Ready-to-Move vs Under-Construction Property: Which to Buy?

The biggest difference is cost certainty and tax. A ready-to-move home that already has its occupation or completion certificate carries no GST, while an under-construction purchase adds 5% GST (just 1% for affordable housing under 45 lakh, which almost no Gurgaon luxury unit qualifies for), with no input tax credit in either case. Under-construction is usually quoted 10 to 20% below a comparable finished unit, but that gap narrows once you add GST, the rent you keep paying while you wait, and the risk of delay. Ready-to-move also means you inspect the exact villa or floor, not a sample flat, and can move in or earn rent at once.

Under-construction still carries real delivery risk: slipped possession dates, spec changes, or a stalled project. Haryana's RERA, through the HRERA Gurugram bench, softens this. Registered projects must keep 70% of the money collected from buyers in a project escrow account, file quarterly construction updates, and pay interest or refund you if they miss the committed possession date, with a 5-year structural defect liability after handover. Only buy HRERA-registered inventory and verify the project and its timeline on the HRERA portal before paying anything.

Some charges are the same either way. Stamp duty in urban Gurugram is 7% for a male buyer, 5% for a female buyer, and 6% for joint male and female ownership, plus a registration fee capped at 50,000 rupees, all paid at the sub-registrar. If the price is 50 lakh or more and the seller is a resident, you must deduct 1% TDS under Section 194-IA on the full sale value; if the seller is an NRI the rate is far higher under Section 195 with no 50 lakh threshold, so confirm the seller's residency first.

In practice Gurgaon splits cleanly. Ready-to-move villas, builder floors and plots sit in the established DLF colonies, South City, Sushant Lok, Suncity and Malibu Town, where what you see is what you get. Fresh under-construction supply is concentrated on Dwarka Expressway, the SPR and New Gurgaon, where entry prices are lower. For most buyers who want to use or rent the home now, ready-to-move is the safer choice; pick under-construction only from a strong, RERA-compliant developer when the price and location clearly justify the wait. NRIs can buy residential and commercial property under FEMA's general route with no RBI approval, but not agricultural land, a farmhouse or a plantation, so confirm any plot sits in a licensed residential colony.