A drawn guide, start to finish
Buying or selling a home, drawn out and explained in plain words. How long each part takes, what you sign, and where the money goes.
Overview Real Estate · General education, not legal or tax advice.
Prefer to read? This is the same guide as the video, word for word. Nothing here is legal or tax advice, and every deadline below is the standard Arizona contract position rather than a promise about your deal.
What's ahead
From start to finish, there are ten steps.
Some go quick. Others take a little patience.
I'll walk you into each one before we get there, so nothing lands on you cold.
Before we start
You're not doing this with only one person.
Dave McArthur handles the lending. Checklist Inspections looks the house over properly.
Magnus Title sits in the middle and holds the money and the paperwork.
I'll introduce you when it's their turn. You never have to go find them.
Step 1 of 10 · The plan
We sit down together. Coffee, phone call, whatever suits you.
Where you want to live, what the house needs to have, when you'd like to be in it.
Ask me anything here. Nothing's a silly question this early.
Step 2 of 10 · Getting a loan
Most buyers borrow. Dave McArthur looks at your income and your credit, then writes your pre-qualification letter.
That letter tells you what you can actually spend. It also tells a seller you're serious.
Not approved yet? That happens. I find out why, and we put a plan together.
Step 2 of 10 · Paying cash
Paying cash instead? Then there's no lender and no pre-qual letter.
What you show is proof of funds. A recent bank or investment statement works, or a short signed letter from your bank.
Ask your bank for it early. I'll send it over with your offer.
Step 3 of 10 · The tour form
Before we tour anything, there's one short form to sign. That's an MLS rule now, not my idea.
It takes about thirty seconds. It says I work for you, and it spells out how I get paid.
Step 4 of 10 · Looking
Your search goes live. New listings land in your inbox as they come up.
Most of what we see will be resale. Houses people are living in right now.
Curious about new construction? We'll tour those too.
And I keep an ear out for off-market. Those are rare, but a good one's worth the wait.
Step 5 of 10 · The offer
When you find the one you keep thinking about, I get to work.
First we look at what similar houses actually sold for. Same sort of size and style, within about a mile, in the last three months.
Then we write it up. Your price, your deposit, the dates that work for you.
They'll accept, counter, or pass. I handle the back and forth.
Step 5 of 10 · What you can ask for
Price is the loudest number, but it's far from the only one you get a say in.
The contract prints ten days for the inspection, with a blank line sitting right next to it. That's a suggestion, not a rule.
Most of it isn't even printed. The price, your deposit, the closing date, help with your costs. Those are empty lines waiting for your numbers.
Here's one that catches people out. The fridge, washer and dryer don't come with the house unless we ask for them.
And one honest thing. Both sides have to be realistic. The offer that gets accepted is the one where everybody found the middle.
Step 6 of 10 · Under contract
Escrow opens at Magnus Title. They hold the money and the paperwork while everything gets sorted.
Your deposit goes in within a day or two. Most closings land about thirty days out.
The seller sends their disclosures within three days. Read those properly.
Step 7 of 10 · Inspection
Now the inspection window opens. Ten days, or whatever number we wrote into your offer.
I use Checklist Inspections. A bigger house costs more to inspect, so look up their pricing at checklistaz.com.
If something turns up, you can ask for repairs, ask for money off, or step back. Your call, every time.
Step 8 of 10 · Appraisal
Get insurance quoted early. Once in a while a house turns out to be hard to insure, and you want to know that now.
The lender sends an appraiser to confirm the house is worth what you're paying.
Final approval is the last gate. After that you're clear to close.
Step 9 of 10 · Closing
Title gets checked for anything still owed on the house. Then one last look around, together.
You sign at Magnus Title. The loan funds, and the county records the house in your name.
Utilities switch over. That's the last of it.
Step 10 of 10 · Home
It's yours.
Call me afterwards too. Contractors, neighbors, property taxes, anything that comes up.
What's ahead
Selling feels like a hundred moving pieces. It's really nine steps.
A couple take an afternoon. Others you mostly wait through, and that's normal.
I keep track of all of it, and I'll tell you what's coming before you need to think about it.
Step 1 of 9 · The visit
We meet at your house and talk about why you're moving, and when you'd like to be out.
Then I pull every home near you that sold in the last three months, most of them within a mile.
You get a straight answer on what's worth fixing first, and what isn't.
Step 2 of 9 · Pricing
The price comes from the closest matches. Similar square footage, similar age, similar condition.
I price off what those houses closed at, not what they were asking.
Then you'll see your take-home at a few different prices, and you pick.
Step 3 of 9 · Paperwork
The listing agreement puts it all in writing, commission included. There's no standard rate printed anywhere on that form. The number is whatever we agree it is.
It has a start date and an end date. You'll see every number before you sign anything.
You sign, and I go to work.
Step 4 of 9 · Photos
Buyers meet your house in photos long before they knock. I handle the shoot.
I finish the touch-ups we agreed on. Then your listing hits the MLS within two days.
And please, don't deep clean for me. Save it for the camera.
Step 5 of 9 · Listed
Buyers book through me. You just say yes or no to the times.
The easier it is to get in, the more people come through.
You hear what they said after every visit, good or bad, plus a rundown each week. No radio silence.
Step 6 of 9 · Offers
Every offer reaches you with the full picture. The price, and whether that buyer can really close.
The highest number isn't always the strongest offer.
I counter for you. You decide when it's right to say yes.
Step 6 of 9 · Meeting in the middle
An offer is where the conversation starts, not where it ends. Nearly all of it can move.
The price, the closing date, what you leave behind, even a few extra days in the house afterwards.
On repairs you're not required to fix anything. But if you say no, the buyer can walk and take their deposit back. That's why most sellers meet somewhere in the middle.
Watch the concessions too. Money you hand back at closing is a price cut, so compare offers on what you actually keep.
What you can't negotiate with is the market. Be realistic against what actually sold nearby, and that's what turns an offer into a closing.
Step 7 of 9 · Under contract
Their deposit goes to Magnus Title, not to you. That's when the clocks start.
Your disclosures are due to the buyer inside three days. Half an hour, side by side, done.
Then their inspector shows up, usually within ten days. Repair requests can follow.
Step 8 of 9 · Their loan
Their lender orders an appraisal and finishes off their loan. Nothing for you to do here.
If it comes in low, we talk it through and decide what to do.
I watch every date. About thirty days from your yes is usually closing.
Step 9 of 9 · Sold
Magnus Title takes you through your last stack of signatures.
Their loan funds, the county records the sale, and your proceeds go out.
Need more time before you move? A rent-back can buy it. Then the truck comes.
This part applies to sellers on both paths: the home-sale exemption on the place you live in, and the 1031 exchange for investment property.
Taxes · Your own home
Selling the place you actually live in? A good chunk of your profit can come to you tax free.
You need to have owned it and lived in it for two of the last five years.
Then $250,000 of profit is exempt if you're single. $500,000 if you're married and file together.
Taxes · Investment property
A rental or an investment property works differently. There's no exemption, but there is something called a 1031 exchange.
You roll the whole gain straight into the next property, and the tax waits instead of coming due.
It only works for investment property. Not the house you live in.
Taxes · The deadlines
The clock starts the day your sale closes.
You get 45 days to name the property you're buying next, in writing.
And 180 days to actually close on it.
One rule catches people out. The money has to sit with a qualified intermediary the whole time. Touch it yourself and the whole thing collapses.
Taxes
This is the general shape of it. Your own situation will have its own details.
Get a CPA involved before you sell, not after. I'm glad to introduce you to one.
And ask me anything. That's what I'm here for.