Agreement for Sale vs Sale Deed: What You Sign, When and What It Costs

Six months after booking, you have paid the builder close to half the price of your flat. You have a thick bound document with your photo and signature on every page. Ask most buyers at this point whether they own the flat and they will say yes. Legally, they do not. Not yet.

Buying a home in India involves two main documents that sound similar and do very different jobs: the agreement for sale and the sale deed. Here is what each one is, when you sign it, what it costs, and what to read before you sign, with Karnataka figures as of November 2026.

The one-line difference

• Agreement for sale: a promise to sell and buy in the future, on agreed terms. Ownership stays with the seller.
• Sale deed (also called conveyance deed): the actual transfer. Once registered, you are the owner.

Under the Transfer of Property Act, an agreement for sale does not by itself create any ownership interest in the property. It gives you a right to enforce the deal, and that is valuable, but it is not title.

When you sign each one

Buying an under-construction flat

1. Booking form or allotment letter: you pay a booking amount and get a unit number.
2. Agreement for sale: signed before the builder takes more than 10% of the price. Section 13 of RERA requires a written agreement for sale, registered, before the builder accepts more than 10% as an advance. This is the document that sets the possession date, carpet area, payment plan and specifications.
3. Construction instalments: paid over months or years against this agreement.
4. Sale deed: registered after the project is complete and the occupancy certificate is issued. RERA expects the builder to execute it within three months of the occupancy certificate, unless local law says otherwise.

In Bengaluru, many under-construction purchases use two documents at the agreement stage: an agreement for the sale of your undivided share of land, and a separate construction agreement for the flat. If you see two agreements, that is normal. Make sure both point to the same unit, area and price, and that their payment schedules add up to the total.

Buying a ready or resale flat

The gap is shorter. You usually sign an agreement for sale with a token advance (often 10%), use the next few weeks for loan sanction and document checks, and then register the sale deed and pay the balance. Some resale deals skip a registered agreement and go straight to the sale deed, which is fine if everything is ready.

Stamp duty and registration on each (Karnataka)

This is where the two documents really differ. Rates below are for Karnataka as of November 2026. Check the current figures on the Kaveri portal before you pay, as they change.

On the agreement for sale

Under Article 5(e) of the Karnataka Stamp Act, the duty depends on one question: does the agreement hand over possession?

• No possession given: a small duty, a fraction of a percent of the value (0.1% under the rate courts have cited). This is the usual case for under-construction flats.
• Possession given or promised before the sale deed: taxed almost like a sale deed, at the full conveyance rate. Karnataka courts have held this applies only when the agreement itself records that possession is being delivered.

So read the possession wording. If an agreement says you are being put in possession today, it attracts the higher duty. Builders and lawyers in Karnataka draft around this, but you should know why the wording matters.

On the sale deed

• Stamp duty: 5% of the value for most homes, plus cess and surcharge on top of the duty. Lower slabs have applied to cheaper homes, so check yours.
• Registration fee: 2% of the value, up from 1% for documents registered from 31 August 2025.

The value used is the higher of the agreed price and the government guidance value for that area.

Worked example: a ₹80 lakh flat

• Agreement for sale, no possession: at 0.1%, about ₹8,000 in duty, plus a registration fee.
• Sale deed: stamp duty at 5% is ₹4,00,000, plus cess and surcharge on that duty. Registration at 2% is ₹1,60,000.
• Total at the sale deed stage: roughly ₹5.8 lakh or more, depending on the surcharge that applies.

Budget for this money in cash. Lenders generally do not fund stamp duty and registration.

What to read in the agreement for sale

The agreement is where the builder makes promises. Read these clauses closely.

• Carpet area in sq m and sq ft, as defined by RERA, and what happens if the final area differs.
• Possession date and the grace period, if any. A vague date is a warning sign.
• Payment schedule linked to construction stages, not calendar dates.
• Interest for delay on both sides. Under RERA, the rate you pay for late instalments should equal the rate the builder pays you for late possession. In Karnataka that is SBI's highest MCLR plus 2%.
• Specifications: flooring, fittings, brands, lifts, power backup.
• Cancellation terms: how much the builder can keep if you cancel.
• RERA registration number of the project.

We cover these in more depth in our guide to builder-buyer agreement red flags.

What to read in the sale deed

By this stage the deal is done, but the sale deed is what you will show a bank, a buyer or a court for decades. Get it right.

• Property schedule: flat number, floor, block, carpet and built-up area, your undivided share of land, and the boundaries of the whole plot. Check against the approved plan.
• Title history (recitals): how the seller or builder came to own the land, with document numbers.
• Parking: the allotted slot number, if parking is part of the sale.
• Full payment acknowledgement: a clear statement that the full price has been received.
• Free of encumbrances: a promise that there is no loan, lien or claim on the property, and an indemnity if one turns up.
• Khata details and the property tax status, so you can transfer the khata to your name afterwards.
• Names and shares of all buyers spelled exactly as on PAN and Aadhaar.

Ask for the draft deed a few days before registration. Changes are easy on a draft and painful after.

If you want help checking documents on a home you are considering, Skyros Estates can walk you through the paperwork and connect you with a lawyer for a title review.