Arizona For Sale by Owner FAQs: Laws & Requirements

Yes. A.R.S. Section 32-2121(A)(1) exempts an owner selling the owner's own property from Arizona's real estate licensing requirements. You may sell your own home, your trust's home, or your LLC's home without a license and without an agent.

Not lawfully, in most cases. The Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract is a copyrighted Arizona REALTORS® form licensed to association members. It is not a public form. Article 26, Section 1 of the Arizona Constitution gives licensed brokers and salespeople the right to fill out real estate instruments, but that right belongs to the licensee. Without one in your deal, your lawful options are to draft the contract yourself or to hire an Arizona attorney.

No. Escrow is a neutral stakeholder. It will prepare escrow instructions, the settlement statement, and often the deed, but it will not draft your purchase contract and will not advise you on whether the terms are good for you.

No. A.R.S. Section 44-101, Arizona's statute of frauds, makes an agreement for the sale of real property unenforceable unless it is in writing and signed by the party to be charged.

Yes. The Arizona Electronic Transactions Act, A.R.S. Section 44-7001 and following, makes electronic signatures enforceable. The deed is different: it must be signed, notarized, and recorded.

Almost certainly yes. Arizona is a community property state and A.R.S. Section 25-214(C) requires both spouses to join in any transaction disposing of an interest in community real property. Escrow will generally require the non-titled spouse to sign the deed or a disclaimer deed regardless.

Enough that walking away costs the buyer something real. One percent of the purchase price is a common floor and more is better. Just as important as the amount is a contract that says clearly when the deposit stops being refundable.

Ten days is reasonable and fifteen is common. Anything approaching thirty days gives the buyer a free option on your house while you are off the market.

No. As-is means you will not repair. It does not eliminate your duty under Arizona law to disclose known material facts affecting value that the buyer cannot reasonably discover. No Arizona court reads an as-is clause as a license to conceal.

Under Hill v. Jones, 151 Ariz. 81, 725 P.2d 1115 (App. 1986), you must disclose facts you know that materially affect the value of the property and that are not reasonably discoverable by the buyer. In practice that includes roof leaks, water intrusion, foundation movement, termite history, mold, unpermitted work, boundary and easement problems, HOA violations, septic and well issues, and litigation involving the property.

No Arizona statute requires it. The SPDS is an Arizona REALTORS® form. But completing a thorough written disclosure and getting the buyer's signed acknowledgment is the single best protection you have against a later claim, so do it anyway.

No. A.R.S. Section 32-2156 provides that no criminal, civil, or administrative action may be brought against a seller for failing to disclose that the property was the site of a natural death, suicide, homicide, or any felony, that a prior occupant had a disease not transmitted by occupancy, or that the property is near a registered sex offender. You may not lie if asked directly, and physical damage or contamination is still disclosable.

Federal law, 42 U.S.C. Section 4852d, requires you to disclose known lead-based paint and hazards, provide any related records and reports, give the buyer the EPA pamphlet, allow a 10-day period for a lead inspection unless the parties agree otherwise in writing, and include the signed disclosure language in the contract. Knowing violations expose you to treble damages.

A.R.S. Section 36-1681 requires the seller of a dwelling with a contained body of water to give the buyer a pool safety notice approved by the Arizona Department of Health Services. The same statute sets the barrier requirements, including a five-foot barrier with no opening a four-inch sphere can pass through and self-closing, self-latching gates that open outward from the pool.

The seller must have the onsite wastewater system inspected within six months before the transfer and must give the buyer the Report of Inspection along with the system's permitting and maintenance records. The buyer must file a Notice of Transfer with the applicable authority and pay the fee within 15 calendar days after closing. Schedule the inspection early.

A.R.S. Section 33-422 applies to a seller of five or fewer parcels of land, other than subdivided land, in an unincorporated area of an Arizona county. You must furnish the statutory Affidavit of Disclosure at least seven days before transfer, the buyer may rescind the sale for five days after receiving it, and you must record the executed affidavit at the same time the deed is recorded.

