERA registration number, three sales they closed near your flat in the last twelve months with project and month, the commission terms in writing, a mandate with an end date, and a clear account of how a seller abroad signs.

Can a broker sell my flat if I never come to India? Yes, with the right paperwork in place first. Some steps run on a power of attorney and some do not, and a general POA does not by itself transfer title. Have a lawyer draft the instrument before anyone markets the flat.

Does a broker handle the tax on my sale? No. TDS on a sale by an NRI, the lower-deduction certificate and the remittance paperwork are a chartered accountant's work. A broker who claims all of it is overstating what they do.

Want the flat checked before it goes to market? 66 MG Road starts with a ₹20,000 Property Health Check: one visit, one written report, no keys and no power of attorney.

66 MG Road newsdesk

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