Maricopa Properties grows despite slow housing market

From a Realtor’s perspective, Maricopa reminds Dawn Madden of her hometown of St. Charles, Ill.

St. Charles was a smaller suburb of Chicago, surrounded by cornfields, that few people had heard of,” Madden says. “Within a few short years, the community had new planned housing, shopping centers and multiple schools. Maricopa’s potential is similar to that of St. Charles with the exception that Maricopa had an almost clean slate to start building while St. Charles was built up around many existing homes.”

Madden began working in the local real estate market in 2003, and started her company, Maricopa Properties, in 2006. When the economy and the demand for houses spiraled downward in 2008, Madden decided she wasn’t going to wait for a recovery or let her business go down like some of her competitors.

“One of the great things about being a smaller, or boutique company as we are called in the industry, is that my overhead is not like those of larger corporations who have had to shut their doors with the shift in the real estate market,” Madden says. “Maricopa Properties has been able to not only continue our presence in Maricopa but has been consistently growing as well. Our business strategy has always been to find the people that can benefit from the current conditions.”

And, while others in the business made drastic cutbacks or closed altogether, Madden says she has proven her ability to adapt to the market.

“Buyers and investors were the ones benefiting the most when Maricopa first started to sell new homes,” she says. “While in the appreciation phase, the market was best for sellers. Now that we are in the downturn, the market is best once again for buyers but also for investors, which is why our property management division has done so well in the past few years.”
A large part of Maricopa Properties’ business is property management of investment homes. Madden says this aspect of the business helps investors as Maricopa Properties takes on the responsibility of finding suitable tenants and managing the homes once a tenant moves in. It also helps those looking to lease, because Maricopa Properties can help them find the right rental.

“Our property management services combine this with our buyer’s services specific for investors, and we assist investors in making the most solid investment decisions in the Maricopa area,” Madden says.

Madden says when investors are interested in purchasing several properties in Maricopa, she has a process of comparing market value to what the home will rent for. This enables an investor to decide whether they want to sell again in the short run, or if they would like to hold on to the property as a source of income and potentially sell it when the values have risen.

“Even if an investor wants to purchase 10 to 30 homes, we recommend they look for the best homes on the market over a staggered amount of time and not just run out and buy a large quantity of homes all at once,” Madden says. “That being said, there are investors that purchase a large number of homes and put them all on the rental market at once. We also have steps that we take with investors in order to not saturate the rental market in any given month.

Madden sees the strong rental market in Maricopa as an incentive for investors, but in order to make them comfortable with their business decisions, she has to look at it as a long-term relationship.

“The first step is to always discuss the individual goals of an investor and determine what market will work best for them as there are several in Maricopa,” Madden says. “After, and only after this point, we will start to view homes that fit their individualized situation. It’s very important to not rush into purchasing any home, but especially an investment home.”

For individual homeowners, Madden uses the same approach but considers other factors.