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Empire Title Agency

A Division of Stewart Title Company

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Marketing Tools
- Earnest Money Deposit Tool
News
About Us

Knowledge Base

Buying a Home

26

Determining Your Housing Needs
Start the Home-Buying Process!
Am I Ready to Buy?
How Lenders Decide Your Maximum Loan
Purchasing VS Renting a Home
Do I Need a Lawyer to Buy?
Why Use a Realtor?
How to Pick Your Community
Learn Your Community Resources
Walkthrough – What to Look For
Keeping Track of Homes
What to Ask When Looking at Homes
Older VS Newer Homes
What If You Feel Excluded?
Determining Property Tax Risks
Key Issues Before Buying a Home
Determining Your Initial Offer
How to Make an Offer
What is Earnest Money?
What is an Inspection Clause?
What Do Home Inspectors Do?
Do I Need to Be There for Inspection?
Final Walkthrough Warnings
Should I Use a Real Estate Agent?
Should I Use an Attorney?
Advantages of Home Ownership

Closing

12

What is Escrow?
Closing Costs Explained Visually
Title Insurance Explained Visually
What Are Real Estate Commissions?
What Happens on Closing Day?
What Do I Get At Closing?
What Makes Up Closing Costs?
Explanation of the Title Commitment
Why Do I Need Title Insurance
Title Policy Coverage Comparison
The Life of an Escrow
Closing Costs – Who Pays What

Construction

9

What Are Builders Incentives?
What is a Decorating Allowance?
Is a Builder’s Preferred Lender the Best Choice?
What is the Punch List?
What Are Construction Perm Loans?
Comparing Production VS Custom Builders
Should I Use a Real Estate Agent?
Should I Use an Attorney?
Comparing New Home Builders

Credit Scores

4

What is a Credit Score?
Find Your Credit History
Improving Your Credit Score
Fixing Credit History Errors

Federal Programs

13

How Can the FHA Help?
What Are the Steps in FHA Loans?
Credit History and The FHA
FHA Debt-to-Income Ratios
Are FHA Loans Assumable?
Lower FHA Mortgage Premiums
What is the FHA Loan Limit?
What Qualifies as Income for FHA?
If You Fall Behind on an FHA Loan…
About FHA Closing Costs
About 203(b) and 203(k) FHA Loans
What is HUD?
How Does HUD Help?

Financing

14

Key Steps to Secure Your Loan
What is Debt-to-Income?
Pre-Qualifying VS Pre-Approval
Ability-to-Repay Exemptions
Lending Process DOs and DON’Ts
After Your Loan Application…
Choosing Your Lender
Choosing Your Home Loan
How to Compare Loans
Understanding Loan Fees
What is a Good Faith Estimate?
What Is RESPA?
What is an Appraisal?
Removing PMI From Loans

Insurance

6

Do I Need Homeowners Insurance?
Lower Your Homeowners Insurance Costs
Powerlines – Health Hazard?
LEAD in Homes!
What About Flood Plains?
What Are Home Warranties?

Loans

27

What Lenders Must Disclose
Loans Covered by TRID Disclosures
Loans NOT Covered by TRID Disclosures
6 Required Pieces of Information for TRID Loan Application
Can Lenders Request More Information?
Do Lenders HAVE to Approve in 3 Days?
What is a ‘Business Day’?
How Long Do Lenders Keep My Records?
What Does the Loan Estimate Tell You?
Could My Loan Exceed the Estimate?
Refunds – If Your Loan Exceeds Your Estimate
Can Creditors Revise Loan Estimates?
Can My Settlement Charges Change?
When Do I Get My Closing Disclosure?
Loan Estimates – Terms, Payments, Closing
Loan Estimates – Loan Costs
Loan Estimates – Services You Can’t Shop
Loan Estimates – Services You CAN Shop
Loan Estimates – Other Costs
Calculating Your Cash to Close
Understanding Loan Estimate Comparisons
Your Rights for Closing Disclosures
Closing Disclosures – Understanding Page 1
Closing Disclosures – Closing Costs
Closing Disclosures – Understanding Summaries
Closing Disclosures – Important Additions
Loan Estimate Described

Mortgages

21

What is a Rate Lock?
What is a Mortgage?
What is a Qualified Mortgage?
What is Loan-To-Value (LTV)?
How Large a Down Payment Do I Need?
What is Ability to Repay?
First-Time Mortgages?
The Main Types of Mortgages
When Do Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) Make Sense?
How Interest Affects Mortgages
What If Interest Rates Fall?
Fixed-Rate Mortgage Advantages
Key Factors in Mortgage Payments
What Does a Mortgage Cover?
What Are Discount Points?
What is Mortgage Insurance?
What is PMI?
What is Prime?
What is Equity?
Can I Pay Off Early?
If You Fall Behind on Your Home Loan…

Selling a Home

18

Improving Your Home’s Value
Making Your Home Ready to Sell
Preparing for Internet Showing
Home Sales Tips – Prepping the Inside
Home Sales Tips – Prepping the Outside
How Do I Evaluate an Offer?
What is a Counter-Offer?
Closing Meetings for Sellers
The Closing Process for Home Sellers
For Sale By Owner?
When Should I Sell?
6 Home-Selling Mistakes
How Do I Select a Broker?
What Can I Ask Brokers?
Calculating Your Asking Price
Setting Your Price
Which Square Footage Figure?
How Is a Home Marketed?

Useful Links

11

CFPB Home Loan Toolkit
Arizona Area Codes
Moving Checklists
Average Weight of Common Household Furniture
Loan Estimate Described
News & Information
County Sites
Real Estate Associations
Websites for Arizona Cities
Local Utilities
Additional Resources

VA Loans

10

What Are VA Loans?
Major VA Loan Types
What is the VA COE?
VA Funding Fee Exempt?
Understanding Joint VA Loans
VA Loans and Your Discharge
VA Loans – More Than Once?
VA Loans – For Rentals?
VA Loans – For Farms?
VA Loans and Divorce

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Arizona General Contractors
AGC of America
Arizona Dept. of Transportation
League of Arizona Cities and Towns
Statistical Resources
US Census Bureau
Great Schools
AZ Department of Education

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Updated on November 20, 2023

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3131 East Camelback Rd, Suite 125
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Mon - Fri 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
(602) 749-7000
(602) 674-3418

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