LOVE YOUR DIRT Team’s Real Estate Buying Guide
THE BUYING PROCESS
Note: these steps are not always done in this order.
Find great Real Estate Agent(s)
Talk to a Lender and get Pre-Qualified or Pre-Approved (unless cash purchase)
Find a home you like and put in an Offer - negotiate offer and/or repeat this process as needed
Contract Accepted - deposit Earnest Money
DUE DILLIGENCE PERIOD - Inspections, Investigations, and Repair Negotiations
Give Escrow Company and Lender info as needed
Appraisal and loan approval with Lender (unless cash purchase)
Final Walkthrough to verify repairs done or status is the same as when you went into contract
Sign documents with Escrow Company
Wire Funds for Down Payment and Closing Fees
Lender sends Funds and Escrow Company records documents at County Recorder
Receive Keys after recording!
Title policy, deed, etc. are sent to you
FINANCING
If you don’t have the cash to purchase a home, you will need a loan or mortgage. With different lending options available, you may be able to put down 3% or less for an initial down payment! We always recommend contacting a lender as soon as you decide you want to own a home.
We enjoy working with local lenders that can give you a ballpark figure of your buying power. We can connect them to you or you can contact them directly and let them know you are working with us. A couple minutes phone call can give a lot of clarity to buying.
You can also shop around with any lender and find who works best for you.
BUYER INFO
We like to give a lot of information to people interested, because we like working with people who are informed. With that, you do not have to go through everything here and will keep you updated through the process. Here is our Buyer Information Folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/189Mzt5CK6Fc9YsIETEomK679syYVyfHR?usp=sharing.
Note about due diligence period when buying in Arizona (BINSR Document - Buyer's Inspection Notice / Seller's Response):
Arizona's purchase contract has a standard 10 day inspection period (unless waived - or amount of days changed), which allows buyer to examine the property.
The buyer can walk away if needed without losing their earnest money (deposit made to the escrow company).
The buyer can also make requests for repairs or other items - if those requests are not met, the buyer may walk away at this point as well.
This period can be up to 20 days total - 10 for initial inspection, 5 for seller's response, and 5 more days for buyer's response to seller.
It is a key time and we work hard to get the necessary inspections done.
Key Documents
AZ Home Buying Process - a simple chart showing the steps of buying a home in Arizona, few steps removed if buying with cash
BINSR - after inspections are done the buyer can: accept the home as is, ask for repairs, or walk away
Buyer Advisory - deep dive with lots of buying info from Arizona Association of Realtors, especially great for DUE DILIGENCE PERIOD!
Sample Purchase Contract - view a sample of our AZ Purchase Contract
Sample Closing Cost Sheet - see an example of closing costs from Lender, Escrow Company, etc
Ways to Take Title - if purchasing with more than one person, there are different ways to take title
BUYER COSTS
Real Estate Buyer's Agent Fees (us) - typically paid by Seller at closing ~3%
Earnest Money - typically 1% of purchase price
Inspections - typically done in the first 10 days of contract
general home inspection depends on sq footage so can range more, but typically about $400-600
sewer inspection about $100-150
HVAC inspection about $100-125
termite inspection about $50-100
roof inspection FREE
more inspections can be done as well - pool, chimney, mold, electrical, plumbing, etc
Appraisal - ordered through lender and about $500-700
Closing Costs (Lender Fees, Escrow Fees, Agent Fees) typically 2-3% of the purchase price paid at closing
Down Payment - paid at closing - lowest for first time buyers can be 3% with a conventional loan, otherwise 3.5% for FHA and 5% for conventional loans, talk to a lender to find out what options are available for you
Hope this helps and we are happy to help in whatever ways we can!
