Sell a Fire Damaged House in Barrio Viejo, Armory Park, Dunbar Spring or Sam Hughes

Adobe Does Not Burn, Which Is Only Half the Story

An adobe wall is earth. It has no fuel in it and a fire that consumes every timber in a building can leave the walls standing and structurally intact.

What fire does to adobe instead is indirect: heat drives moisture out and can cause spalling and cracking, roof collapse loads the walls in ways they were never designed for, and the water used to extinguish the fire is absorbed by a material that is vulnerable to exactly that.

Does That Make the House Repairable?

Frequently, and frequently more so than a general inspector will tell you. The problem is that an assessment written by somebody whose experience is timber-framed housing tends to record the walls as fire-damaged and stop there. Adobe repair is a specialism, and Tucson has people who do it. On a historic property in one of these neighbourhoods, getting the right opinion is the difference between a repair and a demolition, and those are very different numbers.

Which Matters Because of the Loan Question

If the walls stand and the property is repairable, the equity picture is entirely different from a total loss. That in turn changes whether the anti-deficiency question on this site ever arises at all.

The framework is on our page covering anti-deficiency protection and the word utilized, and the honest sequence is to establish what survived before deciding anything about the loan.

Do Lot Sizes Cause a Problem Here?

Almost never. Parcels in the barrios and around Sam Hughes are small, so the two and one-half acre limit in section 33-814(G) is not in play in the way it is further out. The one and two family limb is worth a thought where a property has been divided into more units over the years, which happened to a fair amount of this stock. The recorded position and the actual configuration do not always match, and it is the sort of thing worth confirming.

We publish no structural assessments, anti-deficiency positions or values for individual central Tucson properties. A qualified engineer, an Arizona lawyer and local sale evidence answer those.

Historic Designation Adds a Layer

Several of these neighbourhoods sit within historic districts, which affects what a rebuild or a substantial repair may look like and what approvals it needs.

It also affects value in both directions, and a buyer unfamiliar with the districts will price the uncertainty rather than the property. Establishing whether the parcel is within one is a single check and worth doing early.

Values Have Moved a Long Way

Parts of central Tucson have appreciated substantially, and the gap between a damaged and a repaired property is wider than owners who bought decades ago assume.

Get the finished value from an agent with no interest in the outcome before treating any offer as reasonable, ours included.

Central Tucson in Context

Where the parcel size question becomes live, see our page about the Catalina Foothills. Where a separate municipality changes the practicalities, see our page for South Tucson and the south side.

The Sections Behind an Arizona Loan Question

A.R.S. section 33-814(G) blocks a deficiency action after a trustee's sale of trust property of 2 and one-half acres or less, limited to and utilized for a single 1-family or 2-family dwelling. Section 33-729(A) covers judicial foreclosure of a purchase money mortgage.

Subsection (H), added in 2014 and applying to deeds of trust originating on or after 1 January 2015, excludes 3 categories including property never used as a dwelling.

Statutory References for This Page

The governing provisions are sections 33-814 and 33-729 of the Arizona Revised Statutes. Section 33-814(G) blocks a deficiency action after a trustee's sale; section 33-729(A) covers judicial foreclosure of a purchase money mortgage.

Section 33-814(H) was added by a 2014 amendment applying to deeds of trust originating on or after 1 January 2015, and not to those originating on or before 31 December 2014. BMO Harris Bank, N.A. v. Wildwood Creek Ranch, LLC, 236 Ariz. 363, was decided on 23 January 2015.

Central Tucson Questions

The Inspector Says the Walls Are Damaged.

Ask whether they have assessed adobe before. It is a specialism and a general opinion frequently understates what can be retained.

Am I in a Historic District?

Worth confirming from the city record early, because it affects what a rebuild has to satisfy.

Will You Buy in Barrio Viejo or Armory Park?

Yes, and where the adobe stood we will often tell you a proper repair beats selling.

Sell a Fire Damaged House in Central Tucson and the Barrios