FAQ & Terms

NORTHSTONE GROUP is a private real-estate advisory house headquartered in Bangalore. We operate across Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Coimbatore and the wider South Indian market, with dedicated representation for our diaspora clientele across Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, London, the United States and Australia.

What sets the firm apart is posture: we are advisors first, channel partners second. We work with a curated network of India's most exacting developers, but the recommendation always begins with the client's brief — not the developer's inventory. Roughly half the projects our scouts evaluate never reach a client because they fail one of four filters: architectural integrity, locational gravity, title certainty, or long-term appreciation logic.

NORTHSTONE has been in continuous practice for over a decade, having advised on more than 500 transactions and cumulative client capital exceeding ₹4,000 crore. The firm has operated through two complete cycles of the South Indian real-estate market, including the post-RERA reset.

We are licensed channel partners and registered real-estate advisors — never developers. This separation is deliberate. Because we do not build, we have no inventory to defend; our only product is the recommendation, and our only obligation is to the client placing the brief.

NORTHSTONE GROUP is RERA-registered (PRM/KA/RERA/1251/446) and operates under Indian real-estate regulatory frameworks. We work with developers who are themselves RERA-compliant in their respective states (K-RERA, T-RERA, TN-RERA, etc.), and every transaction is structured to current regulatory requirements.

Every engagement begins with a private brief — your investment thesis, time horizon, risk appetite, and geographic preference. From there, our scouts evaluate inventory against four filters: architectural integrity, locational gravity, title certainty, and long-term appreciation logic.

We then present a shortlist of three to five projects, each accompanied by an institutional-style ROI model with 5-year and 10-year appreciation projections, comparable-rental analysis, exit-window mapping, and legal scrutiny notes. You decide; we never push.

ROI varies materially by asset class, micro-market, and holding period. As broad bands: prime residential plots in growth corridors have historically delivered 12–18% CAGR over a 5–7 year holding window; branded apartments in stabilised micro-markets, 7–11% CAGR with 3–4% rental yield; multi-acre land parcels along infrastructure corridors, the highest variance — 8% to over 25% depending on conversion, zoning, and exit window.

Every projection we issue is conservative, defensible, and clearly states its assumptions. We do not promise returns; we model them — and put the model on the table.

Yes — this is one of the most material advantages of working with a channel-partner firm at our scale. We routinely access pre-launch allocations, founder-floor selections, sea-facing reserves, and the unpublished resale market between long-standing clients. The inventory that never reaches a portal — because by the time it would, our clients have already moved.

Most of our engagements begin months — sometimes years — before the transaction. The first six to twelve months of a client relationship is typically spent narrowing geography, sharpening the thesis, and waiting for the right project. We are not in a hurry, and we expect our clients not to be either.

Yes. Non-resident Indians, Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) are permitted under FEMA to acquire residential and commercial real estate in India, subject to specific provisions. We handle the entire process — FEMA compliance, RBI reporting, NRO/NRE account structuring, fund routing, power-of-attorney drafting, and remote possession — coordinated in your timezone.

Note: NRIs are not currently permitted to purchase agricultural land, plantation, or farmhouse property without specific RBI approval. Where these asset classes interest you, we structure compliant alternatives.

Three channels: an apostilled power-of-attorney executed in your jurisdiction, real-time video walkthroughs of every site, and a dedicated relationship manager in your timezone. Documentation is exchanged digitally, registration is completed by your POA holder, and possession formalities — site inspection, snag-list, key handover — are managed by our local team on your behalf.

Rental income and capital gains from Indian property are taxable in India. NRIs pay TDS at applicable rates, and we coordinate with your Indian and overseas tax advisors to optimise the structure. Sale proceeds and rental income are repatriable up to USD 1 million per financial year per individual, subject to documentation and tax clearance — we handle the paperwork end-to-end.

Where it matters, repatriation strategy is designed at acquisition, not after — particularly for clients holding multiple Indian assets.

