Short answer: To sell property in India, check that the deeds and the land records are in your name, fix a price using the government's guideline value and recent sales nearby, gather your documents, find a buyer and sign a sale agreement with the advance paid through a bank. The sale is complete only when the sale deed is registered at the Sub-Registrar office. After that the land records are changed to the buyer's name, and you report any capital gain in your income tax return.
This guide is for owners selling land, a plot, a house, a flat or a shop anywhere in India, including inherited and jointly owned property. It was checked against official government sources in October 2026.
The process at a glance
- Check the title and the land records.
- Fix a price.
- Get your documents ready.
- Market the property and show it to buyers.
- Agree the price and sign a sale agreement.
- Let the buyer and the buyer's bank check the papers.
- Register the sale deed at the Sub-Registrar office.
- The buyer deducts TDS, where it applies, and gives you a certificate.
- The land records are changed to the buyer's name (mutation).
- You report the capital gain and pay any tax.
Step 1: Check the title and the land records
Buyers and their banks check that you own what you are selling. Before you list, make sure that:
- the registered sale deed, gift deed or partition deed is in your name, and you have the earlier deeds that show how the property reached you;
- the revenue record names you. It has a different name in each state: the patta and chitta in Tamil Nadu, the RTC (Pahani) in Karnataka, the 7/12 extract in Maharashtra and Gujarat, the khatauni in Uttar Pradesh and the jamabandi in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan;
- the survey number and area in the records match the land on the ground;
- an encumbrance certificate (EC), which lists the deeds registered for the property, shows no loan or other claim that you have not cleared. In Tamil Nadu you can view an EC free online.
If the record is still in a parent's name, or a loan is still open, sort it out before you list.
Step 2: Fix a price
Each state publishes a value per area that is used for stamp duty. It has a different name in each state:
| State | Name of the value | Where to check it |
|---|---|---|
| Tamil Nadu | Guideline value | tnreginet.gov.in |
| Karnataka | Guidance value | igr.karnataka.gov.in |
| Maharashtra | Ready reckoner rate (ASR) | easr.igrmaharashtra.gov.in |
| Gujarat | Jantri rate | garvi.gujarat.gov.in |
| Delhi | Circle rate | revenue.delhi.gov.in |
| Haryana | Collector rate | revenueharyana.gov.in |
| Telangana | Market value | registration.telangana.gov.in |
| Kerala | Fair value | igr.kerala.gov.in |
This value is a floor for stamp duty, not the market price. To judge what buyers will pay, look at what similar property nearby sold for: registered deeds show the price, and an EC in Tamil Nadu or e-Search in Maharashtra lists them. For farm land in Tamil Nadu, our agricultural land valuation tool and farm land prices give a starting point.
A price below the stamp duty value does not lower your tax. Under section 78 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, if land or a building is sold for less than its stamp duty value, the stamp duty value is treated as the sale price for capital gains, unless it is no more than 110% of the price.
Step 3: Get your documents ready
For every sale, keep ready the title deed and the earlier (parent) deeds, the land record in your name, a recent EC, property tax receipts, and ID and PAN for every owner. Add the approved plan for a plot or building, the occupancy or completion certificate for a flat, the death and legal heir certificates for inherited property, and your lender's letter on closing the loan if there is one. The full checklist, with what each paper proves and where to get it in each state, is in our guide to the documents required to sell property in India.
Step 4: Market the property
You can sell through a broker, on your own, or both. Selling property online means listing it on property websites and apps. A good listing gives the exact location, the size in the unit buyers use locally (acres or cents for land, sq ft for a flat), the price, the approvals and a walk-through video, so that buyers far away can shortlist it without travelling. Compare the options in our guide to the best websites to sell property in India, and see what selling land without a broker costs.
If you get calls but no offers, look again at the price and the papers: see property not selling, what to do.
Step 5: Agree the price and sign a sale agreement
Once you agree a price, put the deal in a written agreement for sale. It should state:
- every seller and buyer, and the property's survey or door number, extent and boundaries;
- the price, the advance, and the dates for the balance and the registration;
- who pays the stamp duty and the registration fee;
- what happens to the advance if either side withdraws.
Stamp the agreement as your state requires, and ask the Sub-Registrar office whether it must also be registered.
