11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series-Closing

February 3, 2011 By

Your almost ready to move into your Phoenix Home

Phoenix home closing
When do I get the keys?  A question that is commonly asked by anxious home buyers anticipating getting settled into their sometimes long awaited Phoenix home. The answer=As soon as it records.  In most cases Buyers can not take occupancy of their Phoenix home until the transaction closes and records. This is especially the case if you are buying a Phoenix foreclosure home.  However, this is a negotiable term and in some instances you may be able to occupy the property earlier than closing.

Review of the Phoenix home transaction from contract to close

Your Realtor should inform you on each phase and what to expect as you move along.   The key milestones leading up to this point from the time your Phoenix home contract was accepted (assuming you are financing your purchase with a loan) are outlined below;

  • Escrow
  • Loan application
  • Due diligence
  • Appraisal
  • Underwriting
  • Loan docs
  • Final walk-thru
  • Signing
  • Funding and recording
  • Occupancy/Keys :)

Prepare so your Phoenix home transaction is a smooth one!

With a positive attitude, a little education on the Phoenix real estate market and an experienced Realtor by your side, your Phoenix home transaction should go off without a hitch!  Upon this conclusion to our  11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series (and for a shameless plug :)) we would like to remind you to contact our team of experienced Buyers Agents today to get started with your Phoenix home search.

Our Phoenix home listings below are updated in real time so please take a moment to browse recent Phoenix foreclosures below:

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Filed Under: Buyer Programs, First Time Home Buyers, HomeBuyer Info, Phoenix Bank Owned, Phoenix Foreclosure Homes, Phoenix Foreclosures, Phoenix Housing Market, Primary Feature Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series-Accepted Offer!

January 30, 2011 By

This is a very happy day in the Phoenix home buying process

Buying a Phoenix home process in escrow
Each buyers experience leading up to an acceptance on their Phoenix Home is unique. The acceptance of terms by both parties is a very delightful milestone when rejections, multiple offers and multiple counters are the norm.

Next up: Open escrow on your Phoenix home

The amount of earnest money is obviously negotiated before you get to this point.  Typically you will have up to 24 hours to open escrow unless of course this term has been changed during negotiations, such as the case with many bank addenda that allow up to 48 hours to open escrow.  Arizona is a title state (versus attorney state) which means you will be opening escrow on your Phoenix home with a title/escrow company which is a third party that holds the funds according to the contractual terms negotiated. Typically, unless otherwise negotiated, your earnest money remains refundable through the inspection period as well through various other contingencies that must be removed such as qualifying for your loan if applicable and the Phoenix home appraising at value.

Know your obligations as a Buyer upon acceptance of your Phoenix home negotiations

Opening escrow is your first order or business once your Phoenix home offer is accepted but that’s just the start. Once you are under contract there are several things you must do as a Buyer that requires your timely attention as you may hear and read in your contract that ‘time is of the essence. If you do not already have a full loan application in with your lender you will be required to do so within 5 days if not negotiated sooner such as in a bank addenda for a Phoenix foreclosure home.  Your inspection will start so it will be time to conduct your due diligence on the property typically within 10 days.  You will want to have your loan paperwork complete as soon as possible so once your Phoenix home appraisal comes in your file can go to underwriting ASAP to ensure you meet your close of escrow (COE).

Understand your Phoenix home transaction is very time sensitive

Time is of the essence when buying your Phoenix home and with this in mind all parties are required to proceed in a timely fashion to complete their obligations to avoid complications from nonperformance.  Your Realtor will help guide your through each phase of the transaction. A great resource that you will be given when you write your initial Phoenix home offer is the Arizona Dept. of Real Estate Buyer Advisory.  This serves as a great reference tool throughout your Phoenix home transaction and you can click on the link above to bookmark it for future use.

Filed Under: Buyer Programs, First Time Home Buyers, HomeBuyer Info, Phoenix Housing Market, Primary Feature Tagged With: , , , ,

11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series-Writing Your Offer

January 24, 2011 By

Negotiating your Phoenix home offer can be a very exciting time

Writing an offer on an Arizona Phoenix HomeIn today’s Phoenix real estate housing market it is important that when you find that perfect home that you really love you do not hesitate to write an offer. Prior to writing an offer on a Phoenix home you should understand the nuts and bolts of the purchase contract.  Your Realtor should be available to help guide you through the real estate purchase contract but they will not interpret it for you. You are expected to read the real estate purchase contract thoroughly and ask any questions you may have for clarification.

The main terms to consider when writing an offer on a Phoenix home are:

  • Purchase price
  • Earnest money
  • Contingency terms
  • Inspection period

Want to review a copy of the Arizona Residential Real Estate Purchase Contract?  Just drop in your email below and we’ll send you a copy.

The purchase price is obviously something your Realtor will consult with you about and will also be no higher than your pre-approved loan limit at your desired down payment amount.

The default inspection period in the Arizona Residential Real Estate Purchase Contract is 10 Calendar days.  If you do not change or waive this in your offer you will be asking for a 10 day inspection period.

Contingencies are clauses in a contract that give either the buyer or seller a way to get out of the contract if certain conditions are not met. There are endless types of contingencies and they are negotiable but the three most common that are default when writing your offer on your Phoenix home are;

  • loan–regarding Buyers ability to qualify for financing
  • appraisal–regarding purchase price vs. appraised value
  • inspection–regarding completion/satisfactory home inspection

Your Realtor will help you through the entire offer writing process on your Phoenix home

The right Realtor for you is one that is knowledgeable, accountable and helps you understand the the home buying process.  It is important to find a Realtor that you trust and feel comfortable with that will represent you and your best interests. Our team of real estate agents in the Phoenix-Metro area are ready to assist you with all of your Phoenix home buying needs.

