Buyer’s guide
What “pre-launch” actually means
It is one of the most used words in Indian property marketing and one of the least explained. Here is the version with the caveats left in.
The words, and what they describe
Pre-launch describes the period before a project is formally on sale. Interest is gathered, layouts and pricing circulate privately, and lists are built.
Soft launch usually means sales have opened quietly to a limited group before any public advertising.
New launch means the project is registered, priced and openly selling.
None of these are legal categories. What is legally defined is whether the project is registered, and that single fact governs what anyone is allowed to do.
What can and cannot happen before registration
In Maharashtra, a project that requires registration cannot be advertised, marketed, booked or sold until it is registered. A registered agent is separately barred from facilitating a sale in a project that ought to be registered and is not.
So a genuine pre-launch, run properly, looks like this: you can be told about the project, you can see what has been approved, you can join a list. You should not be asked for money, and no booking should be recorded, until the registration is in place.
Where it goes wrong is the “token amount to hold your unit” collected before registration. If you are asked for that, ask to see the project’s registration number first — and look it up yourself rather than accepting a photograph of a certificate.
Why pre-launch pricing is lower
It usually is lower, and the reason is not generosity. Early buyers take on risk that later buyers do not, and the discount is the price of that risk.
Timeline risk. The home is furthest from completion at exactly the moment you commit.
Approval risk. Some approvals may still be in progress. Layouts and amenity can change between what you were shown and what is built.
No Occupancy Certificate for years. You are buying a drawing and a promise, backed by a filing.
That trade can be entirely worth it, and for a buyer who is comfortable with a longer horizon it often is. It is simply not a free discount, and anyone presenting it as one is not telling you the whole thing.
What to insist on before you pay anything
The project’s own MahaRERA registration number, looked up by you. The carpet area in writing, and the basis it is quoted on. The RERA-declared completion date, not the one quoted in the room. The payment schedule in full, including what is due when. And the name of the promoter entity, checked against the filing.
If any of those cannot be produced, the honest answer is that the project is not ready to take your money yet. That is not always a problem — but it should be your decision, made knowingly.
Where we stand
The project we represent, Prime Mundhwa, is in pre-launch as this is written. We run a priority access list: you receive pricing, carpet areas, the payment plan and the project’s registration number the day they are released, ahead of the public launch.
No payment is taken at that stage and no booking is made. Booking becomes possible once the project registration is confirmed, and not before. We have written that on the project page as well, because it is the part of a pre-launch that most deserves to be in writing.
Questions we have not answered here?
Ask us directly. We would rather talk you out of the wrong home than into it.