The cost sheet: where roughly 25% hides
The advertised base rate is the smallest number you will pay. PLC, floor-rise, club, IFMS and parking stack on top — and the IFMS is money you are supposed to get back.
For buyers who have been quoted a per-square-foot rate and want the real all-in number before they commit.
One number, never sold.
The 30-second version
Demand a written, itemised cost sheet before you commit — not after.
PLC, floor-rise, club, IFMS and parking can stack 25% or more on top of the headline rate, and each is often charged on the inflated super built-up area rather than carpet. Unbundled add-ons can also attract a higher GST rate than the flat itself. The 'all-in' price is layered by design.
Tick every line on the cost sheet
If a line is missing, ask for it in writing. A vague 'all-inclusive' with no line items is the red flag.
- Base price — and on WHICH area? Insist on carpet area, per RERA.
- PLC — Preferential Location Charges (₹50–500/sq ft is commonly seen)
- Floor-rise charges
- Club / amenities charges
- IFMS — Interest-Free Maintenance Security
- Parking (see the separate parking kit — a builder cannot sell common-area parking as if it were his)
- GST, stamp duty, registration
Get every line in writing before you commit. Verbal totals change.
IFMS — get it in writing that you will get it back
The Interest-Free Maintenance Security is lakhs collected at possession, earns you zero interest, and by law must be handed to the Resident Welfare Association. It is frequently never returned.
Confirm in writing that the IFMS deposit transfers to the RWA — and once the society is formed, reclaim it FROM the RWA, not from the builder.
Not legal or tax advice
General information to help you ask the right questions — not legal or tax advice. Rules, rates and procedures vary by state, property type and date. Confirm your specific case with an independent property lawyer and, for tax, a chartered accountant before you pay anything.
Sources & citations›
- PLC commonly ₹50–500/sq ft; layered pricing can stack 25%+ on the headline rate; add-ons often charged on inflated super built-up area; unbundled add-ons can attract a higher GST rate than the flat itself.
- IFMS must go to the RWA and is frequently never returned — reclaim it from the RWA once the society is formed.
- RERA mandates sale on carpet area.
Want the all-in number before you sign?
villow shows the all-in price on every listing, not the headline rate — and your number is never sold to a wall of brokers.
Talk to a Villow advisor
Name and a number — that's all. No PAN, no salary slips.
Why villow
The buyer is the customer here — not the product.
- Only VERIFIED listings — title, RERA and approvals checked up front.
- Your number goes to ONE in-house team. Never sold to a wall of brokers.
- Builders pay us, never you. Zero brokerage, no kickback steering advice.
No number-for-price gates. Read it all, decide for yourself.
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