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Whether you're buying your first home in Gilbert, selling in Chandler, or exploring new construction in Queen Creek or San Tan Valley, you've come to the right place. This resource hub answers the most common real estate questions we hear from Arizona buyers and sellers — and keeps you informed with local market insights across the Phoenix metro.
Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Queen Creek, and San Tan Valley remain some of the most desirable real estate markets in Arizona. While market conditions shift, working with a local agent ensures you get current data on home prices, inventory, and interest rates specific to your target neighborhood.
Home values vary by community, lot size, upgrades, and recent comparable sales. A free Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) from a local real estate professional is the most accurate way to determine your home's current market value.
Gilbert and Chandler consistently rank among the safest and most family-friendly cities in Arizona. Popular master-planned communities, top-rated schools, parks, and easy freeway access make both cities a top choice for relocating families and move-up buyers.
In Arizona, most residential transactions close within 30–45 days of an accepted offer. Selling timelines vary based on pricing, condition, and current market demand. Browse our latest articles below for up-to-date guidance on buying and selling in today's Phoenix metro market.
Scroll down to explore our latest blog posts, local market updates, and real estate tips for the Phoenix metro.
Did you know that retired, active, and disabled veterans have access to a range of incredible benefits when it comes to purchasing a home, including no mortgage insurance? Don't miss out on the opportunity to take advantage of the VA loan program!
An FHA loan may not be the best option for you. I have clients coming to me regularly asking me what type of a loan product works best for me. And oftentimes they are discussing FHA loans with me because it's the most popular loan type. Now, the three and a half percent down payment is very attractive. However, they don't realize there's a substantial mortgage insurance premium amount, could be in the thousands, added to the loan balance as part of every loan. In addition to that, you have to carry mortgage insurance for the entire length of the loan. You require to refinance that loan to get rid of that mortgage insurance. So there are other options in terms of conventional. There are 3%, there are 5%, there are 10% conventional loan options that will allow you to, the mortgage insurance just to fall off instead of being stuck with the loan for the entire program, which will save you guys money long term.
Make your dream of homeownership a reality with a 2-1 buy down! Save money up front to get a better interest rate and have a happily ever after in your new home!
What are mortgage closing costs and how much should I spend? Mortgage closing costs are costs you incur to get a mortgage. Typically, they're lender costs, they're prepays, they're title costs, things of that nature. Most houses that you purchase, unless they're a million dollars or more, you're typically paying $5,000, $6,000, $7,000 for closing costs in most cases.
What is earnest money and how much should I offer? Earnest money is a good-faith deposit in addition to the offer to the seller that says how serious you are about the house. We call it your skin in the game because once you get an offer accepted you're gonna write a check to the title company who's going to hold your earnest money in case for some reason you default in the contract that money goes to the seller.
Should we have a home inspection on our new construction? We used to recommend a home inspection on a new construction home during the 11 month and here's why. You typically get a 12 month period of what we call a bumper to bumper warranty. That's if for any reason something goes wrong, you can call the builder and they'll come back and make it right. You're not going up on your roof or crawling through your attic looking for things wrong like a broken truss or broken roof tiles. That's where a home inspection comes in. At minimum during that 11 month, give us a call. We'll recommend a home inspector or two. Have them come out, cost about $500 and they are going to do a thorough top to bottom home inspection for you. And give you a big report that's about 40 pages long with photos that you can just turn over and give to your builder. That's the easiest way possible. I've had clients have the home inspector out on their 11 month find a very, very teeny water leak in the backside on the exterior of a shower in their master bathroom. That they never even noticed. It was so, so tiny. But the home inspector caught it. Once that was alerted to the builder, the builder came in, had to rip the entire bathroom out. There was mold. It was a huge mess. It took months to fix. But guess what? My client didn't have to pay a dollar over that couple hundred dollars to the home inspector that found that leak. Can you imagine what that house would look like five years from now? Or what the water bills would have been? Just because a teeny tiny nail nicked a teeny tiny piece of plumbing behind the wall. It's well worth it. In today's economy, we recommend it even at the beginning of your occupancy of your home. If it makes you feel more comfortable. But at minimum, do it at the 11 month. Reach out to us and we'll be happy to give you some referrals.
Can I lock in my mortgage interest rate? Yes, you can lock in your mortgage interest rate, but most lenders want you to wait at least until you're 30 days out from your closing date. Otherwise, you typically have to pay. In a market where those interest rates are up and down and very volatile, we always, always recommend talk to your loan officer. It might be beneficial to lock that interest rate. Some cases, lenders are even offering a 12-month lock period right now.
What is a final walkthrough and why do we recommend you get one? We always always always recommend a final walkthrough of the home as close to closing as possible Even if you're out of state we go to the property regardless and We take a look at the major components of the house We want to make sure there was nothing crazy that happened during the escrow period Was there a flood was there a fire did somebody come and steal the AC units? I've seen it all I've been doing real estate here for 15 years and I've seen people try to steal the copper out of attics and Fall through the ceiling. I've seen whole AC units disappear so we definitely want to do a final walkthrough to make sure the home is Substantially in the same condition as it was when we went under contract in most cases Everything is perfectly fine and working order Occasionally we come across maybe we've had some rain recently and weeds appeared in the front our backyard It's little things like that That's what we typically find but we don't want to have a situation where there's a big ticket item missing and There's been an oops like a seller took a fridge by accident and you close on the house And now you can't get your fridge back.
What is a title search and why do I need one? Well, a title search is something that the title company is going to do once we get an offer accepted on a home and we open escrow. What they're going to do is find anything and everything recorded to or attached to that property. In most cases, it's things like mortgages, any property taxes due, any utility easements. There can be a whole barrage of things, but those are the typical ones that we see and that is required to be disclosed to you so you know what you're purchasing. Then it's also instructions for them per the contract. We don't have to write anything else in addition to it to obviously pay off the current mortgage and any other liens attached to it that the seller has occurred during the time that they lived there or they've owned the property. You don't want to take on anything that one, you're not aware of or two, that you have to absorb financially from the seller. We want everything brought to what we call a blank slate at the time of recordation when you purchase that house and that deed is transferred into your name. It's the title company's responsibility to do their research from their side and that's what we call a title search.
Do we use attorneys in Arizona to purchase a home? In Arizona, we typically do not use attorneys to purchase a home. Us as realtors are given the same legal authority to write and execute a contract on your behalf. Once that offer is executed between all parties, it goes to the title company. Title company is also escrow in Arizona. One party, and they will handle all the paperwork and all the monies involved in the transaction. They will assist with signing, and then once we close, it's called a recordation in Arizona. On that day of closing, we then as realtors can hand over the keys.
