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Pre-Sale Contract Token Money • Earnest Deposit • Specific Performance

Agreement to Sell (ATS) Property Drafting Services

Paying token money or booking a property? Protect your advance payment with a legally binding Agreement to Sell (ATS). Specific performance rights, loan approvals, and forfeiture protection.

  • Custom drafting of Agreement to Sell under Indian Contract Act & Transfer of Property Act
  • Protection of earnest money deposit / token amount against unilateral forfeiture
  • Bank home loan contingency clause: Full refund if buyer's bank loan is rejected
  • Specific performance enforcement under Specific Relief Act to compel sale completion
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Overview What Is It Our Services Key Clauses Documents to Review vs Sale Deed Legal Points Our Process FAQs

Property Agreement Drafting and Review Services in India

A property agreement is a written contract about a property deal. It is not one fixed document. The most common type, the agreement to sell, records the price, payment schedule and completion terms for a future sale, but it does not transfer ownership. Only a registered sale deed does that. LegalDevIndia drafts and reviews property agreements for buyers, sellers and builder-buyer purchases.

A familiar gap: A buyer pays ₹5 lakh as an advance on a plot. Three weeks later the seller gets a better offer, and the paper they signed says nothing about what happens next.

That is the gap a property agreement should close. Our property agreement drafting services help you put the price, the payment dates, the possession terms and the exit conditions in writing before money moves, or check an agreement someone else has given you to sign.

Discuss your property agreement requirements → Tell us the property type, the city and the stage of the deal.

For
Buyers, sellers, builder-buyer
Services
Draft, review, amend
Handled By
Legal Team

What Is a Property Agreement?

"Property agreement" is a common phrase, not the legal name of one document. It can mean an agreement to sell, a builder's agreement for sale, a purchase agreement, or any other written contract about immovable property. What it does in law depends on its wording, the transaction and the rights it creates. A good one records the money, the dates and the duties of each side, so that nobody has to rely on memory or WhatsApp messages later.

When Do You Need One?
Before money changes hands in a purchase. If there is a booking amount, instalments, a long gap before registration, a home loan to arrange or a seller still clearing an old mortgage, the parties need written terms first.
Who Are the Parties?
Usually the buyer and the seller. Sometimes co-owners, a builder, a bank or a power of attorney holder. Where a company or an agent signs, check identity and signing authority first, for example a board resolution or a registered power of attorney.
What Can It Establish?
Obligations, payments, deadlines, conditions and remedies. Under the Specific Relief Act, 1963, as amended in 2018, a court can order a party to complete a sale it promised. The agreement does not by itself transfer ownership.

Property Agreement Drafting and Review Services

Here is what we cover. For other property documents, we have separate pages.

Agreement to Sell Drafting

We prepare the agreement around your deal: the sale price, the advance, the instalments, the documents the seller must deliver, the completion date and what each side must do. An agreement to sell is a contract for a future sale. It is not the sale deed.

Property Purchase Agreement Review

If you have received a draft, we check it for unclear clauses, mismatched property details, payment terms that don't add up, weak default provisions and points that need a closer legal look.

Builder-Buyer Agreement Review

For purchases from a developer, we read the payment milestones, possession date, changes to plans, delay terms and defect clauses. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 applies to registered projects, which generally means those above 500 sq m or with more than eight apartments, with exceptions. Not every property purchase falls under it.

Property Agreement Amendment

If the price, dates or conditions change, the change should be written down and signed by everyone who signed the original. We prepare the amendment and flag whether it needs fresh stamping or registration. One party cannot change a signed agreement alone.

Cancellation or Termination Documentation

When both sides agree to call off a deal, we document the cancellation, the refund and any adjustment. Whether a refund or forfeiture is allowed depends on the agreement, the law and the facts.

Other Property-Related Agreements

Final transfers are covered on our Sale Deed page. Leases and tenancies are covered on our Lease Agreement and Rent Agreement pages.

Important Clauses to Check Before Signing a Property Agreement

These are the clauses that decide most disputes. Read each one for what it actually does, not just what it is called:

Correct Identification of Buyer and Seller
Names, addresses and legal status should match identity documents and the title papers. If the seller is a co-owner, a company or someone acting for the owner, the deed should say who has authority and attach the proof.
Complete Description of the Property
The address, plot or flat number, survey number, boundaries, area and the title document details. If any of these differ from the seller's papers, find out why before you sign.
Sale Consideration and Payment Schedule
The total price, the advance, the earnest money, each instalment with its due date and the balance payable at registration. Spell out how each payment is made and how receipts are given. If the amounts don't add up to the total, fix it now.
Conditions Before Completion
Anything that must happen before the sale closes: the seller delivering original documents, clearing a loan, getting a no-objection certificate or approval, or the buyer arranging finance. Every deal has its own list.
Possession and Completion Date
Completion is when the sale is meant to be finished; possession is when the buyer gets the keys. They are not always the same day. Courts do not normally treat time as the essence of a contract for the sale of property unless the contract says so or the circumstances show it (Chand Rani v. Kamal Rani, 1993), so say clearly whether deadlines are strict.
Seller's Representations and Disclosure
The seller should state that they own the property, have the right to sell and know of no undisclosed claims. Section 55 of the Transfer of Property Act requires the seller to disclose material defects the buyer could not easily find, and to answer questions about title. A statement in the agreement does not prove title. It only gives you something to hold the seller to.
Outstanding Dues and Liabilities
Agree who pays property tax, society dues, electricity and water bills, and any loan balance up to the handover date. Write the cut-off date down.
Default, Delay and Remedies
What counts as default, how much notice is given to fix it and what follows: interest for delay, extension, termination or a court action to enforce the sale. How a default clause is applied depends on its wording and the law.
Cancellation, Refund and Forfeiture
Advance and earnest money are not the same thing. Earnest money is a deposit the buyer may lose on default, but courts allow forfeiture only if it is reasonable (Fateh Chand v. Balkishan Dass, 1963; Kailash Nath Associates v. DDA, 2015). Do not assume an advance is always refundable or always forfeited. The clause should state when each applies.
Indemnity and Risk Allocation
An indemnity makes one party cover specified losses, such as a loan the seller failed to disclose. It helps allocate risk, but it does not remove it, and it is worth only as much as the paying party can afford.
Dispute Resolution and Applicable Law
Name the governing law and the forum, for example the courts of the city where the property is located, or arbitration. A clause cannot take away rights the law gives you.