Take the advance and every other payment through a bank. Under section 185 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, no one may accept an advance or any other sum of ₹20,000 or more for the transfer of immovable property except by account payee cheque, account payee bank draft or an electronic bank transfer. An agreement for sale is not a sale: ownership passes only by a registered sale deed.
Step 6: The buyer's checks and loan
A careful buyer, or the buyer's lawyer, reads your deeds, the EC and the land records, and visits the property. If the buyer takes a home loan, the bank runs its own legal and technical checks before it releases the money. Give copies, and keep the originals until the registration day.
Step 7: Register the sale deed
Under the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, a sale of land or a building worth ₹100 or more can be made only by a registered deed. The sale deed is registered at the Sub-Registrar office (SRO) for the area where the property is. In many states the deed is entered and the fees are paid online before the visit: on tnreginet.gov.in in Tamil Nadu, Kaveri 2.0 in Karnataka and registration.telangana.gov.in in Telangana.
- Who attends: the seller, the buyer and usually two witnesses. The Sub-Registrar checks identity, and under section 32A of the Registration Act, 1908, the photographs and fingerprints of the seller and buyer are fixed to the deed. If you cannot attend, a person holding your power of attorney can sign for you.
- Time limit: a deed must be presented for registration within four months of the date it is signed (section 23 of the Registration Act).
- Costs: each state sets its own stamp duty and registration fee. In Tamil Nadu a sale deed pays 7% stamp duty and a 2% registration fee on the higher of the price and the guideline value: try our stamp duty and registration charges calculator. Agree in the sale agreement who pays them.
See also the property registration process in Tamil Nadu.
Step 8: TDS deducted by the buyer
Since 1 April 2026, TDS on property falls under the Income-tax Act, 2025. If you, the seller, are resident in India:
- The buyer must deduct 1% TDS when the price or the stamp duty value is ₹50 lakh or more. The 1% is on whichever of the two is higher (section 393(1), Table serial 3(i)). The ₹50 lakh test applies to the total price, even when there are several buyers or sellers.
- The buyer pays it online with Form 141 within 30 days from the end of the month in which it was deducted, using the buyer's PAN. No TAN is needed. The buyer then gives you a TDS certificate in Form 132 within 15 days from the due date for Form 141.
- Give the buyer your PAN. Without it, the TDS is at least 20%.
- Rural agricultural land does not count as immovable property for this rule, so no TDS is deducted on it.
TDS is not an extra tax: it is treated as tax paid on your behalf. If the seller is not resident in India, different rules apply under section 393(2): see how to sell property in India from abroad.
Step 9: Mutation and patta transfer after the sale
Registration transfers ownership. The land or property records are then changed to the buyer's name, a step called mutation (patta transfer in Tamil Nadu).
- In Tamil Nadu, a patta transfer application filed at the SRO goes to the taluk office automatically after registration, except for natham land. See patta transfer after selling land.
- In Telangana, Punjab and Rajasthan, mutation can be applied for on the state's land records portal: Bhu Bharati, Punjab Land Records and Apna Khata.
- In cities, the owner's name is changed in the municipal property tax records, for example on Form A-42 with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
Can you sell land without mutation? Courts have held that mutation entries are made for revenue purposes and do not create ownership: title comes from the registered deeds (Supreme Court, Jitendra Singh v State of Madhya Pradesh, 6 September 2021). In practice, buyers and banks expect the land record to show the seller, and in Telangana a farm land sale on Bhu Bharati needs the seller's pattadar passbook. Get the record into your name first, especially for inherited land.
Step 10: Capital gains tax for the seller
The capital gain is the sale price minus what you paid for the property and for any improvements. Under the Income-tax Act, 2025:
- Holding period: land or a building held for more than 24 months is a long-term capital asset. A gain on property held for less is short-term and is taxed with your other income.
- Long-term rate: 12.5%, without indexation (section 197). For a resident individual or HUF selling land or a building acquired before 23 July 2024, the tax cannot be more than it would be at 20% with the indexed cost.
- Cess: a 4% Health and Education Cess is added to the tax and any surcharge.
- Inherited property: the previous owner's cost and holding period count as yours.
You can reduce or avoid tax on a long-term gain by reinvesting it:
- Buy one residential house in India within one year before or two years after the sale, or build one within three years. Section 82 covers the sale of a house; section 86 covers other assets such as land and uses the whole net sale price. Amounts above ₹10 crore are not counted, and other conditions apply.
