The buyer’s guide
The nine steps from first search to keys, how title works in Arizona, and the ten terms that actually come up.
Start here
Buying a home in Scottsdale, and North Scottsdale in particular, is less about finding a house than about choosing between ten quite different ways to live. A custom lot on the desert in Troon North, a condo a short walk from the Old Town galleries, and an acre with equestrian history in the Cactus Corridor are three separate purchases, with three separate sets of rules.
Everything below is the guide Kathy hands buyers in print, produced with WFG National Title Insurance Company and laid out here so you can read it before the first showing rather than during the inspection period. It covers the full process of buying a home in Scottsdale, how each community changes it, the nine ways to take title in Arizona, and the ten terms that come up in every transaction.
You can also take the printed version with you. If you are selling a home before you buy, the Seller’s Guide covers that side.
None of it replaces advice on your specific situation. Take the title section in particular to your attorney or CPA before you vest.
Online home search
Start where everyone starts. Get a feel for what your money buys in each of the ten communities, and note which ones you keep coming back to. Pay attention to what listing photos leave out: HOA dues, whether a club membership is required, and which way the back of the house faces. If two communities keep making your shortlist, the community pages explain how they differ, and that difference is usually the real decision.
Contact a REALTOR®
Before you fall for a house. An agent who knows these ten communities will tell you which listings are worth seeing and which are not. Since August 2024, agents who belong to the MLS need a written agreement with a buyer before touring homes together, so this first conversation is also where you settle what Kathy does, how she is paid, and what you want from the search. Call or text her at (602) 291-0695. She answers her own phone.
Loan pre-qualification
When you are buying a home in Scottsdale, a pre-qualification letter is the price of admission. It also sets a real budget, which changes the search more than anything else does. The standard Arizona purchase contract has a lender’s pre-qualification form go in with the offer, so a seller sees yours before they weigh your price. Ask your lender to quote the full monthly payment, including taxes, insurance and any HOA dues, not just the loan. Paying cash? Have proof of funds ready instead.
In-person home search
Photographs do not tell you about the road noise, the afternoon sun on the west side, or the neighbor’s RV. Walking them does. Go back to the ones you like at a different time of day, and drive the route you will take most mornings. From Troon North or Desert Highlands, time the drive to the Loop 101 and the nearest grocery store at the hour you would actually make it.
Make an offer
Price is one term of several. Timing, contingencies, the inspection period and the close date can matter more to a seller, and that is where an offer gets won. Kathy will pull the recent sales that matter for that street, not the zip code, and tell you where the number should start. Earnest money, what stays with the house, and who pays for a home warranty are all part of the negotiation too.
Open escrow
A neutral third party takes custody of the paperwork and the funds, and follows both sides’ instructions. Your earnest money goes here, not to the seller. Early in escrow you will receive the seller’s property disclosure statement and, where there is an HOA, its governing documents. Read both closely, because they are the first honest look at the house you will get.
One rule without exceptions: before you wire any money, confirm the instructions by phone with your escrow officer, at a number you already have. Never trust wiring instructions that arrive by email alone.
Home inspection
Your window to find out what you are actually buying. Findings become the basis for a repair request or a price adjustment, and occasionally for walking away. Under the standard Arizona contract that window is ten days unless you negotiate otherwise, and it goes quickly. In the desert, have the inspector look hard at the underlayment beneath the roof tile, the age of the air conditioning, the pool equipment and any sign of termites. If the home has a pool, you will also sign the state’s pool safety notice.
Funds transferred and title exchanged
The lender funds, the deed records with Maricopa County, and ownership moves. Title insurance issues at this point, protecting you against problems with past ownership that nobody found. Your final walkthrough comes first, to confirm the home is in the agreed condition and the repairs are done. You sign your loan documents with the escrow officer, usually a day or two ahead of closing.
Welcome home
Keys. The part of buying a home in Scottsdale that everything else was for. Keep your closing statement with your tax records, and hold on to the inspection report, since it becomes the home’s first maintenance list. When you need a roofer, a pool service or an answer to the question you did not think to ask, Kathy is still a call away.
Ways to take title in Arizona
How you vest affects what happens on death, on divorce and at tax time. It is a legal and tax question, not a real estate one, and it is the part of buying a home in Scottsdale that people most often leave too late. Kathy will flag it early so you have time to ask the right professional. Vesting is chosen during escrow and shows on the recorded deed, so settle it before the signing appointment, not at the table.