Documents to Review Before Entering into a Property Agreement

What you check depends on the property and the deal. Our Sale Deed page goes further into title checks, so this section stays short:

Ownership and chain-of-title. The seller's title deed and the earlier transfers behind it. One document, or a fixed number of years of records, does not settle every title question.
Encumbrance and property records. An encumbrance certificate shows registered transactions such as mortgages. It will not show unregistered claims or some court cases, so use it with other checks.
Property identification. Compare survey details, sanctioned plan, allotment letter or society records with the agreement's property description.
Approvals. Building approvals, an occupancy or completion certificate, land-use permissions or a RERA registration number. Not every document applies to every property.
Identity and signing authority. Check identity documents, and for companies or agents, the authority to sign. A power of attorney holder should show a valid document that covers this sale.

Property Agreement vs Agreement to Sell vs Sale Deed

These are not interchangeable. Mixing them up is how buyers end up paying for a property they do not legally own:

Document or TermGeneral PurposeImportant Qualification
Property agreementA broad phrase for an agreement about propertyIts legal effect depends on the actual document
Agreement to sellRecords the terms of a proposed saleDoes not by itself transfer ownership
Sale deedConveys ownership in a saleMust meet execution, stamping and registration requirements
Lease agreementGives rights to use property for a termRequirements depend on the lease and the law
Property Agreement vs Agreement to Sell
A property agreement is the wider phrase. An agreement to sell is one specific kind, a contract for a future sale of a particular property.
Agreement to Sell vs Sale Deed
Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 separates a contract for sale from a completed sale. A contract for sale does not create any interest in or charge on the property. Ownership of tangible immovable property worth ₹100 or more passes only through a registered instrument, which is the sale deed.
Which Document Do You Need?
It depends on the stage. Before the final transfer, you usually need an agreement that records the terms. At completion you need the sale deed. Get your specific transaction reviewed instead of relying on a general rule.

How Property Agreement Drafting Works

This is our usual process:

1

Understand the Transaction

We ask who the parties are, what the property is, what stage the deal has reached and what has been agreed so far.

2

Collect Relevant Information

You share the property papers, identity details, price and payment details, and any draft, term sheet or messages that record the deal.

3

Prepare or Review the Draft

We draft the agreement or review the draft you have, according to the scope we agreed with you.

4

Customer Review and Clarifications

You read the draft, ask questions and request changes.

5

Finalization and Further Formalities

We finalize the document and explain what remains: stamping, signing, registration where needed and any extra review. We do not promise that registration will be completed unless it is part of the service.

Why Choose LegalDevIndia for Property Agreement Services?

We prefer to explain how we work:

Documentation Based on the Actual Transaction

A plot bought from an individual and a flat bought from a developer are different deals. We write to yours instead of filling a template.

Clear Contractual Terms

Payments, dates, duties, possession and default each get a clear clause in plain wording.

Defined Drafting and Review Scope

Before we begin, we confirm what you will receive, what we need from you and how revisions work.

Practical Documentation Guidance

We tell you what information and formalities need attention, and where a separate title check or specialist advice is needed.

Frequently Asked Questions About Property Agreements

Got questions? Find clear answers from our legal team:

It is a general phrase for a written contract about immovable property. It can refer to an agreement to sell, a builder's agreement for sale or another property contract, depending on the document.

No. An agreement to sell is one kind of property agreement. "Property agreement" is the wider phrase.

Usually not. Under Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act, a contract for sale does not by itself create an interest in the property. A registered sale deed transfers ownership.

It depends on the document, the rights it creates, the state and the law. A plain agreement to sell is often not compulsorily registrable under the central Act, but Section 17(1A) of the Registration Act affects agreements a buyer wants to rely on for part performance, and some states have their own rules.

Party details and identity proof, the property description, the seller's title documents, the price and payment terms, and any approvals or society papers relevant to the property.

The property description, the seller's authority, title documents, payment obligations, possession and completion terms, conditions and default clauses. The depth of checking depends on the deal.

It depends on the agreement, the reason, the parties' rights and the law. Both sides can agree to cancel in writing. A one-sided cancellation may lead to refund or forfeiture disputes.

Usually yes. The amount depends on the type of document, the state and the transaction. Some states charge an agreement to sell with possession at a higher rate.

Yes, and it is worth doing before you pay. A review looks for gaps, inconsistencies, obligations and risks.

Send us the details of the deal and the property papers. We confirm the scope, prepare a draft, take your comments and finalize the document.

Put your property deal in writing before money moves

An advance without clear terms leaves you with no remedy when the deal changes. Let LegalDev India's legal team draft or review your property agreement.