Paperwork checks while buying a new property in India. Quick tip!

You have liked a project under construction and want to finalize the deal. Its a nice, 3BHK option with a good design, a community and a great view to boot. The location works for you too. But, you are a common man who does not know a lawyer or the long list of documents that support the legal and clean way that the project is being developed. When you ask for the legal papers from the developer, he hands you a five kilogram documents list in photocopy which you cannot fathom! So, what do you do? Get yourself a cold one, we say.

No jokes. Ask the developer to give you a list of financial institutions/ banks that have given the project an approval and an APF number.
Look out for HDFC, SBI, ICICI, IDBI and LIC primarily. The thumb rule is, that if HDFC and its likes have approved the project and given them an APF number, the paperwork is clean.
Speak to your nearest HDFC branch and find out if they are financing the project. If the answer is an affirmative,  you have nothing to worry about. Institutions like HDFC scrutinize paperwork at the developers' end with precision and have every aspect like approvals, title clarity and previous mortgages examined in detail.

And they do it better than the lawyer your friend recommended.
Why reinvent the wheel? Get it?