How long does it take to buy a house?

How long does it take to buy a house? The answer to that is it depends, but I'm going to give you the typical scenario. You start by getting pre-qualified with a mortgage loan officer, which can be as quick as a 24-hour turnaround time. They're going to give us what we call a pre-qualification letter. It's an Arizona specific form that local lenders specifically have. A lot of the big banks do as well. We can give you a referral to a lender if you need to. We start looking at homes. A lot of times you've already been window shopping online. Start with five, six homes. We go take a look at them physically in person. Say you fall in love with one of them right away. We write an offer that afternoon or that evening. We submit it to the seller. It's accepted within 24 hours or there's a day or two, say 24 to 48 hours worth of negotiations back and forth. Then we go into our escrow period. From the time that we go under contract to the time that we close on the house is typically 30 days. In some cases, the seller needs a little bit longer time to maybe pack and move out or find their next house, things of that nature. In the typical sense, it's 30 days from the time you get an offer accepted to the time you close on the loan. I get to hand you keys to your new house.

A Guide to Living in a Casita: What You Need to Know

What is a casita? That's a very common question we get nowadays, especially with the cost of housing and a lot of homes taking on parents or grandparents or even kids moving back home. So basic definition here, as we understand it, is a casita is basically a room for which somebody can live in, which usually includes an attached bathroom, and in some cases, a kitchenette, which may or may not include a sink, maybe a microwave, or a hot plate, which is simply electric oven you can plug into the wall. Also, there could be a number of other things that would dictate if it makes sense to add a casita to your home. It's also a good idea to look at the cost associated with that versus what it costs to buy a home that already has the casita. In some situations, you can buy a home that already has the casita kind of already built in for less than it would cost to remodel a current home, depending on codes and where the other rooms are located in the house. So just got to kind of think through that process before moving forward.

Combining Households? Here's What You Need to Know About Casitas & Modern Law Suites

Thinking about combining households, maybe a parent, grandparent, your kids moving back in? Well, there's a lot of things to consider. The Valley has had an explosion of casitas and modern law suites introduced into different new floor plans, also into remodel projects that have really brought the focus on housing affordability, especially when it comes to people moving from in or out of state. It's a very big problem to have here in the Valley and housing affordability can be a challenge. However, here are some tips to keep things somewhat affordable and to make sure you're ready for it. Number one, let's make sure that you cannot tweak the current layout of your home you have. So, you know, adding a bathroom or adding a wall or separating a section of the house that may help things be more affordable. You maybe could do a refinance of the home to help pay for that. And number two, let's talk about perhaps combining households, including incomes, so we can look at purchasing a bigger home that can accommodate your situation.

Putting Home Needs Before Mortgage: How to Get the Best Deal

Remember, a mortgage is just a tool to solve the problem of housing. Make sure that as a buyer, you put the location and home needs ahead of the mortgage process. And the reason I say that is rates always change. You can always refinance your home. Rates will change dramatically over a short period of time as they have over the last 6-12 months, or they can take a longer time to come down or move up. Either way, interest rates or interest associated with a mortgage is still a tax write-off as of today. And you can't change the location of your home. You can change a few walls, some landscaping, or some additions to your current home. But you cannot change the location. So when I say location, location, location, it's something that's been said for probably 100 years by now. There's nothing more important than that when searching for a home.

FHA Loans: Affordable Rates in Volatile Markets

Unlock Your Home Equity: Tips for Protecting Your Investment in Arizona's Volatile Market

Is your home equity important to you? Well, it better be. It seems to change with the volatility of every market here in the country and Arizona is one of the hottest markets in the country. So keep this in mind when you're looking at your home and looking at potentially doing some modifications to the home or maybe you have some outstanding bills that need to be taken care of or a car payment that you're paying eight percent on or credit card bills that are 10, 12, 15 percent You may want to consider refinancing your home and pulling some of that equity that's there today to pay off these debts because those debts will not be gone tomorrow. So it's important to take advantage of the equity you have and again remember a mortgage is just a tool to help with financial freedom and I truly believe that purchasing a home and using the home itself as a tool to make life better overall for both your family and your financial future.

When do I get keys to my new home in Arizona? 

When do I get keys to my new home? In Arizona, we have what they call a close of escrow date. That means typically on that day, everything has already been signed by all parties and all monies are sitting at the title company already by everybody that's necessary to close on the home. The title company will then do a virtual stand in line process with the county that actually records the deed in the new buyer's name. Once the title company gets an alert back from the county that says the deed has been changed over to the new buyer's name, we call that recordation. We are then given a phone call from the title company letting us know we recorded and the buyer's agent can then provide keys to the buyer's name.

Buying a House? Downpayment Hack!!

Do You Need Flood Insurance in Arizona?

Do I need flood insurance in Arizona? Believe it or not, we still have homes in Arizona that need flood insurance. It comes up every now and then, typically if it backs to a wash or maybe up against a mountain, something like that. When we get our monsoon rains, it dumps a lot of water and could potentially put that particular home at risk for a flood. And so yes, every once in a while we do come across in certain areas, areas that homes do require flood insurance.

Seller Disclosures in Arizona Real Estate: What You Need to Know

Seller Disclosures in Arizona Real Estate: What You Need to Know

Time to prepare for closing! As part of the Arizona contract, sellers have five days to provide the Seller Property Disclosure Statement (SPDS). We recommend that all sellers disclose everything they know about the property to ensure a successful closing.

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