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Top Ten Things to Know about Tucson Real Estate – Inspections and Negotiations

September 1, 2010

And the last in our series of the top 10 things to know about Tucson real estate – Inspections and Negotiations!

Everything in real estate is written, and nothing is an agreement until all parties have signed and delivered the contract to the other.  In Tucson, we use a contract provided to us by the Arizona Association of Realtors, so that we’re all using the same form and the same methods.  I know some states do negotiations and any repairs differently, so let’s go over the general process here in Tucson.

There’s actually two rounds of negotiations when you buy a home here in Tucson.  The first is the initial round, where the price and terms are hammered out.  The buyer will propose a price, a close date, an inspection length, the terms of financing, who pays for what costs, and all the other terms and submit it to the seller.  The seller can accept, reject, or counter that offer.  And that goes back and forth until either you both agree, or until one of you says no and walks away. 

Once everyone agrees and signs, typically, the buyer goes through an inspection period.  The contract usually says 10 days, I like to write in 15 days when I represent buyers.  In that interval, the buyer conducts all kinds of inspections to the property, gets a set of disclosures from the seller, and generally finds out everything they want to about the condition of the property.

Inspections are at the cost of the buyer – that’s what you pay to mitigate the risk of buying a lemon!  The seller has to have the property available to the buyer, with utilities on, and generally stays out of the way so the buyer can have a thorough look-see.

Then there’s a second round of negotiations.  When a buyer is at the end of their inspection period, or earlier if they’re ready, they’ll submit a repair request to the seller.  This request actually may have two kinds of requests – those the seller *has* to fix and those the buyer *wants* them to fix.  But that’s a more complex conversation, best saved for you and your agent based on the particulars of your individual contract.

So the seller gets this repair request and they have a time interval (usually 5 days) to respond.  They can agree to fix everything, they can say they’ll do nothing, or they can counter that repair request in any manner.  Once the Seller responds, the decision goes back to the Buyer.  According to most contracts, the buyer can pretty much either take it or leave it.  Which isn’t to say further negotiation can’t go on, it just isn’t described in the contract.

If the buyer and seller agree on repairs, then congratulations!  There’s probably still some loan processing left, and probably a couple weeks left before closing, but you’ve made it through a huge hurdle and are a whole lot closer to completing the transaction.

And that’s how negotiations and repairs work for Tucson homes!

Summary of the Top Ten Things to Know about Tucson Real Estate so Far:

• Number 1 – A/C and Evaporative (Swamp) Coolers
• Number 2 -The Tucson Military Airport Vicinity
• Number 3 – Termites Love Tucson Homes
• Number 4 – Who does my Tucson Agent represent?
• Number 5 – Flat Roofs: Types and Maintenance
• Number 6 – Basements, Radiators, and other Non-sequiturs
• Number 7 – Tucson Area Fire Districts
• Number 8 – Escrow and Closings
• Number 9 – Community Property and Other Ways to Take Title

Polybutylene and Tucson Homes. Again.

August 4, 2010

Ever had a week where you keep running up against the same topic?  Well, this is apparently polybutylene week for me and my clients.

I’ve written about polybutylene in Tucson homes before, but let’s pull out a few highlights.

• You’ll find it in houses from the late 70’s to the early 90’s.
• The stubs coming thru the wall under your sinks are not an indication of what kind of plumbing is in the house.  There can be polybutylene in the walls and stub pipes coming out of the wall be copper.  You have to look either inside the wall or crawl space in order to know for sure.
• Just because it hasn’t leaked yet doesn’t mean that it won’t in the future.  If you’re buying a home in that age range, make sure you inspect carefully for polybutylene. 
• If you’re selling your home and it has poly, know that it is even more common for buyers to demand – and get – the house re-plumbed, paid for by the seller.  Do yourself a favor and have it done before you even list the property.  At a minimum, get a couple of bids for the work so you have something in hand and are prepared should a Buyer ask for the re-plumb.

Find Utility and Service Providers at your Tucson Home

July 19, 2010

Ever wondered what utilities and services are available at your home?  Or maybe you are about to close on a new home and need to put utilities into your name.  It can be a pain to track down the service providers – until now!

Found this site called AllConnect – you enter your address and it spits out everyone who services the property.  So now you know whether Cox or Comcast provides the cable.  And if the property has City water or a different service provider.  Which is kinda sweet.

AllConnect is trying to sell you bundled services, but over on the left hand side they give you a list of the service providers.  Which makes it easy to then find and call and establish service.  Voila!

