Buying A House In Phoenix, AZ

How Can I Help You Buy a Home?

When you’re looking to buy a house in Phoenix you need a full service Realtor. I am patient and able to explain every step of the process so you understand what is happening. I do a lot of leg work so you can relax knowing everything is being taken care of and make plans for living in your new home. Just a few of the services I provide while helping you find the RIGHT home:

• Educate you on the Phoenix housing market.
• Listen to you to understand your needs.
• Review MLS and other Internet sites regularly (almost daily).
• Find MLS listed homes and For Sale by Owner so you have all choices.
• Represent you as a Buyers Broker and always look out for your best interest.
• Provide copies of all forms used in the process so you have time to review them and ask us any questions BEFORE we write a contract.
• Provide you printed information of all properties.
• Negotiate on your behalf and with your full knowledge, understanding and consent of strategy.
• Open Escrow with a reputable title company that will make the process easy for you.
• Order and attend a certified home inspection. Help you determine the repairs that will be requested and negotiate with sellers.
• Order the pest (termite) inspection and provide you with the results.
• Order any other special inspections we feel necessary. Pool inspection, AC / furnace inspection.
• Schedule a licensed contractor to provide quotes on any repairs or remodeling.
• Attend the closing with you in case you have any questions.

The Offer Price 

When you prepare an offer to purchase a home, you already know the seller’s asking price, but what price are you going to offer and how do you come up with that figure?

Determining your offer price is not difficult. Get comparable sales prices of homes in the area or similar area to come up with a range the house could sell for. Make adjustments for the condition of the home such as; home improvements, pool, large lot, etc. Also, if you understand the seller’s situation, it can help you determine a fair price. If they are motivated they might be willing to take less than the asking price, otherwise, they might be holding out for the asking price.

Before going into negotiations, you need to ask yourself how much you want the home and how much you are willing to pay based on the comps. It is not a good idea to get emotional about the house before you start negotiating, although sometimes that can be difficult. If deep in your heart you have to have this home, be careful about playing games in the negotiations, someone else could come in and out bid you. If you are not emotional, then you have more room to negotiate and you will not be devastated if you are out bid.

Other factors such as using VA or FHA financing can affect your offer. If you are obtaining a VA or FHA loan, you must disclose that in your offer because government loans require sellers to pay

additional costs and require the house be in a certain condition. If the seller is unwilling to pay the extra cost or make required repairs, the mortgage company will not fund the loan. Sellers need to know up front if you are financing through VA or FHA so they can decide if they want to accept your offer and pay the extra cost.

Based on these conditions, I can help you strategize the negotiations to give you the best chance of getting the home you really want.

Contingencies

A contingency is something put into the contract that has to be completed or resolved before the sales transaction can be completed and the property transfer ownership.  All standard Arizona residential purchase contracts used by most real estate agents has standard contingencies such as the appraisal, home inspection and seller disclosures. 

The buyer’s lender will order an appraisal that determines if the sale price is valid based on other “like” properties in the area.  If the appraisal comes in higher than the sale price, the sale continues.  If the appraisal comes in less than the sale price, the buyer has the option to cancel the contract because the appraisal contingency was not met.

Basically, the same thing happens for the home inspection.  The standard Arizona residential purchase contract gives the Buyer the right to a 10 day inspection period.  The buyer may inspect themselves or higher a professional home inspector.  I highly recommend hiring a professional.  They will go through the infrastructure of the property and confirm what does and doesn’t work in the electrical, plumbing, AC/heating, etc…  At the same time, the buyer can be checking out crime in the neighborhood, the feel of the area, what will their route to work be, shopping and other things they find important.  If the buyer determines this property won’t work for them for any reason, they can cancel the contract during the inspection period.  Once the inspection period is over, the buyer may lose their earnest money if they cancel the contract.

Arizona law requires a seller to disclosure to a buyer any and all material facts that might change their mind about buying the property.  There is probably always things the seller doesn’t know and that’s why the buyer should get a professional home inspection.  However, if the seller discloses something the buyer can’t accept, such as a close by airport or a roof that needs replacement, the buyer can cancel the contract.

