Buying a home is exciting, however, it can turn out to be an overwhelming experience if the homebuyer isn’t prepared. It is important to understand the entire process of buying a home in Arizona before actually setting out to buy a house. The state of Arizona, like many others, requires an escrow agent, or a closing agent to complete the transaction. The buyer’s funds and the purchase contract is held by a neutral party. Once the escrow agent verifies that the seller and buyer have completely their roles the new title is prepared. When the new title is ready, the escrow company releases the funds while the listing agent grants the house keys to the new owner.
The in-depth home buying process in Arizona is as follows:
1. House disclosures and inspection
Once a buyer is in contract, the following tasks need to be completed:
- An offer will be accepted by the current owner. Once the contract is signed, the escrow process starts.
- A deposit is placed with either the seller’s real estate broker, an escrow agent, or an attorney.
- Once the deposit has been made the buyer reviews and signs any disclosures
- The buyer can choose to perform inspections on the property- but before this can happen, all issues regarding inspections and negotiations must be completed in writing.
- At this point, the buyer has the option to walk away from the deal or accept the conditions of the purchase.
2. Getting a mortgage
It is possible to begin the mortgage process as soon as the initial contract has been made:
- The buyer has to submit a loan application to the lender either directly or through a mortgage broker in Arizona.
- The lender has to send the Good Faith Estimate, i.e, GFE document to the buyer which outlines the closing costs.
- The purchaser has to send certain financial disclosures to the lending agent. This includes bank statements, current debts, tax returns for up to two years, credit inquiries, and so on.
- Once the information is collected and verified, the lender can decide to approve the application.
- Within a few days, the loan contingency has to be removed by the buyer.
- Once ready the appraisal has to be ordered by the lender or mortgage broker.
- The lender will request a title commitment to the title company- if needed, insurance can be arranged at this step.
- The owner of the property will need to purchase the homeowner’s insurance at this stage.
3. Closing the purchase
The following steps need to be completed to close the purchase:
- The mortgage lender sends the final documents to the escrow agent and a closing date is scheduled.
- The buyer signs off all their documents including loan documents
- The buyer pays the remaining funds as down payment and the closing costs to the escrow agent.
- The deed is recorded with the appropriate state.
- The buyer then gets the keys to his or her brand new house.
Blake Mortgage offers several services including mortgage lenders in AZ and mortgage brokers in Arizona. Be sure to get in touch with them right away!
