What to fix and what to leave before selling a home in Scottsdale or Phoenix

This isn’t construction advice. The disclosure form and contract you sign control. Ask a real estate attorney about your legal duties, and a licensed contractor about the work itself.

Start with what you already know

Most Arizona sellers complete a Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement (SPDS), which asks about the property and its condition. Answer it from what you know, and ask your agent or an attorney whether a past problem you’ve repaired still belongs on it. Keep invoices, permits and warranties together for the buyer.

A pre-listing inspection can show you problems before a buyer’s inspector does, and give you time to get bids. But once you know about a defect, it’s something you know when you fill out the disclosure. Ask your agent or an attorney how to handle anything it finds, and expect your agent to be bound too: a licensee must disclose in writing to the other parties any known adverse material fact or material defect in the property (A.A.C. R4-28-1101(B)).

Usually worth fixing

Focus first on things that don’t work, and on what the Buyer Advisory tells buyers to investigate.

• Anything broken. Cooling, heating, plumbing, electrical and built-in appliances. A known failure can come back as a repair request after a buyer’s inspection anyway.
• The roof, if it needs it. The Buyer Advisory recommends a roof inspection for a roof 10 years old or older, so expect a buyer to look. Agents in the 2025 NAR report suggested a new roof “if necessary”.
• The pool and spa. A general inspector may exclude them, so buyers often order a separate inspection. Get equipment leaks and failures looked at first.
• Evidence of termites. Buyers commonly order a wood-destroying insect report. If you’ve had treatment, find the records.
• Open HOA violations. Arizona’s resale disclosure must list any outstanding and unresolved violation cited against the property (A.R.S. § 33-1806), so it’s better to close them out before the package goes to a buyer.
• Paint. Agents in the same report most often recommended painting the whole home or at least one room.

Usually worth leaving

• Large remodels done only for the sale. The 2025 Remodeling Impact Report estimates how much of a project’s cost is recovered at resale. These are national estimates, not local results, and not a promise for any home:

Project	Estimated cost recovered
New steel front door	100%
Closet renovation	83%
New fiberglass front door	80%
New vinyl windows	74%
Complete kitchen renovation	60%
Minor kitchen upgrade	60%
Bathroom addition	56%
New primary suite	54%
Bathroom renovation	50%

• Choices of taste. A buyer planning a rebuild or a remodel may redo finishes anyway. In areas with many remodels and rebuilds, such as Paradise Valley and Arcadia, ask whether the likely value is in the home, the lot or both before spending.
• Work you can’t finish properly before listing. A half-done project usually raises more questions than the original condition.
• Items you’d rather negotiate. A buyer may ask you to address items after an inspection, and you can respond then. Sometimes negotiating is simpler than doing the work under a deadline.

Never cover up a problem to get past a showing. Painting over a stain doesn’t change what you know about the leak.

Arizona rules to check before work starts

Contractor licensing. Arizona’s exemption for small jobs covers work under $1,000 in total, labor and materials together, only when no building permit is required, and the person’s advertising has to say “not a licensed contractor” (A.R.S. § 32-1121). Past that, hire a licensed contractor and check the license with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors.

Doing the work yourself. The statute’s exemption for owners covers structures that aren’t intended for sale or rent. In most legal actions, a sale or an offer within a year of completion is treated as evidence that the work was for sale, though that doesn’t apply in an action against an owner-occupant as the statute defines one. If you’re planning owner-built work before listing, ask an attorney how this applies.

Permits. Ask the city or town before structural, electrical, plumbing or pool work. Buyers may check for permits on past additions, walls and patio covers, and missing ones can come up during the sale.

Homes built before 1978. Anyone paid to disturb paint in a pre-1978 home generally has to be a lead-safe certified firm under EPA’s rule, and that includes sole proprietors. Many of Arcadia’s mid-century ranch homes and some of McCormick Ranch’s 1970s homes may fall under it, depending on the year built. Federal law also requires a lead-based paint disclosure when selling a pre-1978 home.

Local rules that change the list

• HOAs and master plans. Exterior paint, landscaping and walls may need architectural approval in communities with CC&Rs, which are common in North Scottsdale, Silverleaf and McCormick Ranch. Read them before the crew arrives.
• Scottsdale’s natural open space. In the Environmentally Sensitive Lands overlay, which covers 134 square miles of desert and mountain areas of Scottsdale, part of each property is permanently preserved as Natural Area Open Space (NAOS). Don’t tidy it up for photos: the City requires approval before modifying a dedicated NAOS area, and its Fire Department says not to remove live native plants there. Dead grass and other flash fuels are different, but check first.
• Paradise Valley hillside lots. The Town’s Hillside Building Committee reviews building and remodeling on hillside lots, down to paint colors, lighting, walls and landscaping, so a pre-sale repaint may need more than a phone call to a painter.
• Irrigated lots. Some Phoenix-area lots get flood irrigation, and SRP says water share rights stay with the land. Arcadia has irrigated lots, so ask whether a specific one has it. Keep the berms working, and have the provider, schedule and any district details ready for a buyer.

A simple order of work

1. Walk the home with your agent and list what’s broken, what’s dated and what’s fine.
2. Gather the records: permits, invoices, warranties, HOA documents and past inspection reports.
3. Fix what’s broken and close out any violations.
4. Get bids before deciding on anything larger, and compare the cost with what the home’s comparable recent sales suggest.
5. Paint, clean and photograph last.

The Selling with Aaron page covers how this fits into pricing and listing, and the area pages describe each area’s homes and HOAs. To walk through your own home, book a consultation.