How to verify a builder's track record

The amount of due diligence advice floating around online is pretty useless so this is what i tell people when they ask me this off the record.

Check RERA registration yourself on the state website. Don't take the sales team's word for it. Look at what possession date they promised vs what happened and check their other projects too not just the one they're selling you. You'd be surprised how many big name builders have a trail of delays the moment you actually look.

Go visit one of their older projects an actual project they handed over 3-4 years back. Talk to people living there. Ask about seepage, lifts breaking down, whether the amenities in the brochure got built or disappeared. The post handover behavior tells you more about a builder than anything in their sales pitch.

Also pull up litigation history. Company name plus the directors name check High Court records and consumer forums like NCDRC. Having a few cases isn't automatically a red flag, this industry attracts disputes but the pattern matters. Are they settling, dragging things out for years, ignoring orders?

One thing I'd add from being on the inside, ask for their FULL project list with actual completion dates. Not the two or three they showcase. Most builders have one flagship project everyone talks about and a bunch of others running years late.

And whatever gets promised verbally get it into the agreement. Doesn't matter how nice the sales guy is if it's not in the builder buyer agreement it's not real. Last thing always get your own lawyer for title verification even if the builder is well known. Especially if they're well known since bigger builders get sloppy assuming their name will carry them