Posted: 3/18/2007 4:44:20 AM EDT
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My wife and I are looking to relocate from CT. W're looking at the south west with both NM and AZ being in mix. We'll have about $300k equity in our home here and looking to build a small, 2000+- sq ft, house on a couple acres. My wife has been doing most of the research because she has the list of requirements to make her happy. I think all of us married guys can understand that LOL! I'm more concerned about CCW and places to shoot obviously. I'm not too worried about work with a background as an electrician and IT support. She's been looking in the Albuquerque area. Any areas to avoid or look closely at ? Any areas up and coming rather than on the downslide ? What about builders ? Who to talk to or avoid ? The kids are out of the house already so we're not concerned about schools. More into shopping, medical services, work and town services proximity. Thanks |
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Albuquerque area: You really might want to come here and get with a realtor. Albuquerque is a town with bad areas interspersed with good ones, so it's difficult to generalize. The West Side is growing and has great areas, and it has horrendous ones. The farther NE you go, generally the better, though there are some sort of bad areas around in there as well. There is going to be a lot of growth on the South Side in the Mesa del Sol area, but this is really in the beginning stages and it's hard to say how it's going (no real shopping there yet). The far Northeast (where I live, abutting the National Forest) is probably the best area, and the far North has benefits as well. The East Mountains have good areas and bad areas, lots of room, and generally bad services and shopping. If you're looking for decent services and shopping, you want to be on the far Northeast or Northwest. Problems on the Northwest that you won't have on the Northeast are inadequate roads - you'll live in a constant traffic jam (which might not seem bad to you after CT, but will probably wear on you when a quick run to the grocery store that takes me fifteen minutes total takes you twenty additional minutes - all traffic time). Problems that you'll have on the Northeast are going to be that it will cost more and there's not much left available. Honestly, if you want decent services (cops, roads, sewer and water - water's a big deal out here; you don't want to have to truck it out to your house), you're going to have to forget the "couple acres" idea and stick to within city limits. If you live in the county, you can have lots of land, but you'll have not-so-good police/fire/water/trash/roads/etc. The nearby town Rio Rancho is fast-growing and has some good areas but has poor traffic and general planning. The towns to the south (Los Lunas, Belen) are fast-growing as well but have major crime issues. Feel free to email me if you want my phone number to talk in depth about the various areas of town. I've lived here since '88 and my wife's been here her whole life. |
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Oh, and builders. My wife and I built our house seven years ago, and we're delighted with it. My contractor friends carry on about how well it was made. We certainly had a stress-free build with lots of customer-care by the builder. Our builder was John Mechenbier, and we cannot recommend him highly enough. His company's phone number is (505) 828-1676. Another company that impressed us was Lancor: (505) 891-7616. I've been in several of their houses (friends') and we very nearly went with them. These builders are both pretty upscale - I assume you're willing to put that equity down into your house and get a mortgage to cover the rest (because $300k will not put you in a new 2000 sq. foot house of any real quality in any especially good area of the city - and forget about acreage). |
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Hello. If you would like more info about the 4 corners area I can share what I have learned in the last year. PM me. I've lived everywhere in the U.S. in my short existence. Suffice it to say land is premium and real estate is highly inflated due to local circumstances. But the weather, the weather is great! I have a tan and its MArch 20 for cryin' out loud. |
| Thanks for the replies. We're still in the preliminary planning but so far NM is at the top of a short list. We're looking for quality of life first and foremost. While I would certainly like to have some acreage, if services are better within city limits, that'll be the way to go. I've been in the trades for years so building a house is the only way to go. Are basements common in NM ? I'm going to need someplace for the gun room LOL ! |
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My wife and I will be out for a vacation later this year to look around and meet with a couple realtors and possibly builders. I would be looking for a builder to take care of the foundation and weathertight shell and I would be taking care of the rest. I have a hard time paying guys in the trades for work that I can do myself. I also know that time is money in construction and I know that quality can and does suffer in the race to get it done and get paid. This is going to be our last house and I want it done right and with all the nice to have stuff, computer cabling, central media wiring, whole-house generator, possible solar installation. My wife is a dental hygenist but she's looking at something a little less stressful, possibly working in a dental office doing insurance billing or scheduling. |
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Not if he wants good services. I've got friends who live out there - when they're not hauling water in to drink, they're griping incessantly about how long it takes the sheriff to get out there, people shooting fireworks that they fear will burn the whole forest down (because of no decent fire protection), and bears eating their trash. It is pretty, though (though the drive to town costs a lot more than it did when gas was reasonable). |