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Buying a home in Phoenix
Arizona Real Estate can be
one of your most significant investments in life. Not only are
you choosing your Phoenix home, and the place in which you
will bring up your family, you are most likely investing a
large portion of your assets into this venture. The more
prepared you are at the outset, the less overwhelming and
chaotic the buying process will be. The goal of this page is
to provide you with detailed information to assist you in
making an intelligent and informed decision. Well begin by
discussing what makes the Arizona home buying process unique
and carry you through to the closing of your new piece of
Phoenix real estate.
Anyone who wishes to buy, sell or lease
Phoenix Real Estate for compensation must be licensed by the
Arizona Board of Real Estate. There are two possible licenses
which may be obtained- Broker or Salesperson. A broker or
sales agent can also be referred to as an Arizona Realtor or
Arizona Real Estate Agent. In Phoenix Arizona only a Broker
may be compensated for the sale or lease of real property.
This means every Arizona Realtor must work for a broker.
Brokers may also work for another Broker and become an
"Associate Broker". By becoming an associate broker they are
acting as the Realtor rather than the Broker of Record. The
Broker of Record is the person who assumes all responsibility
for supervising the real estate transaction and its
agents.
Agency is the enigmatic portion of
Arizona Real Estate law. "Agency" is the relationship in which
the agent s given the authority to act on another person's
(principal's) behalf. In Phoenix real estate, usually the
seller is the primary and the Phoenix realtor is the agent.
The principal delegates to the agent the right to act on his
or her behalf in business transactions. The agent then has a
fiduciary responsibility with the principal and owes the
principal the duties of Loyalty, Obedience, Disclosure,
Confidentiality, Reasonable Care and Accounting. Remember,
unless you have a signed agency contract defining your
relationship, the agent you work with may not necessarily owe
his primary fiduciary to you.
Buying Phoenix Real Estate is one of the
best investments you can make. Before you go out home
shopping, you will need to position yourself before purchasing
your next Phoenix home. Keep in mind these following tips.
Don't make too many financial changes. Try to avoid moving
money around in your accounts. This can complicate the
mortgage process through tracking too many deposits and
withdraws. Changing jobs can also complicate the process, and
if not moving to a better position can even hurt your chances
of qualifying. Also, avoid making any large purchases. For
example, don't decide to lease or purchase a new vehicle to go
with your new house during your real estate process, as this
will highly affect your credit score for the worse. Remember,
buying a car reduces your available purchase price on your new
home.
One of
the best things you can do to prepare for your upcoming
purchase is to get pre-qualified with a lender. By getting
pre-qualified, you have taken the initial steps with a lender
and received a promise of sorts from him. You then receive a
pre-approval letter for a specific dollar amount that lender
is willing to provide to you. This gives you the advantage
over any other buyer that makes an offer on a home you might
be interested in. A seller is more inclined to accept an offer
from a buyer that is pre-approved than from one who is not.
This also allows for you and your agent to look at the correct
price range of homes for your needs.
On of the many tasks your agent should
perform for you is help you discover where you want to be in
Phoenix Real Estate and which Arizona home best fits your
needs. Before hopping into the car right away and window
shopping for a home, sit down and allow your agent to conduct
an interview with you. It is important for your agent to get a
strong sense of first your needs and secondly your desires for
your Phoenix home. In fact, you should insist on it. If you
come across an agent who would rather get you into the car
first, move on! You may have a nice day of sightseeing, but
you will be no further along in the process than when you
first got in the car.
Some
things to take into consideration to determine your needs in a
home are how close to you need to be to work or school. How
many bedrooms do you need? What features do you desire in a
house? The desire factor really comes into play when finding
Phoenix homes for sale in specific areas. It's possible not
all of the needs and desires on your list are available in
certain areas. Your agent can help you prioritize the items
necessary for your Phoenix real estate purchase.
This is where your Arizona Realtor earns
their keep. Once you have found the Phoenix home you want, you
will make an offer in writing to be presented to the seller.