Under A.R.S. Section 33-1806 for planned communities and A.R.S. Section 33-1260 for condominiums, the seller must furnish the buyer, within ten days of written notice of the pending sale, the declaration, bylaws and rules, a dated statement of assessments and violations, the current operating budget, the most recent annual financial report, the most recent reserve study if any, and a summary of pending litigation. The association may charge a resale disclosure fee of up to $400, a rush fee of up to $100, and an update fee of up to $50, all collected no earlier than close of escrow.

Most Arizona sellers should sign a special warranty deed, which warrants title only against defects arising during your ownership. A general warranty deed warrants against defects from any period, including before you owned the property. A quitclaim deed gives the buyer no warranty at all and buyers and lenders usually refuse it in an arm's-length sale.

A.R.S. Section 11-1133 requires an Affidavit of Property Value, in the form approved by the Arizona Department of Revenue, to be appended to the deed at recording. It is signed jointly by the seller and buyer or their agents. The county recorder must refuse to record the deed without it unless an exemption under A.R.S. Section 11-1134 is noted on the instrument.

No. Article 9, Section 24 of the Arizona Constitution prohibits the state and any county, city, or other political subdivision from imposing a new tax on the sale or transfer of real property. You will still pay a flat recording fee.

Everything is negotiable and the contract controls. Common Arizona practice is that the seller pays for the owner's title insurance policy, escrow fees are split, the buyer pays the lender's title policy and loan costs, and HOA transfer and disclosure fees are allocated by agreement. Property taxes and HOA dues are prorated to the closing date.

Possibly not. IRC Section 121 excludes up to $250,000 of gain for an individual and $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly if you owned and used the home as your principal residence for two of the five years before the sale and have not used the exclusion in the prior two years. Gain above the exclusion, and depreciation recapture if the home was ever a rental, is taxable. Talk to your CPA before you sign.

FIRPTA requires a buyer to withhold 15 percent of the amount realized when purchasing U.S. real property from a foreign person. If you are a U.S. person, you sign a certification of non-foreign status and no withholding occurs. There is no withholding when the price is $300,000 or less and the buyer will use the property as a residence, and a reduced 10 percent rate applies from $300,000 to $1,000,000 for a residence purchase.

Be very careful. Seller financing of a residence implicates the federal loan originator and ability-to-repay rules under Regulation Z, and Arizona's anti-deficiency statute, A.R.S. Section 33-814(G), means that if the buyer defaults on a dwelling on two and one-half acres or less, you take the house back and cannot obtain a deficiency judgment. KEYTLaw does not represent sellers who finance any part of the purchase price.

Yes. The trustee signs the contract and the deed in that capacity, and escrow will require a certification of trust confirming the trust's existence and the trustee's authority to sell. Have the trust documents in hand before you list.

Yes. The LLC is the seller and a member or manager with authority signs. Escrow will want the Operating Agreement, a written consent or resolution approving the sale, and confirmation the LLC is in good standing with the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Only if someone has legal authority. If the home was in a trust, the successor trustee sells. If it was in the decedent's individual name, a personal representative must generally be appointed through probate and a personal representative's deed is used. Establish authority before signing a contract.

You do not have to do either. Since the industry-wide compensation changes that took effect in August 2024, buyer-broker compensation is negotiated separately. If you agree to pay a buyer's agent, do it in a separate written compensation agreement signed before any showing, and read every word of any document an agent asks you to sign.

Never accept wire instructions or a change to wire instructions by email. Call your escrow officer at a phone number you obtained independently, not one contained in the email, and verify the account details verbally before any funds move. Stolen wires are usually unrecoverable.

The flat fee is $2,497 for the purchase and sale agreement, special warranty deed, FIRPTA affidavit, and Affidavit of Property Value, with standard preparation in about one week. Expedited two-business-day preparation is $297 more. Buyers may add title commitment review and correspondence with the seller for $375. Fees are paid in advance and are nonrefundable. See the current terms at keytlaw.com/arizona-fsbo-contract-preparation.

Submit the engagement agreement and fee at keytlaw.com/arizona-fsbo-contract-preparation, then complete the Arizona Home Purchase & Sale Questionnaire. If you would rather talk it through first, call Richard Keyt at 480-664-7478. Book a free office, phone or Zoom video consultation using our online calendar.