What it really costs to buy a home in the East Valley

The listing price is the number everyone talks about. It’s the smallest surprise you’ll get. Here’s what East Valley buyers actually pay for on top of it, roughly in the order it shows up. None of this should scare you off. It should just be on the sheet before you fall in love with a house.

1. Earnest money

This is your deposit. The contract spells out how it’s paid and who holds it, usually the escrow company. It’s credited back to you at closing, but you need it in the bank first. If you cancel for a reason the contract allows, like a low appraisal or an inspection notice the seller won’t fix, it comes back to you. If you break the contract, the seller can keep it. So the amount matters, and so does knowing which exits the contract gives you.

2. Inspections

A general inspection first. In this climate, plan on a roof, AC, and termite look too. The state’s Buyer Advisory says that if the roof is ten years or older, you want a licensed roofing contractor, not just the general inspector. If there’s a pool, the general inspector may not cover it, so budget a separate pool inspection. You pay for all of this whether or not you buy the house.

The standard Arizona contract gives you ten days to do it unless we agree on a different number. Everything you want to object to goes into one written notice before that period ends. One list, one shot. The seller then has five days to answer in writing, and silence counts as a no.

3. Appraisal

Your lender orders it. The contract has a checkbox for who pays the fee, so plan on it being yours unless your offer says otherwise. If the appraisal comes in under the price, you have five days after you’re told to cancel and get your earnest money back. If you let those five days pass, the contract treats that as a waiver, and the gap between the appraisal and the price becomes yours to solve.

4. Closing costs

Title, escrow, recording, prepaid taxes and insurance. Plan on a few percent of the price. In the standard contract, the seller pays for the owner’s title policy, you pay for the lender’s policy, and escrow fees split equally unless the contract says otherwise.

If the home is in an HOA, add the HOA’s own closing fees. The buyer always pays the prepaid association dues. Transfer fees and capital improvement fees are checkboxes we fill in when we write the offer, so who pays them is part of the negotiation, not a surprise at the end. The exact closing number depends on the lender and the seller, and I’ll show you the estimate before you write an offer.

5. The first sixty days

The AC that’s fine until July. The pool pump. The water heater that was “working” at the walkthrough. Furniture for rooms you didn’t have before. This is the one nobody budgets for, and it’s the one that makes a good purchase feel like a bad one in August. Put a number on it. A home warranty is a checkbox in the contract too, and who pays for it is negotiable.

Where some of the money can come back

Two places. First, seller concessions. The contract lets the seller credit you a percent of the price or a set dollar amount toward any of your costs, including your agent’s fee, as far as your lender allows. Second, the seller can agree to pay your agent directly on a separate one-page addendum, and that sits on top of any concessions, not inside them. We ask for both in the offer, not after.

What the sheet does

Nothing here is a reason not to buy. It’s a reason to see the whole number before you see the house. Put the five costs next to the price, add the two places money can come back, and you have your real number. Run it once and you will not look at a listing price the same way again.

If you want the sheet for a specific price range, text me the number and I’ll send it.