Considering moving to Maricopa... looking for info. (Mesa, Chandler: rentals, violent crime)

[momofonegirl]

My hubby and I are planning on buying a new home in the next few months and my husband has his heart set on Maricopa because we can get a big home for a great price.

But after reading up I am starting to get concerned. I've driven through on our way to rocky point and it always seems like a nice town. Clean and new. But I was looking for some input on people who live there or have experience with the area.

We are really just looking for a place to buy a house where we can raise our family. I grew up in NYC and I'm over being a city girl. Looking for something smaller to raise our daughter.

Also, how are the schools? and what is the deal with the cow smell i keep hearing about? how bad is it? is it all the time? that itself might be a deal breaker for me.

Right now we live in Mesa... I wouldn't mind buying in Gilbert, but like i said.. my husband wants as much as he can get for the money and he thinks maricopa is the best bet.
Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Ritchie_az]

Not sure what your price range is. I'd get pre-qualified... let the bank tell you what you can afford, and then try to get a house for 10k-20k under that.
Once you know what you are pre-qualified for, then start looking for a home. You may see that you can get a home in Maricopa for--say--90k, but if you spend 110k over there (where ever "there" is) you can be in an area you'll be more happy in. That's not to say you won't or can't be happy in Maricopa, but if it is simply the price of homes driving you there, you may find yourself less happy than you could be somewhere else.
My personal story is that I was looking (about 5-6 months ago) at homes in Buckeye, because you could get so much "home" for so little money. Thankfully, I broadened my search, and found that if I paid 30k more, I could live in a wonderful master-planned community in Goodyear called Estrella. I couldn't be more happy with that decision. That's not to say that I wouldn't have been happy in Buckeye--I'm sure I would have been--but I think where I ended up is a better location for me.
I hope this helps somehow.

[asufan]

Not an expert on Maricopa, but some things to consider are that utilities are much higher in Maricopa (so say some of the posters here), and so can be the commute expenses. This could easily offset any savings on house price. The schools in Maricopa are generally not considered to be as good as those in other suburbs. Lots of vacant homes means you may not have much of a feel of "community".

I would much rather have a smaller house in a desirable area than a very large house in a less desirable area. But that's just my personal preference.

[observer53]

Schools not nearly as good as in the southeast Valley (Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe), commuting expense (and time) high, especially if gas goes up again. Only one way in and out of town from the Valley. I have family there, and have been stuck on that road during evening rush hour in awful traffic.

The schools were starting to get better until the demographics of the town started to change with the cheap rentals and home prices. A lot of neighborhoods are not what they used to be. My relatives are moving from one neighborhood to another, both to get out of the neighborhood and get out of a home they will never live in long enough to get right side up, and into a larger home than the one they have, at a reasonable price.

[JSizzle225]

Please do not move here, it will ruin your life. I lived there, and yes, it ruined that portion of my life.

1) Houses are not any cheaper than they would be in the other "outskirt" suburbs. I don't know much about Surprise, Buckeye or Queen Creek, but if you are dead set on a really cheaply built house research those areas first.

2) Housing is dirt cheap everywhere. If you do your homework you can get a really awesome deal in Gilbert or Chandler.

3) The utilities are awful. In July I had an electric bill of $370. I thought I used a lot of energy, so when I called a friend in Chandler, with SRP, he actually used 20 kilo watt hours more and had a bill of $160. Water will be $60 at a minimum. Everywhere else is like $12.

4) The schools are awful. They will demand that your children be drugged with Ritalin before they even allow them into a classroom.

5) The cheap rentals brought graffiti and petty crime. I don't know if that will translate to violent crime or not.

6) There is one road in and out of town. If there is so much as a traffic stop, traffic will crawl to a near halt.

7) That road is in terrible condition. Change your tires every 10,000 miles or you'll blow out.

8) There is nowhere to eat or hang out. Be prepared to gain 20 lbs from eating fast food, unless you want to cook every night.

9) The people in town are miserable losers. It has a small town feel to it, and it's just awful. Your neighbors will do everything they can to get in your business.

10) Go exactly the speed limit at all times and never even slightly roll through a stop sign. If you do MPD will pull you over and harass you.

