Escrow, Inspections & Appraisal:

Your escrow began when you accepted a buyer's purchase offer and earnest money deposit. What follows is the inspection and appraisal of your property and the loan origination process for the buyer.

The Title Agency. The buyer selects a Title agency, whose job it is to examine and insure title to real estate. After researching the complete recorded history of your property, they will certify that: (1) your title is free and clear of encumbrances (eg. mortgages, leases, or restrictions) by the date of closing, and (2) all new encumbrances are duly included in the title. They will prepare a preliminary title report at the end of the process. If there are any outstanding issues, your Escrow officer will go over it with you in detail.

Contingencies. A contingency is a condition that must be met before a contract becomes legally binding. For instance, finance and appraisal contingencies are part of the Arizona Purchase Contract and therefore are held in "play" throughout the escrow process, unless otherwise removed within a Counter offer or Addendum.

Before completing his or her purchase of your property, the home buyer reviews every aspect of the property, as provided for by the purchase and sale agreement. These include:

• obtaining financing and insurance
• reviewing all pertinent documents, such as preliminary title reports, disclosure documents
• inspecting the property. The buyer has the right to determine the condition of your property by subjecting it to a wide range of inspections, such as roof, termite/pest, mechanical, property boundary survey, well, septic, pool/spa, and electrical just to name a few.

Depending on the outcome of these inspections and reviews, one of three things may happen:

1. The Buyer can accept the property as is and move on to close the sale.
2. The Buyer, after reviewing the property and the inspection report, requests a list of items to be repaired by the seller.
3. The Buyer requests to cancel the contract and a refund of their deposit.

How do you respond objectively and fairly to the buyer? What are your options at this point? This is when a professional listing agent can make a real difference in the outcome of the transaction. Having dealt with various property sales in the past, we at The Meglio Macklin Group guarantee the expertise and total commitment of our Team to every client, no matter what their situation.

Loan Approval and Appraisal. As per the Arizona Residential Purchase Contract (RPC) the buyer's lender must provide a Loan Status Report (LSR) along with the RPC when making an offer on a home, which is a better guarantee of loan approval than a pre-qualification. Expect an appraiser from the lender's company to visit the property and verify that the sales price is appropriate