Home Buying Guides for Arizona

Making offers soon? Start with the first-time buyer path. Already reserved a lot with a builder? Start with the new construction posts.

Buying an existing home or a new build?

They run on different timelines. If you're buying an existing home in Chandler this weekend, you need a pre-approval letter and a payment that includes HOA dues. If you're buying from a builder in Gilbert or Goodyear, you need a plan for locking your rate around a completion date that can move.

• The first-time buyer post is for you if you're still learning the difference between a prequalification and a pre-approval. Pair it with first-time home buyer loans and the pre-approval checklist.
• The new construction posts are for you if you have a lot reserved or a design-center appointment. A builder's lender incentive can look generous. Sometimes it is the better deal, and sometimes it isn't once you compare the full cost. I'll run both so the numbers decide.

Shopping both, or still need to sell your current home? Tell me on the first call. Those situations change how we plan your rate lock and your offer, and I'll map out a path that fits.

More reading: VA loan notes · down payment help notes · buy a home · city pages for Gilbert, Mesa, Chandler, Goodyear, and Phoenix

Resale and new construction

Resale and new construction do not share a calendar. A first-time buyer writing in Chandler this weekend needs a letter and a payment that includes HOA. A builder buyer in Gilbert or Goodyear needs a lock plan that matches a completion date that might slip. I will not pretend one article replaces a conversation. This category stays at its own address. Other posts stay on the main blog.

The first-time post is for people who are still learning the difference between prequalification and pre-approval. It walks taxes, insurance, gift funds, and the documents that keep an offer from stalling in Mesa or Phoenix. Pair it with first-time home buyer loans and the checklist. The builder post is for people who already have a lot reservation or a design-center appointment. Pair it with buy a home. Preferred-lender credits look generous until you compare the full cost after a buydown expires. Sometimes the builder path wins. Sometimes it does not. The math should decide.

Veterans should also open VA loan notes. Buyers looking at Home Plus should open down payment help. News and identity live under news. City notes for East Valley tracts live on Gilbert, Mesa, and Chandler. West Valley growth is often Goodyear. Central Phoenix and the name mix-up live on Phoenix and Meet Paige.

I will not publish a rate on these cards. I will not promise that a seller will pick you because you read a post. I will not tell you to waive inspection on a brand-new house because the model home is new. Call or text (602) 448-4470 when you want a documented pre-approval. Use the calculator as an estimate. Replace the tax and insurance guesses before you write on a listing that cannot clear underwriting on the seller's timeline.

If you are shopping resale and new construction at the same time, say that on the first call. Those contracts put different pressure on locks and contingencies. If you still need to sell a house you own, say that too. A sale contingency and a builder close date are a different puzzle than a first purchase. Sometimes you need to sell first. Sometimes a refinance on the house you have is the better math than stretching into a second payment.

This category is the buying slice of the archive. Other notes stay on the blog. The office is 3420 E. Shea Blvd Suite 200, Phoenix, AZ 85028. Arizona license. You get me on the phone.