Drama and Polybutylene Pipe

June 23, 2010

There was someone on Twitter the other day upset that a buyer was going to walk away because the house she had listed had polybutylene pipe.

Conversely, here’s a house I showed this morning.  It is 21 years old.  I’ll give you one guess as to the kind of plumbing it has.  That 21st year must be the one you gotta watch out for.

Termites and Tucson Homes

May 13, 2010

Termites are pretty much a fact of life for Tucson homes.  The question isn’t *if* you’ll have termites, the question is *when.*

But don’t let that scare you too much.  Since everyone has the same problem, it isn’t alarming to find evidence of termites in a home, and we have lots of ways of dealing with termite issues.  As long as the termites haven’t been allowed to run rampant for years, things are pretty easy to fix.

I wrote about how to spot termites in your home earlier. 

With older homes, you’ll nearly always see evidence of treatment.  Have your inspector carefully check the foundation and crawl spaces overhead – even brick houses have termites.  They can come up through small cracks in the slab, especially near where the plumbing pokes through the foundation, or in-between the original house and an addition.

With newer Tucson homes, the ground under the slab was probably treated before the the slab was poured.  That treatment typically comes with a 5 year warranty – sometimes there’s record of that treatment on a sticker in the electric box, but not always.  That treatment doesn’t mean termites can’t appear in the first 5 years – it just means they’re less likely and that you have a company to call if you do find an infestation.

You can search for previous termite reports on your house at the Office of Pest Management, though online records only go back 10 years.

Best bet is to always keep your home under warranty for termites.  If you ever sell, your buyer will almost certainly demand a warranty

photo by chokingsun via Flickr, CreativeCommons

Fair Housing Rules and Racist Deed Restrictions

September 30, 2009

I was asked a question the other day:

Are real estate restrictions on race legal?

That’s a big NO.

Fair Housing Laws in Tucson

Fair Housing Laws are intended to prohibit discrimination against those looking for housing, and list several protected classes.  In Tucson, that means you can’t discriminate based on someone’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, or sexual orientation.  There are exceptions to the rule, but that’s a whole different post.

Legacy – and Racist – Deed Restrictions in Tucson Neighborhoods

Fair Housing laws started in the 1960s.  And unfortunately, when some subdivisions here in Tucson were created prior to that, the creator sometimes included restrictions against people of specific races owning or occupying property in those neighborhoods.  They often say something like:

No part of said property shall be used or occupied in whole or in part by any person of African or Asiatic descent, or by any person not of the White or Caucasian race, except such persons as may be employed thereon as domestic servants by the owners or tenants.

Which is rather ugly.  The person who asked me that question has a Chinese-American husband.  So when they read through the deed restrictions for a house they liked in a nice Central neighborhood, they were horrified.

Couple things – restrictions like that can’t be enforced, given the Fair Housing laws.  Most people don’t even read their deed restrictions, quite honestly.  And I wouldn’t assume that current residents of that neighborhood are in support of that restriction – or are even aware of it.

If you do find something like that in your deed restrictions, you can always try to get them changed.  Usually, restrictions apply to an entire community, so you’ll have to go to all of them and get agreement to change them.  If your neighborhood has an active HOA, that might be the best place to start.

More on Water Harvesting and Cisterns in Tucson

July 29, 2009

Thoughts and comments from local architect Jake Boen on Rain Water Harvesting…

Neighbors most likely are the largest obstacle on installing a cistern without stirring the pot. I doubt that many CC&Rs even discuss harvesting or cisterns but I would still check any design guidelines or architectural review that a HOA may have for any home additions or modifications. I doubt they can do much if you install this in your back yard but side yards and front yards could become problematic if you don’t submit your plans for approval first.

Permits – Yes and No.  For most cisterns a building permit will not be required but a zoning permit typically is required. The City of Tucson recently issued a memorandum for clarification of Zoning regulations regarding water harvesting cisterns. This memorandum is mandatory reading prior to planing size and placement of any cisterns within the City limits. Essentially size and height may limit placement or invoke screening requirements. Refer to the Land Use Code and: http://www.tucsonaz.gov/dsd/What_s_New/official_cistern_determination.pdf for specifics.

A few years ago I attended a 2 day regional storm water management and rainwater harvesting conference and came away with a better understanding on a lot of what to do and what not to do with water harvesting.  This includes a very important but often overlooked design aspect of how to get the water out of the cistern without clogging your shut off valve with dust and debris which will build up in the cistern.  A float and flexible inlet pipe allows debris to settle to the bottom and allows debris to build up without causing problems and allows a greater window before maintenance must be performed. This would apply to large complex designs as well as some of the simplest of cistern designs. 

