The site-visit checklist: before, during and after

A site visit takes a broker's time, the buyer's weekend and often the builder's staff. It is also the moment most buyers decide whether a project is real for them. A good visit is planned like a meeting: confirmed in advance, focused on the buyer's questions, and followed up the same day.

Use this checklist for apartments and plotted developments around Bengaluru and Chennai. Adapt it to your projects.

Before the visit

1. Confirm the slot the day before and again two hours before. Share a location pin and the name of the person meeting them.
2. Check availability with the builder. Make sure the units or plots that fit the buyer's budget and configuration are still open, and that a sample flat or the actual unit can be shown.
3. Carry the paperwork: current price sheet, payment plan, floor plans, the project's RERA registration number, and the approvals the buyer is likely to ask about.
4. Know the buyer's must-haves. Re-read your notes: who will live there, commute, schools, budget ceiling, loan status, and anything they ruled out.
5. Register the client with the builder if you work as a channel partner, before you arrive.

During the visit: apartments

• Show the right stack. If the sample flat is on a different floor or facing, say so, and show the actual tower and floor if possible.
• Walk the light and air. Check sunlight at the time of the visit, cross-ventilation, and what the windows look onto now and what could be built there later.
• Explain the area honestly. Show the carpet area alongside any built-up or super built-up figure, and what each includes.
• Cover the everyday questions: water source, power backup, lifts, parking allocation, maintenance charges, and when the clubhouse and amenities will actually be ready.
• Drive the approach road, ideally at the time the buyer will commute, and point out the nearest school, hospital and metro or bus stop.

During the visit: plots

• Stand on the actual plot. Check boundary stones, the plot number, the road width in front, and drainage after rain.
• Talk documents early. Buyers will ask for layout approval details and title papers. In Tamil Nadu that typically includes the patta and an encumbrance certificate; in Karnataka, the khata and an encumbrance certificate. Tell the buyer which copies the builder can share and when.
• Check services: electricity, water connection, and how far the plot is from the nearest finished road and bus route.
• Encourage independent checks. Suggest the buyer have their own lawyer verify title documents before paying a significant amount.

Things to avoid

• Promising possession dates, appreciation or rental income you cannot support in writing.
• Rushing the buyer to pay a token on the spot.
• Talking about other buyers' prices or personal details.
• Answering a document question with a guess. "Let me confirm with the builder and send it today" is the right answer.

After the visit, the same day

1. Log the visit in your CRM: who came, what they liked, what worried them, and the units discussed.
2. Send a short summary on WhatsApp (if the buyer agreed to be messaged there): the units you saw, their prices, and the answers you promised.
3. Set the next follow-up date before you start the car. Most second visits are lost because nobody called back.
4. Tell the builder what the buyer thought, especially objections about price, floor or possession.

Print it, then make it yours

Keep this list on your phone or print it for the team, and add the questions your own buyers keep asking. After a few months the checklist becomes your team's playbook, and every visit feels prepared rather than improvised.