How to Buy a Home in the Greater Phoenix and Scottsdale Metropolitan area

How to Buy a Home in the Greater Phoenix and Scottsdale Metropolitan area

  Step 1 - Get Pre-qualified with a Lender

Unless you are paying cash for your new Phoenix home, at some point you have to arrange for financing.  This is best done at the beginning of the home buying process, so that you:

•·        Know what financing alternatives are available to you

•·        Know what Purchase Price you can afford

•·        Can identify any erroneous information on your credit report that may negatively impact the financing options open to you and give you the opportunity to address those items

•·        Are taken seriously by Sellers as a potential Buyer who has done their homework

Initial "pre-qualification" can be completed in as short a time as a 10 minute phone call, following which a lender can issue the all important Loan Status Report (LSR)  which is REQUIRED to accompany any Purchase Offer per contract.  While the Purchase Offer only requires the top portion of the LSR to be completed, as a Buyer you won't have the information you need to do this unless you have consulted a lender, and the offer will be considered "stronger" by the Seller if the Lender Pre-Qualification section of the LSR has been completed.

Full approval is a longer process - perhaps a couple of days - and is dependent on verification of the information you provided during the pre-qualification process - along with meeting any requirements of the underwriter.

Step 2 - Identify a Phoenix Real Estate Broker to represent you

Qualified representation is just as important to a Buyer as it is to a Seller - even if the Buyer wants to purchase new construction from a builder.  Many Buyers fail to take the time to interview Phoenix Real Estate Agents and later have cause to regret that error. Key considerations to selecting the REALTOR® to represent you include:

•·        Experience

•·        Knowledge / Education

•·        Availability

•·        "Good Fit"

Experience is not just how many years a REALTOR® has been licensed; it includes the number of transactions they have participated in - also known as "production".

Knowledge / Education can be confirmed by industry designations and certifications, and whether the Phoenix Real Estate Professional holds a Salesperson's license, or has advanced to a Broker's license.

Availability includes not only the availability of the REALTOR® that will be showing you homes, it also includes the support processes they have in place such as a Transaction Manager, and whether they are part of a team rather than trying to juggle the needs of multiple clients needs by themselves.

"Good Fit" should be assessed during your initial interview.  Do you feel comfortable that the Phoenix Real Estate Broker is compatible with you?  You are going to be spending quite a bit of time together during the home buying process!

If you don't have a Lender, your REALTOR® should be able to provide you with a list of lenders with whom they have had successful experiences in the past.

Step 3 - Identify your housing NEEDS

Where do you want to live?

How many bedrooms do you need?

What features and amenities do you need?

Do you want new construction or resale?

What School district do you want to live in?

These are just a few of the many questions your Phoenix Real Estate Broker will ask during the comprehensive property identification interview - designed to define your needs and translate them into a search for matching properties.

Carefully review the Arizona Department of Real Estate Buyer Advisory - available in both English and Spanish.

Step 4 - Finding and buying your new home

Once your house hunt has reached a point where you have found the home you want to buy, the next step is to write the offer.

If you are purchasing new construction, in almost all cases the contract has been prepared by the Builder, and your choices are to accept it the way it's written, or to decline and move on.  Your Phoenix Real Estate Broker should assist you in making sure the terms of the contract are fully explained to you by the Builder's Sales Representative (who represents the Builder - not you, the Buyer).

If you are purchasing a "resale" property your REALTOR® will research the market value of the property, and then help you draft your offer using the Arizona Association of REALTORS® Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract.

This stage is critical to you as a Buyer.  An oversight in the negotiation process could cost you thousands of dollars.  Having an experienced full time professional representing you and helping you navigate the sometimes dangerous waters of counter offers, inspection period, repairs requested and successful close of escrow is essential to your successful home purchase.

To contact Tony Marriott, your professional Phoenix Real Estate Broker, call:  623-551-9783 or send an e-mail to Tony@HomesByMarriott.com.