First you must determine the price to offer. Your agent will
evaluate the area homes, the neighborhood, the specific floor
plan, the features of the property, and finally the seller's
motivation for selling the home. At this point you and your
agent should be ready to ink the contract. In Phoenix real
estate we have a nine page contract that includes details such
as a description of the property, the price offered, financing
terms, duration of the offer, buyers rights to inspect, which
parties are responsible for various fees, the escrow close
date, transfer of ownership, etc.
It is not
uncommon to get a counter offer back from the seller,
especially if you have offered a purchase price lower than
that of the listing price. This counter offer process can
continue back and forth until both parties finally agree to
all terms.
Once the
contract has been accepted by both parties, you as the buyer
will have 24 hours to provide the title company of your choice
(acting as a 3rd party required by law) your earnest money
deposit, as determined in your contract offer to the seller,
to open escrow. The earnest money deposit, or good faith
deposit, is used for the seller to know you're serious about
the home purchase and can become negotiable in the event of
buyer default, or is credited toward your total down payment
for the home at successful closing of escrow.
You will have a few services that will
need to be utilized during your transaction. Again, your agent
should have a list of providers for you to choose from if you
don't already have any in mind. Your agent will then
coordinate getting the providers scheduled for the various
tasks needed before close of escrow.
Title
insurance is important because, by providing you with an
Owners Policy, the Title Company insures that you have clear
title to the property. If there are any problems later, you
can always go back to the title insurance company and have
them clear it up. Since it is customary for the seller to pay
for the owner's policy, they have an interest in which company
is used, although in Phoenix Real Estate, the initial choice
is yours.
However,
you are going to pay a fee to the title insurance company,
too. This is for the Lender's Policy. The lender's policy
insures your mortgage lender that there are no liens or
judgments against the property and that the mortgage will be
in first position. In other words, should you sell the
property or refinance it, their mortgage gets paid first,
before any other claims against the property.
Most
lenders also require other items during the transaction, and
it is a good idea for you to utilize them as well even if they
don't. These items would be the appraisal, home inspection,
and pest inspection. The home inspection differs from an
appraisal in that an appraisal determines value and a home
inspection determines the condition of the Phoenix home. This
is one way you can discover which items need to be repairs in
the house. Requesting repairs is another portion in the
contract that comes later on in the process. The pest
inspection is also a good idea if not already required by your
lender, because it is a chance to address any termite
infestations or damage prior to moving in.
The buyer is responsible for applying for
and obtaining their Phoenix home loan. When the lender
approves the loan and documents have been printed, the
documents are sent to the title company for signatures. The
loan documents are typically signed at the title company ahead
of close of escrow date, and the final transfer of funds for
the down payment should be transferred to the escrow account
prior to the close of escrow date to avoid a recording delay.
To help avoid such a delay, the buyer should transfer
necessary funds to the primary account initiating the transfer
well ahead of the final closing date.
Once parties have signed all necessary
documentation at the escrow company, funds have been
transfers, loan has funded, and the deed has been recorded,
the property is then considered transferred. The title company
informs the Arizona Realtor and the buyer will obtain access
to the home. It is likely that the buyer and the seller of the
property never meet, as they are represented by different
agents, and sign their documentation at different times. After
the close of escrow has been completed, the parties will
receive a full accounting called a settlement statement,
showing in detail charges and credits to both
parties.
This has been a general overview of the
Phoenix Arizona Real Estate process as a whole. These
customary steps are most common when buying an Arizona home
and are completed without using the assistance of an attorney.
We urge both buyers and sellers who may have specific legal or
tax questions to consult with their attorney or tax
professional to obtain advice. Our sources of information are
deemed reliable, but not guaranteed to apply to all Phoenix
Real Estate transactions, as other conditions may
apply.
If you
have further questions or would like to obtain more
information on how Noah Gamer & Associates can help you
buy your next Phoenix home, please call or email: Contact Info
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