Maintenance and responsibility can be an issue.  No one wants mosquito breeding.  Covers allowing water to flow in but keeping mosquitos out are important.  A foam float or thick cooler pads on a foam float can allow water to flow in but keep bugs out.  I have also seen large cisterns which utilized fish to take care of bug problems.  Other designs will pipe water directly into an enclosed design.

Some companies in town are now offering corrugated metal cisterns with a foundation pre-installed.  They are simply set on a level pad and downspouts can be installed to divert water to the cistern.  Installation doesn’t get any quicker than that.  The size is limited but one does get instant gratification and water harvesting.  

Touching on the design issue again I would recommend that clients hire a company or perform careful research on permits, sizing of cisterns, detailing of inlets and outlets, and sizing of structural foundations.  A column of water 8 feet in the air most certainly weighs a lot and should be a design concern when placing next to existing structures or on areas which do not drain well.

—

Thanks for giving us your thoughts, sir!

Rainwater Harvesting and Cisterns in Tucson Homes

July 27, 2009

Speaking of rain…

I see more and more people using rainwater harvesting techniques in homes around Tucson.  Collecting rainwater can be a good way to store some water for our dry seasons to use on your landscaping, save a little bit on that water bill.

But be careful – I met a woman the other day who helps people install rainwater harvesting systems here in Tucson and the biggest problem she runs into are neighbors who don’t like huge ugly cisterns staring at them from across the fence.  I’ve seen some really cool looking metal barrel installations though – I kind of like them, but I’m probably not your neighbor!

I found some awesome resources though, if you’re considering installing a rainwater harvesting system.  As far as I can tell, if you’re only doing rainwater collection and not gray water collection, you don’t need a permit – but I’d confirm that with some of these resources first.

The City of Tucson talks about Rain Water harvesting here, with some good general advice and links to other resources.

There’s a document with a TON of both rain water harvesting and gray water reuse information and services in Tucson here. 

And then the Watershed Management Group has a nice site with information about their programs and whatnot.  They’re a non-profit group that provides education and resources to communities trying to better manage their natural resources.  They’re having a rainwater cistern design competition through the start of September – looks like a pretty cool challenge for those build-it types.

Home Storage in Tucson – Meet the Shed

July 22, 2009

I do a good bit of business from people moving to the Tucson area from back East – whether they’re retiring or moving for a job or just buying a vacation home.  Turns out, back East, their homes have this mysterious thing called a "basement."

Not so much here in Tucson.  Our homes are largely built on slabs without basements.

Which means those nice folks from back East all of a sudden have to find space to store all their stuff when they move out here.

Newer homes tend to have garages, which can provide some decent storage opportunities.  Older homes tend to have carports, sometimes with a little storage room at the back.  But by and large, we have sheds.  This lovely specimen is one of two in my yard – one for messy tools and bikes and yard equipment, one for household goods and suitcases and random other things.  Yes, I have two.  But I don’t have a carport or any other storage other than a linen and coat closet in my house.

Sheds can vary widely.  I’ve seen some really nice structures that had a full concrete foundation and a real shingle roof, block walls, some even have power and lighting and occasionally some kind of cooling system.  And then there are some half-leaning scary corrugated metal things sitting on the dirt.

Then again, moving is an excellent opportunity to get rid of a lot of stuff most people don’t really need.  And it feels good to donate it to someone who really does.  But I’m sort of a minimalist when it comes to stuff.

Arizona Rooms and Tucson Homes

July 3, 2009

Question from my inbox from an out of town reader: What’s an Arizona Room?

An Arizona room can be a wide variety of things – it is sort of a catch-all term.  Most often, an Arizona room started life as the original patio off the back of the house, usually covered, and then someone eventually closed it in.  Sometimes, a new covered patio is added off the back of the Arizona room.

Some are enclosed with just screens, some have half walls and windows, some are actual heated and cooled living space with real walls and windows and doors.  Some are attached to the main house with a door, some have a wide open entrance.

Basically, an Arizona room is just some kind of enclosed space, most often not original to the house.

Beyond that, it can be just about anything.  They’re nice spaces, usually.  Typically there’s lots of light and they add living space that can be used year round – in the evenings during the summer after the day cools off, and a good place to bask in a sunbeam during winter.

I hear people in Florida have Florida rooms.  No clue what those are. Does each state have their own room?  Is there a Nebraska room?

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