An updated "Buyer Advisory"
brochure is now available from
the Arizona Department of Real
Estate. It can be viewed and printed
from the Department's web site
(in "PDF" format), at
www.re.state.az.us/consumer.html
(on that page, you will need to
scroll down to the heading "Buyer
Advisory"). The Advisory
is an eight-page document that
is chock full of information for
a prospective buyer of any type
of real estate, but particularly
for someone looking to purchase
a residence.
The Advisory walks the prospective
buyer through a number of commonly
available documents that should
be reviewed, conditions on the
property that should be investigated,
and conditions in the neighborhood
that should be checked out. These
steps should of course be taken
either before the prospective
buyer makes an offer to buy the
property, or during the "contingency
period," which is a period
after signing a purchase contract
and before the buyer is obligated
to complete the purchase.
Anyone who is considering buying
property should always make sure
the purchase contract provides
for a contingency period. A contingency
period can be as long or as short
as the buyer and the seller agree.
The buyer should always see to
it that the contingency period
is long enough to allow the buyer
to completely investigate the
property, obtain financing, and
take whatever other steps may
be necessary to be sure that the
property will suit the buyer's
needs.
The Advisory also contains numerous
links to other sources of on-line
information, including sample
forms, and suggests other methods
to obtain information about the
property. The list is by no means
exhaustive, but does give a number
of potentially valuable leads
to other sources of information
on various aspects of evaluating
the property.
The Advisory recommends that
prospective buyers obtain a professional
home inspection and seek professional
advice if any questions arise.
This is always a sound practice,
although in my experience the
value of a professional home inspection
is directly affected by the skill
and diligence of the inspector.
Some inspectors are definitely
better than others.
One of the most talked-about
and perhaps least-understood aspects
of residential real estate these
days, the seemingly ubiquitous
homeowners' association, is also
addressed in the Advisory, although
not in any great detail. Since
there are a number of proposed
changes to homeowners' association
law pending in the current session
of the Arizona Legislature, I
expect that this particular section
of the Advisory may need to be
updated later this year.
Another hot topic mentioned in
the Advisory is the cactus ferruginous
pygmy owl. Unfortunately, the
Advisory says only that the owl's
"critical habitat... may
affect land use in certain areas,"
which is not a correct statement
today or as of December, 2003,
when the Advisory was updated.
As far as I know, the U. S. Fish
and Wildlife Service has not designated
new "critical habitat"
for the pygmy owl since the previous
version was declared invalid by
the federal courts over two years
ago. The Advisory then provides
links to two web pages containing
similarly outdated information.
The Advisory is designed to be
distributed by real estate brokers
and salespersons who are working
with prospective buyers to locate
available properties. That doesn't
mean that you have to be working
with a broker or salesperson to
use it, however. The Advisory
is a very useful source of information
for any prospective buyer of real
estate.
