Land Site Visit Checklist for Buyers (2026)

What a site visit is for

Records tell you what the government has written down. A site visit tells you what is actually on the ground. The two often differ: the field in the record may be a different field from the one the seller shows you, someone else may be cultivating it, the access path may cross another person's land, and a high voltage line, canal, drain or road widening may sit where the brochure shows an empty plot. A visit with the documents in hand is the only way to catch these.

Do the online record check first (see verifying land ownership online), so you walk the land with the khasra number, the map and the seller's documents. Go at least twice, once with the seller and once without, at a different time of day, and in a different season if you can.

Before you go

• Carry printouts of the record of rights, the village map and the seller's last deed.
• Note the khasra or plot numbers, the recorded area and the boundary description.
• Download the field on a map app and mark the corner points you expect.
• Tell the seller you will also meet neighbours and the village head; a seller who objects is giving you information.
• Bring a measuring tape or a surveyor if the area is in doubt; a phone GPS reading is a guide, not a survey.
• Take a trusted person with you who is not connected to the seller or the broker.

Is this the same land as the record?

Where the boundary is in doubt, ask the seller to arrange an official demarcation before you pay beyond a refundable token. We could not confirm one common process or fee across states, so ask the tehsil office.

Possession and occupants

Find out who is in actual possession. A tenant, a sharecropper, a caretaker, a relative or a squatter can have rights or claims that survive a sale. Ask the seller for the name of anyone cultivating or living on the land and what arrangement exists, then ask the neighbours separately. Look for crops, structures, a tubewell, a hut, animals or fencing that you cannot account for from the record. Read the cultivation record too; see Girdawari Haryana and Girdawari Punjab as examples of how some states record who farms the land.

If anyone else is in possession, ask for a written statement of their right and a written no-objection or surrender from them, with the lawyer's help. Do not accept a verbal assurance that the occupant is leaving after the sale.

Access, water and utilities

• Legal access: confirm in writing that there is a road or path in the record or a registered easement. A path that exists on the ground but not in the record may be on someone else's land.
• Road type: ask whether the road is a public road, a village road, a private road or a field path; each carries different rights.
• Water: look for borewells, canals or drains, and read water rights and borewells before assuming water comes with the land.
• Electricity: ask whether a tubewell connection exists and in whose name; we could not confirm a common transfer process.
• Flooding and drainage: look for flood marks and ask neighbours about monsoon behaviour.
• Overhead lines and pipelines: note any high voltage line, gas pipeline marker or tower; these can restrict use.

Surroundings and planned change

Look at what surrounds the land: a crematorium, quarry, brick kiln, factory, drain, solid waste site or industrial cluster changes how you can use and resell it. Ask whether a road widening, bypass, canal, railway line or industrial corridor is planned nearby, and then confirm it in writing through the proper office, since local talk is often wrong. See government acquisition notices for the official side, and land use zones explained and how to read a master plan for zoning.

Also check the intended use. If you plan a farmhouse, read farmhouse rules in India before the visit so you can check setbacks and road width on the spot.

How to record the visit

1. Take dated photos and short videos of each boundary, the access path and any structure or well.
2. Write down names and phone numbers of neighbours and anyone on the land.
3. Note the exact time and who was with you.
4. Make a rough sketch with distances and compare it with the map.
5. Send yourself a summary the same day by email so there is a time stamped record.
6. Share the notes with your lawyer before the legal opinion.

Red flags on site

• Neighbours name a different owner
• The seller will not let you meet neighbours
• Fresh boundary markers or a new fence on a disputed side
• Signs of a recent survey, such as survey stakes
• Unexplained occupants or structures
• Heavy pressure to pay the same day

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• This is a practical buyer guide; it states no portal procedure, fee or statutory rule. Linked Farmland India pages carry state-specific detail.