Yes — most leading Indian banks and select international banks offer NRI home loans up to 80% of property value (typically lower for plots and land). We facilitate introductions to lending partners and structure documentation to maximise approval probability. Loan tenure, rate, and disbursal terms vary by lender.

Active representation in Dubai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, London, New York, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Sydney. Beyond these, we serve NRIs in any geography via our central Bangalore desk, with timezone-matched response windows.

Title chain (typically 30 years), encumbrance certificate, RERA registration of the developer and project, sanctioned plan, occupancy/completion certificate, khata, property tax receipts, mother deed, and the sale agreement. Where applicable: BMRDA/HMDA/CMDA approvals, conversion order, layout plan, and survey sketch.

We undertake a four-layer legal scrutiny on every project we recommend, and share a written diligence note before any client commits.

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, mandates registration of every project above a certain size and creates a buyer-protection framework. Every project NORTHSTONE recommends is RERA-registered in its respective state. We share the RERA portal link in every brief.

Registration is the buyer's responsibility under Indian law, but the procedural work — drafting, stamp-duty calculation, sub-registrar appointment, witnessing — is coordinated by our in-house operations team or by a designated POA holder for NRI clients. Stamp duty rates vary by state (3.0% to 7.5% typically), and we structure accordingly.

NORTHSTONE earns a developer-paid channel-partner commission on residential and plotted transactions — this is structurally how the Indian real-estate market works, and it is disclosed in writing at the outset of every engagement. For pure advisory mandates (multi-acre land, complex portfolio work, succession matters), we charge a separately negotiated retainer or success fee.

Our compensation never changes the recommendation. A higher commission from a developer is irrelevant if the project does not meet our diligence. This is how we have stayed in practice for ten years.

No. Developer pricing is the same whether you walk in directly or through a channel partner — the commission is paid by the developer out of their existing margin, not added to the customer price. In many cases, our scale and standing get us founder-tier pricing that direct buyers cannot access.

We disclose every cost in writing before engagement. The principal line items: developer pricing (transparent), stamp duty and registration (statutory), legal due-diligence fee where commissioned separately (₹25,000 to ₹2 lakh depending on complexity), and GST where applicable. We do not earn referral fees from lawyers, banks, or anyone else without your knowledge.

Bangalore (Devanahalli, Sarjapur, Whitefield, Hennur, Yelahanka, Hosur Road, North Bangalore), Hyderabad (Gachibowli, HITEC City, Kokapet, Tellapur, Financial District, Shamshabad), Chennai (OMR, ECR, Sholinganallur, Pallavaram, Velachery, Sriperumbudur), Coimbatore (Saravanampatti, Vadavalli, Peelamedu), and select corridors in Kochi, Mysuru, Mandya, Coorg and Munnar.

Honestly answered: it depends on horizon and asset class. For 5-year plots, the Devanahalli-Doddaballapur stretch around Bangalore International Airport, the Shankarpalli-Pharma City catchment in Hyderabad, and the Oragadam-Sriperumbudur belt in Chennai are showing the strongest infrastructure-led momentum.

For 10-year villa investments, the established Sarjapur and Whitefield micro-markets in Bangalore, and the Kokapet financial-district perimeter in Hyderabad, continue to compound at superior risk-adjusted rates. For multi-acre land, the Mysuru-Mandya corridor and the periphery of new highway projects remain materially under-priced.

Yes. Roughly 30% of our annual volume is secondary-market — resale of properties we originally placed, or external resale brought to us through long-standing client relationships. We handle the listing, qualified-buyer marketing, negotiation, and registration end-to-end.

Yes. NORTHSTONE operates a dedicated marketing-services practice for developers, property owners, and channel partners — covering complete digital marketing, lead generation, social media management, and on-ground stall/exhibition activation. We package these into end-to-end programs or unbundle them for specific mandates. Full details on our Marketing page.

A typical package covers: digital ad campaigns (Meta, Google, programmatic), creative production, landing pages and lead capture, qualified-lead handover with daily reporting, social media management, and project-stall activation at relevant property expos and corporate events. Engagement structures range from monthly retainers to milestone-based programs.