Buying a house is the biggest dream of any person in his life as it takes the biggest investment of lifetime too. As it is once in a life time investment one should be very cautious and should take all precautions before putting his/her hard earned money into it. For all Indians owning a house is a matter of pride and reputation. It is not an easy process to buy a house. Let me tell you a step by step process to go further.First thing is to know what you want.1. An apartment- if yes 1, 2, 3 BHK or a pent house.2. A villa or a row house.3. An independent property or bungalow.4. Big townships or small building.5. Want property for renting purpose or for self use.6. What is your preferred location as it depends on factors like proximity to office, schools, hospital, shopping malls, etc?7. The most important thing is what your budget is as the whole process revolves around the money factor.8. What EMIs you can bear monthly?When you have answers of all these questions it means you did your homework for making a frame for buying the property.The next thing comes is how to start the search for house. There are three ways you can search.1. Through newspapers, social contacts, property exhibitions, Internet (best option).2. Through an estate agent who is reliable.3. Through internet as nowadays you get almost all the new projects on websites with all information. You can shortlist them and can visit them later.After search process if you have shortlisted few properties then look for the following:1. Location is convenient, surroundings are clean and hygienic, connectivity is proper, roads are in good condition, sufficient parking space is available, green patches (parks, trees) are around, public transport is nota problem, etc.2. Basic amenities check should be done like proper drainage system, 24/7 electricity and water supply, corporation water connection, proximity to basic necessity shops, etc.3. The builder should be reputed and to check the same you can talk as many people as you find. Because small builders often compromise on quality and legalities.4. Check for the construction quality by checking the builder’s previous projects and current sample house.5. The project should be approved by reputed financial institutions.6. The last but not the least the land where you are intended to buy the property should not be linked to any legal issue or dispute. For example the land on which the project is to be constructed should not be on lease or rent.After the property check and finalising your dream home next step is to find a home loan.1. Do market research to find the best suitable home loan provider as per your requirements. All big financial institutes and banks provide home loans.2. Do your homework and then opt for the loan that best suited to you.3. Compare the home loan rates of different banks.4. Be aware of general property laws to ease the process.The final stepThe last step is to complete all the legal formalities attached to the property buying like stamp duty and the sale deed.Stamp duty is a percentage of the transaction value levied by the state government on every registered sale. The agreement of sale states the stamp duty that is paid by the buyer of the property. Thus the buyer gets his name registered in the land revenue records and final sale deed documents should be stamped and registered at the local area office in the presence of the seller and the purchaser for registering the agreement.ByRuchi Mahajan (Contributor)