Questions We Get Asked

Because it decides most of the figure. Surviving masonry walls give a buyer a structural shell to build inside, which removes the demolition, the county dust permit, the asbestos notification and much of the structural rebuild. Frame construction with heat-damaged trusses offers none of that.

Not necessarily. Heat and firefighting water can affect masonry and mortar invisibly. That is a structural engineer's assessment, and it is the highest-return spend available to a seller here because it converts the largest unknown into a known.

Common in the newer cities. The stucco is a finish rather than a structure, so the questions become the roof trusses and the framing, and engineered assemblies exposed to heat are replaced whole rather than repaired.

The county assessor's parcel record gives the year built and often the construction type, free. Older Valley housing skews masonry; anything from the 1980s onward skews frame.

Three approvals rather than one. A city demolition permit, a Maricopa County dust control permit under Rule 310, and an asbestos NESHAP notification lodged at least 10 business days before work begins. The county has up to 14 days to process the dust permit.

Yes. The permit is required specifically for the demolition of buildings, separately from the tenth-of-an-acre disturbance threshold that catches earthmoving and site work.

The notification requirement runs through the county and rests on a certified inspector's determination rather than the building's age. Do not accept a demolition quote that leaves it out, because the schedule depends on it.

No. All three are costs and calendar time a buyer prices in. Doing it yourself means paying retail for something valued at wholesale.

There is none. The state constitution bars any tax, fee or stamp on conveying real property. The recorder collects a flat $2 transfer fee on the deed plus an ordinary recording fee, typically $15 to $30.

A sworn statement appended to the deed reporting the sale price, the relationship of the parties and the intended use. The recorder will refuse to record a deed without a complete one, and failing to complete and attest it is a class 2 misdemeanor.

Yes, and it cuts both ways. It also lets you see what any buyer paid for their previous purchases, which is a better verification tool than most states offer.

The date the contract was signed, not the date escrow closed. The figure is meant to reflect market conditions when the deal was negotiated, and on a distressed sale those can be weeks apart.

Yes. Who keeps the proceeds is a negotiated term rather than a legal barrier. Tell any buyer at the outset; one who suggests concealing it from your carrier has told you something useful.

Acknowledge within 10 working days, reply to pertinent communications within 10 working days, complete the investigation within 30 days of notification, and accept or deny within 15 working days of properly executed proofs of loss, with written reasons for any extension and a further letter every 45 days.

Not on the rule itself, which creates no private right of action. Arizona's leverage sits in a separate common law bad faith claim, and a documented record of missed deadlines is evidence supporting it. Keep dates and take advice.

Six years from denial under the statute, but policies may shorten it to as little as one year after the loss and many do. Read your own policy rather than assuming the statutory period.

That costs real money here. Summer heat and monsoon rain into an open roof compound quickly, and vacant fire-damaged structures are expensive to insure. Boarding and fencing usually pays for itself if a decision is weeks away.

Arizona has no mandatory statutory form, but the common law duty to disclose known material facts a buyer would not discover applies regardless, and an as-is clause does not remove it.

The estate has to be able to convey. Arizona has routes that do not always require full probate depending on the situation, but each takes time and none starts until somebody begins it.

Then the question is who has authority to sell under the trust instrument. Worth establishing early, because it is a common cause of a deal stalling at escrow.