 

Another common contingency is the buyer ask the seller to allow them time to sell their own home before closing on this purchase.  During this time, the seller can not accept another offer from anyone else.  So the purchase of the property is contingent on the sale of the buyer’s current property.   

Earnest Deposit

Once you determine how much you want to offer and any contingencies to protect you, the next step is to determine the earnest deposit you will include with your offer. You want the earnest deposit to be enough to show the seller you are serious, but not so large you risk losing too much money should there be a problem. I suggest between one and two percent of the offered price. 

As with practically everything in real estate, there are exceptions to this rule, too. If the market is active, there could be more than one offer the seller is entertaining. A large deposit may say to the seller that you are not only serious but also have the financial stability to qualify for the loan and buy the home. The seller could accept your offer even if another came in a bit higher if the other offer had a low earnest deposit. 

Seller Disclosure 

Arizona State laws require a seller to tell you any material facts they know about a property that could affect your decision to purchase the property. For example, if the roof leaked and was fixed, they need to disclose to you there was a problem and when it was fixed. You should receive this information within 24 hours of getting an accepted contract.

Inspections 

The appraisal and the termite inspection are required by the mortgage company. You should also have a professional home inspector go through the home to find any problems the seller didn’tknow about or didn’t disclose. The standard Arizona Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase

Contract provides for 10 days from an accepted contract to get all inspections done. You can request more time if there are conditions that require it. Once you complete all inspections, you can ask the seller to make any repairs you want or compensate you financially. The seller has 5 days to respond to your request. If they are unwilling to do either, you have the right to cancel the contract and not lose your earnest deposit.

A home inspector will inspect all structural, electrical and plumbing in the house. They should provide you with a full written report of everything they found. You will use this report to determine what you would like the seller to repair or if you want to cancel the contract because the repairs are too great. The Final Walk Through.

Before closing, a final walk through will be scheduled to ensure the home is in the same condition as when you wrote the contract and to inspect that all required repairs were completed. You should do this within 5 days before close of escrow.

Home Investment Value 

Your rate of return when buying a home is higher than almost any other investment you can make. Homes normally appreciate about 5% a year. If you bought a $150,000 house, you probably didn’t pay cash, you got a mortgage, too. Say you put 20% down or $30,000, at an appreciation rate of 5% annually, a $150,000 home would increase in value $7,500 during the first year. That means you earned $7,500 with an investment of $30,000. Your annual “return on investment” would be 25% percent. Not bad for one year. 

Your mortgage payments and property taxes, along with a couple of other costs help increase the return on your investment. Since the interest on your mortgage and your property taxes are both tax deductible, the government is basically subsidizing your home purchase.

Home Tax Savings

The government is basically subsidizing the purchase of your home with income tax deductions. 100% of the interest and property taxes in a given year can be deducted from your gross income. For example, assume your initial loan balance is $150,000 with an interest rate of 8% percent, during the first year you would pay $9,969.27 in interest. If your first payment is January 1st, your taxable income would be almost $10,000 less – due to the IRS interest rate deduction.  With the new 2018 tax reform bill there are limits to this deduction.  Please consult your tax preparer to determine what you can deduct.  

Property taxes are deductible, too. Whatever property taxes you pay in a given year may also be deducted from your gross income, lowering your tax obligation.  With the new 2018 tax reform bill there are limits to this deduction.  Please consult your tax preparer to determine what you can deduct.

Other Home Savings

When you rent an apartment or house, your rent can increase each year. With a fixed rate mortgage, you have the same monthly payment amount for years. Even with an adjustable rate mortgage, your payment will stay within a range for many years.

Some people just can’t save money. Putting money into a house makes you save and it’s a good investment.

Other Home Owning Benefits

It's hard for many people to save money.  One of the best ways to save is to pay a mortgage so as you pay the mortgage down hopefully the equity will increase creating you a nice nest egg to invest in a new home or to add to your retirement. 

Pride in ownership by maintaining your own home and knowing you can design, paint and decorate as you wish.  

Eventually, attaining a mortgage-free status!  There are few things an employer fears more than an employee saying “I just paid off my mortgage and am debt free!”