- Invest up to ₹50 lakh of the gain within six months in bonds named in section 85, such as those of the National Highways Authority of India, which are redeemable after five years.
- If you have not reinvested by the time you file your return, deposit the unused amount in a capital gains account before the due date for the return.
Rural agricultural land is not a capital asset, so its sale is not taxed as a capital gain: see is the sale of agricultural land taxable in India. Ask a tax professional to work out your figures.
Selling different types of property
Farm land
Keep the revenue record, the survey sketch and the EC ready. NRIs and OCI cardholders cannot buy agricultural land, so an NRI owner can sell farm land only to a person resident in India. If your farm land is near a town and taxable, section 83 gives relief when the land was farmed by you or a parent in the two years before the sale and you buy other farm land within two years. See how to sell agricultural land in Tamil Nadu and sell your land.
Plot
Keep the layout approval showing your plot number, or the regularisation order. In Telangana, a plot in an unapproved layout must be regularised under the Layout Regularisation Scheme before its sale can be registered. See sell your plot.
House
Add the approved building plan, the completion certificate if one was issued, and recent property tax and electricity bills. See sell your house.
Flat in an apartment or society
The sale deed should describe your share in the land as well as the flat: in Tamil Nadu this is the undivided share of land (UDS). Keep the occupancy certificate and a no-dues letter from the association. In Maharashtra, the society's model bye-laws do not require a society NOC, but the society dues must be paid and the buyer admitted as a member. In Bangalore, a sale cannot be registered without the Final e-Khata: see e-Khata to sell property in Bangalore.
Commercial property
The steps are the same. Add the building approvals, and if the property is let out, give the buyer the lease and agree how the tenant's deposit will be handled.
Special cases
Inherited or ancestral property
Every heir with a share must sign the sale deed or give a power of attorney. Keep the death certificate and a legal heir certificate, or the will. Probate of a will is no longer compulsory: Parliament omitted section 213 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 in December 2025. A buyer or bank may still ask for it. In a Hindu family, a parent needs the court's permission before selling any part of a minor child's own land or building, under section 8(2) of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956. Change the land record to the heirs' names before you sell: see selling inherited land in Tamil Nadu.
Joint owners
Every owner named on the deed must sign or give a power of attorney. Agree in writing how the money will be split. Co-owners who do not all want to sell can first divide the property by a registered partition deed, so that each owns a separate part.
Property with a home loan
You can sell a flat or house that is still on loan. Ask your lender for a letter with the amount needed to close the loan, and agree in the sale agreement that part of the buyer's payment goes to your lender. Under the RBI's directions for banks, a bank must return your original documents and remove its charge within 30 days of full repayment, and must pay you ₹5,000 for each day of delay that is its fault.
NRI sellers
The buyer deducts TDS under section 393(2) at the rates in force, not the 1% that applies to resident sellers, and from 1 October 2026 a resident individual or HUF buyer does not need a TAN for it. Read how to sell property in India from abroad.
Disputed property
If a court case or a family or boundary dispute is open, settle it first, by a court decree, a registered settlement or a partition deed. Tell buyers about any case.
How long it takes
No one can promise a sale date, because finding a buyer depends on the price, the place and demand. That is the slowest and least predictable stage. The rest is more predictable:
- Papers: days to weeks. In Tamil Nadu, a digitally signed EC is signed within 3 days of payment.
- Agreement to registration: the period you agree, which allows for the buyer's checks and loan. A signed deed must be presented within four months.
- Registration: one visit to the SRO once the deed and payments are ready.
The delays you can prevent come from paperwork: records not in your name, an open loan, a missing heir or an unapproved layout. More detail: how long it takes to sell land.
Sell with Gmore: a filmed listing and no commission
Gmore films your property professionally, lists it with the video and alerts buyers searching nearby when it goes live. Buyers call you directly, or Gmore takes every call and tells you only when a buyer books a site visit. You pay one flat fee, shown before you pay, and zero commission when it sells. Sell your property with Gmore. For farm land and plots, see how to sell your land online, and for Tamil Nadu, selling property anywhere in Tamil Nadu.
Next steps
- List every paper you need: documents required to sell property in India.
- Selling land in Tamil Nadu: the best way to sell land in Tamil Nadu.
- Living abroad: sell your property in India from abroad.
- Ready to sell: sell your property with Gmore.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules, fees and portals change, so check the official site or ask a professional before you sign. Last updated October 2026.