Community property (married couples only)
Arizona is a community property state. By statute, all property acquired during a marriage is presumed community property, except property acquired by gift, descent or devise, or unless another form of ownership is expressly stated.
Community property with right of survivorship (married couples only)
Co-ownership by a married couple when expressly stated in the vesting document. On the death of one spouse, title vests in the surviving spouse without probate proceedings.
Joint tenants with right of survivorship
Co-ownership between individuals in which title to a decedent’s interest passes to the surviving joint tenants without probate. The last surviving joint tenant acquires full title.
Tenants in common
Co-ownership between individuals or entities without survivorship rights. Each party owns a specific, undivided interest. If fractional interests are stated they must total 100 percent; if they are not stated, equal shares are presumed.
Sole and separate (married individual only)
Real property acquired by a spouse before marriage, or after marriage by gift, descent or devise, or by expressly stated intent. When a married person takes title as sole and separate property, the spouse must execute a disclaimer deed.
Single
An individual who has never been married.
Unmarried
An individual who has been married but is not currently married.
Trust
Title can be vested in individuals or entities acting as trustees under a written trust agreement.
Corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies
Title can also be vested in duly formed entities in good standing, including corporations, general partnerships, limited partnerships and limited liability companies.
The right question beats the right listing
Send Kathy your shortlist, even a rough one, and she will tell you which of the ten to start with.
Ten terms buyers actually meet
Every one of these turns up in an Arizona purchase. Open the ones you want.
Appraisal
A valuation of property by an appraiser’s estimate. The appraiser may use any number of valuation methods, including the current market value of similar properties, the quality of the property, and valuation models.
Annual percentage rate
The yearly interest percentage of a loan as expressed by the actual rate of interest paid. The APR is disclosed as a requirement of federal truth-in-lending statutes.
Closing statement
An all-inclusive summary itemizing debits and credits to each party, seller and buyer, presented in the form of a balance sheet.
Deposit
Money given by the buyer with an offer to purchase. It shows good faith.
Escrow
A procedure in which a third party acts as a stakeholder for both buyer and seller, carrying out both parties’ instructions and assuming responsibility for handling all the paperwork and the distribution of funds.
Escrow account
An account held by the lender for payment of taxes, homeowner’s insurance and other periodic debts against real property, required to protect the lender’s security interest.
Mortgage
The instrument by which real estate is pledged as security for the repayment of a loan.
Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
A repository of information on homes for sale. The MLS is also the means by which broker participants make offers of compensation to other broker participants for bringing a ready, willing and able buyer.
PITI
A payment that combines principal, interest, taxes and insurance.
Title insurance
Two policies generally issue at close of escrow: owner’s and lender’s. The owner’s policy protects the homeowner from defects in title, such as a forged deed. The lender’s policy protects the lender against the same defects until the loan is paid.
The buyer’s resource guide
The printed version of this guide to buying a home in Scottsdale, the one Kathy gives clients at the first meeting.
Buyer questions
Do I need a pre-qualification letter before I start looking?
You can look without one, but you cannot compete without one. In the communities Kathy works, a well-priced listing can see multiple offers, and an offer without a lender letter attached reads as unserious.
How long does buying a home in Scottsdale take, from offer to close?
Thirty to forty-five days is typical for a financed purchase in Maricopa County, less for cash. The inspection period sits in the first ten days or so, which is the part that moves fastest.
What is the inspection period actually for?
Finding out what you are buying. Findings become the basis for a repair request, a price adjustment or, occasionally, canceling. It is your leverage and it is time-limited.
Who chooses the title and escrow company?
It is negotiable and is usually agreed in the contract. Escrow is a neutral third party holding the paperwork and the funds and following both sides’ instructions.
Does the buyer pay Kathy’s commission?
Compensation is negotiable and is set out in a written buyer-broker agreement before you tour homes. Kathy will walk you through exactly what is agreed and who pays it before you sign.
Should I buy in a community with mandatory club membership?
In Desert Highlands, membership rights come with the property, so the club is part of the cost of ownership rather than an option. Whether that is good value depends entirely on whether you will use it. Ask before you tour.
Resources
Arizona Department of Real Estate
The state regulator. Licensee lookup, buyer advisory materials, and the public complaint record.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Independent, plain-English guidance on mortgages, closing costs and the loan estimate.
Ready to see a few in person?
Tell Kathy what your Saturdays look like and she will tell you which of the ten to start with.