Filed Under: Buyer Programs, HomeBuyer Info, Phoenix Bank Owned, Phoenix Foreclosure Homes, Phoenix Foreclosures, Phoenix Housing Market, Primary Feature Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series-Budget and DTI

January 11, 2011 By

The Phoenix home buying planning process means time to budget

Phoenix home buying seriesIt is time to finally track your spending and put pen to paper an itemized list of where you spend money each month and how much. The goal here is to see how much Phoenix home you can afford within your budget.  The good thing is right now in Phoenix-Metro area you can own for less per month that what you can rent in many areas so your living expenses might actually go down once you buy!

Accurate figures are important to the Phoenix home buying planning process

Start with making a list of all your expenses such as utilities and living expenses such as electricity and groceries, then all monthly expenses such as credit card bills, car insurance and yes add your entertainment, clothes, etc. as well. If you spend $40/week on movies and you want to continue to spend $40/week on movies than include it, otherwise remove or lower it to something you feel is reasonable and then follow that. You may be surprised to find out how much money you spend on certain things that with a few minor changes here and there you can drastically reduce your overall monthly expenditures. After you total everything and subtract it from your income you will have a figure. From that figure take a certain percentage off the top to add to your savings accounts and/or retirement plan, etc and the final figure leftover (assuming you already accounted for miscellaneous disposable income in your list) is what you can afford as a mortgage payment with/without any lifestyle changes while growing your savings.

Lenders consider Debt-to-income (DTI) ratios during the Phoenix home buying pre-qualification process

The above budget is mainly for your purposes so you can determine during the Phoenix home buying process your comfort level with the money in and money out every month and also help identify spending habits that can be modified to help strengthen your overall financials. Lenders will take your debt such as current mortgage/rent, credit cards, car payments and compare it to your income (aka DTI or debt-to-income ratio). The qualifying ratio will vary by loan program and FICO score but for our example we will use FHA which is 41%.

Lets consider a quick scenario in determining DTI for a Phoenix home buying loan applicant;

Your Monthly payment on mortgage/rent = 1200
Minimum Monthly Credit Card Payments = 300
Monthly Car Loan Payments = 450
Other Loan payment = 300

Thus, your total monthly debt payment = $2250

Now, let’s consider your Gross Annual Salary = $75000
So, gross monthly salary = $6250
Other monthly income = $1000
Thus, your gross monthly income = $7250

So, mortgage debt to income ratio = (monthly debt payment)/(gross monthly income)
= ($2250/$7250)  = .310 or 31% which is well within the standard DTI ratio.

Hopefully now you have a good idea of how much you can comfortable afford every month, what changes to you budget need to be made if any and if your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio is in-line with qualifying. If not you may have to pay off some debt to get your ratio where it needs to be as part of the Phoenix home buying process.

Filed Under: Buyer Programs, Credit, Financing, HomeBuyer Info, Phoenix Bank Owned, Phoenix Foreclosure Homes, Phoenix Foreclosures, Phoenix Housing Market, Primary Feature Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series-Repairing Credit

January 7, 2011 By

Repairing credit to buy a Phoenix home takes time…

buy a phoenix home by repairing bad credit
If you read the previous post in this 11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series regarding establishing credit we are back to the same notion of maintaining a good credit history. So it will take time.  Repairing credit is all about correcting the negative references on your report and keeping the items in good standing …in good standing!  There are many reasons one might have bad credit. For the purpose of this post and buying a Phoenix home we will address general misuse or overuse, etc. We will not touch on bankruptcy issues, short sales, or foreclosures in this post as they are different in terms of recovery.

Nowadays, you will most likely need a 620 credit score or higher to buy a Phoenix home with traditional financing

Some things to consider when you review your credit report;

  • When you look at your report there are some things you should keep in mind. If you have too many credit lines this could be hurting your score. You would need to pay off and cancel or at least cancel all but a preferred three cards. The cards that you should keep should be the ones you have had the longest. Longer histories with a creditor helps your score. Try to negotiate lower rates on the three that you keep.
  • Pay down balances on all three remaining cards to 30% or less of the credit limit (10% is better).
  • Put together a budget to pay down any outstanding/delinquent payments or satisfy any debt/judgments.  Many times these balances can be settled and negotiated for less than the full amount.

Keep in mind that to buy a Phoenix home is not a given right but a reward and responsibility

Once your credit is in check make sure you take the necessary steps to keep it that way. Set up automatic payments whenever possible. Don’t wait until the last minute to mail a payment to your creditors. Make sure you don’t overspend or have to high of limits. Report any unauthorized use of your credit. Once you implement these strategies it is just a matter of time and history until you have good credit to buy a Phoenix home.  Your preferred mortgage finance specialist can give you a ball park estimate based on your current credit scenario just how long until your credit should be good enough to qualify for the best rates available to buy a Phoenix home.

If you have questions or comments on credit issues that are stopping you from qualifying to buy a Phoenix home please post them below, we would love to hear from you!

Filed Under: Buyer Programs, Credit, Financing, HomeBuyer Info, Phoenix Housing Market, Primary Feature Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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