What's it like in the city of Maricopa, AZ? (Phoenix: refinance, real estate)

[balderdash]

Originally Posted by uconn99

350k will buy you a condo in Arcadia, some in Tempe near mill. Are there any houses in south tempe still under 400k? Rural and Ray is a great area.

Yes, there are some houses in South Tempe that are close to $400k but under - and really nice too. We were out looking with a realtor and did see a few just West of Rural and South of Elliot. You know to go to www.realtor.com and type in zip code 85283, and 85284 - you probably won't find anything in 85284 though. Also there are some really cute houses behind Wal Mart just north of Elliot between Kyrene and Priest. Are you looking to buy a house in Tempe? Mine will be for sale in about a month, and my neighbor is going to put a sign up in about a week because his job went away. We are at Rural & Baseline North of Baseline, East of Rural. Send private message for more info if you are interested. Both houses are under $400k, I think my neighbor's will be in the low $300k. This is a perfect location if you have to commute to downtown Phx because of Express Bus routes. Also right on 202, I-10 and 3 miles from 101, a few more to 51 and I-17. You can't beat this location if you don't mind an older home with a large yard.

[valerie123]

You should check out www.85239.com it is a great website and I have met some very nice people on there and you can learn more about the town of Maricopa. There are some very nice and caring people in that town.

[balderdash]

So happy to hear a vote for Maricopa finally. I will check out that site.
Thanks for the lead.

[Maricopa Steve]

Hello All,

I moved here (Maricopa) in mid 2004, leaving north central Phoenix behind (over 8 years). Got a real good deal on over 3 1/2 acres with a 4 bed / 2 full bath home. Appraised for almost 4 times what I purchased it for, when I refinanced in 2006.

From what I see here, there are 2 kinds of homes here. One type is large chunks of land (usually 3.3 acres) with a mobile / modular or stick home, uually older (1980's or 1990's) and the other type is newer large, multi story homes on tiny lots in large new subdivisions with HOA's.

If you want the 2nd type, there are hundreds if not thousands for sale. Once the housing market slowed nation wide, the prices of these brand new houses went into a slump. Many, many are owned by out of state investors and are currently rentals, and most are for sale.

If you want the 1st type, there a few around (like my neighbor, who has 2 acres, I think), and there is another just around the corner.

There are 'help wanted' signs all over the place. Lots of shopping centers and the city just ok'ed one of the largest if not the largest shopping mall in the state. Nissan and Volkswagen test centers are here (I'm a test driver for Nissan - 12 minutes to get to work). This city is growing fast. Look up the stats on the internet - Maricopa issued more new home construction permits last year than any other city in the nation! (Thanks to all those out of state investors).

As for the dust and smell.... There is only a couple places that smell like cows - because you are driving right past a lot of cows - go figure? Dust storms are part of the central Arizona desert. They don't happen every day, more like once a month if that.

If you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen! It can get real hot here (and anywhere in central Arizona). Can get up to 100 starting in May and lasts through September (June usually the hot month). Back in the late 1990's, 1998 I think, we had 21 days in a row where the temp did NOT go below 110 - that's day or night !!! During this 21 day period they had to shut Sky Harbor Airport down because it was 121 and the planes were only tested up to 120 - same day it got to 124 in Buckeye, a little (and booming) town west of Phoenix. But keep in mind this was abnormal - usual summer time temps are 100's (100 - 110) and night time temps in the high 70's to low 80's.

The temp seems to remain higher in Phoenix than here, it really cools down once the sun goes down. In Phoenix it must be all the streets and buildings and stuff holding all the heat in and then releasing it at night.

I love the heat, fresh air, frendly folks, more stars in the sky on a moonless night, and I don't miss the gunfire at night, police helecoptor spot lights, sirens, etc. of Phoenix.

Maricopa incorporated in 2003 but has been here since the mid 1800's (Then called Maricopa Wells - ground water was, and is, plentifull) and this was the place where the steam locomotives and Pony Express folks stopped to get a big drink.

Oh yea, one more thing, we do have our own Fire Department (they keep building more and more stations) but no Police Department. The City Counsil hired a Poilice Cheif but no officers - but they are taking apps now. Currently we have a county Sheriff sub-station in town and they keep the peace just fine. === Opppsss, someone looking over my sholder just informed me that we do now have several city cop cars with offiers - sounds great to me!

If you are single and into the 'big city night life', well you won't find any of that here (go to Phoenix for that). I would say it's a great place to raise a family or retire.

Happy house hunting,
Steve

[CitizenRalston]

what about Laveen,AZ ? is this better option than
Mariocpa ? Everytime I mention Maricopa, people frown when I tell
them I am considering moving there...

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by CitizenRalston

what about Laveen,AZ ? is this better option than
Mariocpa ? Everytime I mention Maricopa, people frown when I tell
them I am considering moving there...

I assume you are looking for "affordable" housing and that is why you are interested in Maricopa or Laveen. The reason housing is affordable in Laveen is it is that the area has a bad reputation for crime and decay. Housing is affordable in Maricopa because it is very inconvenient to Phoenix Take your pick.

[Livewire]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Well, I don't agree with some of that. I was in Maricopa yesterday. It had been many years since I was out that way and I was astonished at the growth that has taken place. It looks really nice. There is a lot more than a Circle K in Maricopa these days. I do agree that it is a long ways from Phoenix though the traffic was not bad at all. I've been in this town a long time and have heard the old "it's too far out" many times. I remember looking at a property at Rural and Warner one time and thinking it was just too far out in the toolies for me. Goodyear just annexed Mobile right next door to Maricopa and has big plans for the that area. Growth is inevitable out that way and Maricopa is just a few years away from being another booming bedroom community.

Yep, when I first moved out this way there was that Circle K and a feedstore. And many people out this way already nicknamed it 'Maritukee'....because its turned into a version of Awahtukee, lol.
They badly need more traffic control now though, its impossible to make a left turn out of the old Circle K and Shell stations now, you'll be waiting sometimes for as long as 20 min. without it. Seriously!

[Livewire]

"......I love the heat, fresh air, frendly folks, more stars in the sky on a moonless night, and I don't miss the gunfire at night, police helecoptor spot lights, sirens, etc. of Phoenix. ....."


We had plenty of that when I lived in Calif, too, lol, in Riverside.
And yes, theres nothing like the down-home hospitibale, 'good ol boy', not-so-fast-paced people in smaller towns.

[kwflconch]

I heard on the city's webpage that the population in 2000 was only 1040 and it is now like 15,934 in the special 2005 census of Arizona and is supposed to get to over 100,000 by 2010. About the City of Maricopa (broken link)

[Master Shake]

Originally Posted by kwflconch

I heard on the city's webpage that the population in 2000 was only 1040 and it is now like 15,934 in the special 2005 census of Arizona and is supposed to get to over 100,000 by 2010. About the City of Maricopa (broken link)

The latest "unofficial" count from the city (mid 2007), mostly based on a combination housing permits, water and electrical service accounts, and some stats from the post office (related to the new/additional zip code) puts the current population around 32K - 35K! Plus Maricopa is talking about annexing more land to the south. Growth here is inevitable.