Realtors say now is good time to buy

It is a good time to buy a house in Maricopa for a variety of reasons, experts said.

Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, said banks are “easing up their restrictions” and a buyer who has “decent credit” has a good chance to get a home loan.

“The main obstacle is the down payment,” Orr said.

Tammy Adams, a Realtor with The Maricopa Real Estate Company., said, “I do think it is a good time to buy (in Maricopa).”

“A lot of people lost their homes about three years ago and if they haven’t done anything stupid or crazy” with their credit, they are now eligible to purchase a home again if they meet other loan criteria, Adams said.

Some people “just walked away from their homes but paid other stuff – did well on everything else,” she said.

A number of people believe they have to wait seven years after losing their home to foreclosure to be eligible for a home loan, she said. They are now eligible after three years.

Adams said many people lost their homes in 2009 and 2010.

“A lot of these people are eligible to buy again and don’t realize it.”

Another reason to buy now is home prices in Maricopa have flattened since October, she said.

And, currently there are 545 homes on the Multiple Listing Service in Maricopa and Hidden Valley, she said. A year ago, that number was in the low-400 range.

She said home prices are now high enough that homeowners who were underwater on their loans a few years ago now can sell their homes for what they paid for them or more.

Also, there are fewer buyers competing to buy homes, she said.

“You don’t have that influx of people buying when the homes were dirt cheap,” she said.