Before you shortlist a Whitefield project
A starting price is the cheapest way into a project, not the cost of living in it. Registration and stamp duty, GST where it applies, parking, floor rise, club membership, corpus and maintenance are quoted separately and routinely add a double-digit percentage on top. Ask for a written cost sheet with every line itemised, and compare cost sheets rather than headline numbers.
Measure road distance, not map distance. Two Whitefield projects can carry the same locality label and sit on completely different approach roads, and a median or a level crossing can turn a two-kilometre gap into a twenty-minute one. Drive the route to the station, the school and the office you would actually use, at the hour you would actually travel it.
Read the approval position as layers rather than as a single yes or no. Land conversion, plan sanction, environmental clearance and RERA registration are separate processes on separate timelines, and a project can hold one while another is still pending. A registration number tells you a plan and a promoter have been recorded with the authority; it does not tell you the plan is good or the timeline realistic.
Finally, check who you are actually contracting with. The entity that holds the registration number is not always the brand on the hoarding, and joint developments, land-owner shares and special-purpose vehicles all show up on the agreement rather than in the marketing. Confirm the name on the paperwork before any money moves.