11) Say goodbye to your friends. They won't visit you out there.

12) Dust. Stink. I've never been in an area that had more dust, nor stunk worse, in my entire life.

The only thing Maricopa is good for is maybe stopping at when you are driving through to Rocky Point.

[mattpresley]

Originally Posted by JSizzle225

Please do not move here, it will ruin your life. I lived there, and yes, it ruined that portion of my life.

1) Houses are not any cheaper than they would be in the other "outskirt" suburbs. I don't know much about Surprise, Buckeye or Queen Creek, but if you are dead set on a really cheaply built house research those areas first.

2) Housing is dirt cheap everywhere. If you do your homework you can get a really awesome deal in Gilbert or Chandler.

3) The utilities are awful. In July I had an electric bill of $370. I thought I used a lot of energy, so when I called a friend in Chandler, with SRP, he actually used 20 kilo watt hours more and had a bill of $160. Water will be $60 at a minimum. Everywhere else is like $12.

4) The schools are awful. They will demand that your children be drugged with Ritalin before they even allow them into a classroom.

5) The cheap rentals brought graffiti and petty crime. I don't know if that will translate to violent crime or not.

6) There is one road in and out of town. If there is so much as a traffic stop, traffic will crawl to a near halt.

7) That road is in terrible condition. Change your tires every 10,000 miles or you'll blow out.

8) There is nowhere to eat or hang out. Be prepared to gain 20 lbs from eating fast food, unless you want to cook every night.

9) The people in town are miserable losers. It has a small town feel to it, and it's just awful. Your neighbors will do everything they can to get in your business.

10) Go exactly the speed limit at all times and never even slightly roll through a stop sign. If you do MPD will pull you over and harass you.

11) Say goodbye to your friends. They won't visit you out there.

12) Dust. Stink. I've never been in an area that had more dust, nor stunk worse, in my entire life.

The only thing Maricopa is good for is maybe stopping at when you are driving through to Rocky Point.

aaarg Im not a big fan of the desert in general(miss San Diego) but I love the country feel of maricopa, and the nice new freshness is great too.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by mattpresley

aaarg Im not a big fan of the desert in general(miss San Diego) but I love the country feel of maricopa, and the nice new freshness is great too.

But you don't live there. Do you know people who do, or did?

[mattpresley]

I got quite a few good friends there. I was actively searching to buy a house there until I decided to rent and brave the recession with moving back to san diego in mind

[RedRockAZ]

JSizzle225 info is incorrect in many areas.

We moved to Maricopa in March 2009 from Denver & have been very happy. The biggest problem has been the 'cow smell', but most of the cows are leaving town by end of 2010.

1) Comparable homes in Chandler / Gilbert run approx $100K more. You can do a lot of driving for this amount of money.

3) Utilities are more expensive, but no more expensive than Queen Creek or Buckeye, i.e. any recently developed town.

4) Huh??

5) Not true. Most neighborhoods are in very good condition.

6) Common complaint, which I find very idiotic. Hwy 347 shuts down due to accidents approx once every 1-2 months. This does cause commuting delays. However, the rest of the time, you are cruising at 70 mph. I would rather have 29 out of 30 days with 20 min commute & 1 of 30 with 1 hr commute, than have a daily commute of 45-60min that you would have in east Gilbert / Queen Creek. Those commutes are terrible. Of course, this depends on where you are driving to.

7) Road is in great condition. He doesn't know what he is talking about.

8) Correct on this one. Not many sit-down restaurants, but Chandler is only 20-30 min away. No different in driving time than Gilbert / Queen Creek.

10) Not true. All of my tickets have come in Tempe / Chandler. No cameras or speed-trap trucks in Maricopa.

12) There is some dust, which comes from living in the desert. Stink is going away as posted above.

Overall, living in Maricopa has been very good, especially at the home prices you get out here. It really depends if you like the small town feel & quietness it gives you.

[JSizzle225]

You lived there for 9 months. I lived there for 6 years. It's obvious you are embarassed about your bad investment, but don't be delusional.

Prospective victims of Maricopa can check out this forum: http://8523mine.com/forum/index.php

And if you are still considering moving to this place, at least rent first for a year. That should be all it takes to get the itch of living in a dump out of your system.