An NRI buying property in India faces two very different problems: the legal rules on paper, and who actually looks after the house when you fly back. Here is how both work in plain English.

What an NRI is allowed to buy and what is off limits

Can you buy a villa or land near Mumbai while living in Dubai, London, or Singapore? Yes, provided the land is non agricultural, commonly called NA. Under India's Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) rules, an NRI or OCI cardholder can buy residential and commercial properties in India without special permission from the Reserve Bank of India.

What you cannot buy is agricultural land, plantation property, or a farmhouse on agricultural land. This is where many overseas buyers get caught out by weekend home ads around Mumbai. A broker might pitch a cheap half acre near Karjat or Igatpuri as a farmhouse plot, but if the revenue record still says agricultural, an NRI cannot legally register it in their name.

Every property we sell at Meravilla Pool City is on non agricultural land with a clear title and a sanctioned layout. Whether you look at our ₹49 lakh freehold NA plots at Atgaon, our ₹1.09 Cr pool villas at Kasara, or our ₹3.25 Cr private 10,000 sq ft estates at Khardi, the non agricultural conversion is already done. Please treat this as general guidance rather than legal advice, and always have your own lawyer and chartered accountant check the papers before you pay.

How the money moves: NRE, NRO, or no bank at all

When it comes to an NRI buying property in India, all payments must come through normal Indian banking channels. You cannot pay in foreign currency cash or by transferring money outside India. You will pay in rupees from your NRE (Non Resident External) account, your NRO (Non Resident Ordinary) account, or through a home loan from an Indian bank.

Which account you use matters when you eventually sell the property or collect rent. Your chartered accountant should advise you on your exact tax residency, because rules change depending on the country you live in. Generally, paying from an NRE account makes it simpler to move sale proceeds back abroad later, within RBI limits, while rental income in India is usually credited to an NRO account and taxed in India after the standard 30% deduction on rent (meaning on ₹3,00,000 of annual rent, ₹90,000 is deducted for upkeep before tax is calculated).

Many overseas buyers tell us their biggest headache is not the money, but Indian bank loan paperwork. Gathering attested salary slips, embassy stamps, and local credit checks takes weeks. That is why we offer a direct developer payment facility on select properties.

For the Glass Resort Suites (priced at ₹75 lakh all inclusive, MahaRERA PR1330002500101), you pay ₹1 lakh to reserve, 10% (which is ₹7.5 lakh) within 15 to 20 days, another 10% (₹7.5 lakh) in the 18th month, and ₹50,000 a month for 120 months directly to us. There is no bank, no loan, and no interest. At Atgaon, select freehold NA plots starting at ₹49 lakh also run on a ₹50,000 a month developer payment plan.

Buying a second home near Mumbai is the easy part; looking after a pool, a garden, and monsoon damp from 3,000 kilometres away is where an unmanaged house becomes a burden.

Buying without flying down: how Power of Attorney works

If your annual India trip is only ten days long, you probably do not want to spend three of them at a sub registrar's office in Thane or Nashik district. You do not have to. You can register a property through a specific Power of Attorney (POA) given to a parent, sibling, or trusted friend in Mumbai.

Make sure it is a specific POA limited to buying and registering that exact property, not a general POA that gives broad rights over all your bank accounts and assets. You sign the POA in the country where you live, get it attested at the Indian Embassy or Consulate there, and courier it to India, where it is adjudicated within the required timeframe.

Your representative then signs the registered agreement for sale on your behalf, while the property title goes straight into your name. Our team handles this paperwork regularly and can share the standard format with your lawyer.

The real problem for an NRI is not buying the house, it is running it

Buying a second home near Mumbai is the easy part. Looking after a swimming pool, a garden, monsoon leaks, and electricity bills from 3,000 kilometres away is where an independent villa turns into a burden. If nobody lives in a house through the Sahyadri monsoon, damp gets in and the pool turns green.

An NRI buying property in India for weekend and holiday use should only buy inside a gated community where one team manages the whole estate. At our Glass Resort Suites in Shahapur, for example, you pay zero maintenance charges for 15 years. We run the resort, clean the suite, look after the 16,000 sq ft lagoon, and pay you an assured rent starting at ₹21,000 a month from the 19th month, rising by ₹1,000 every year to ₹35,000 a month in year 15.

That rent is written into the registered agreement and paid every month whether your suite was booked or empty. On a ₹75 lakh suite, that works out to about 3.4% to 5.6% a year before tax, plus you get 21 complimentary holiday nights every year (14 nights at the resort plus a 7 night international holiday). If you prefer a full villa with a private pool, our Kasara villas start at ₹1.09 Cr and come with an assured rent of up to ₹40,000 a month, which at the full ₹40,000 is about 4.4% a year on ₹1.09 Cr before tax.

How to check a property when you are abroad

Never book a property based on brochure renders alone. Even when you are overseas, you can verify whether a project is real on the ground in one afternoon.

Use a live video call combined with a visit from someone you trust in Mumbai. Here is what to ask for before you send a token amount:

What to ask our team on your first call

If you are considering a place near Mumbai for your family trips back home, start by deciding how you will use it. If you want a lock and leave home that pays you an assured monthly rent with zero upkeep for 15 years, ask us for the draft agreement for the Glass Resort Suites at Shahapur. If you want a private pool villa for larger family gatherings, ask to see the current construction stage at Kasara or the last 10 riverfront villas at Shahapur (priced from ₹1.25 Cr).

Send us a message on WhatsApp to set up a live video walk from the site at a time that works for your time zone. Ask us for the document pack so your chartered accountant and lawyer in India can read every page before you decide.

Read next

*T&C apply. Prices, payment plans and rental income are as per the registered agreement and can change. MahaRERA PR1330002500101 applies to the Glass Resort Suites; registration details for other projects are shared on request. Tax, FEMA and legal points in this article are general guidance, not professional advice; please consult a qualified chartered accountant and independent lawyer before buying.

MP

Meravilla Pool City Editorial Team
Written by the team at Meravilla Pool City, where we have delivered 50+ villas between Mumbai and Nashik and manage second homes for over 300 families in India and abroad.

Want a live video walk of Shahapur, Atgaon, or Kasara?

Tell us your time zone and which project you want to see, or send a family member from Mumbai to visit us this weekend.

Talk to our team →