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I used to live in Placitas and left for California. Lately, I've been thinking about returning. The areas that I am interested in are Corrales and the 87107 area, which is where Bookworks is located. Which of these two areas would you recommend? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
87107 is too heterogenous to give a blanket thumbs up/thumbs down opinion to. You'll probably confuse fewer people by just saying the North Valley (I don't think you had Menaul & Carlisle in mind); in fact, the land between 87107 and Corrales is probably just as interesting to you.
Depends what you want to get out of the experience, really. Corrales would suck slightly worse for traffic.
If you go to places like airport or rail runner or malls that aren't on the ropes (Cottonwood, once the area's darling, is now in the worst shape) then add 5-10 minutes travel time each way if you pick Corrales vs. other North Valley areas.
The jury's still out when and if NM's economy will rebound, but you may find that renting something nice for 5 years would help you avoid an upcoming real estate crash, keeping $100k+ of your hard-earned money out of the proverbial garbage can.
The jury's still out when and if NM's economy will rebound, but you may find that renting something nice for 5 years would help you avoid an upcoming real estate crash, keeping $100k+ of your hard-earned money out of the proverbial garbage can.[/QUOTE]
The 87107 area includes The Village of "Los Ranchos de Albuquerque" which is a nice area, some houses appear to be rather expensive... It is closer to Albuquerque and the downtown area.
Corrales is OK, I guess. My wife drove through the entire town 6,000+ times while commuting to work. We are less than a mile walk to Corrales from Rio Rancho.
Los Ranchos is about a 10 minute drive (3 miles) to Bookworks.
Corrales is about a 25 minute drive (9 miles) to Bookworks.
Personally, we (My wife and I) would move to Los Ranchos if we could...
Is there a reason you don't want to rejoin us here in 87043?
Jiminnm, there's nothing about Placitas that I disliked when I lived there. I'm 72 years old now, and would like to be closer to stores, doctors, movies, etc. Driving and I aren't exactly good friends these days.
87107 is too heterogenous to give a blanket thumbs up/thumbs down opinion to. You'll probably confuse fewer people by just saying the North Valley (I don't think you had Menaul & Carlisle in mind); in fact, the land between 87107 and Corrales is probably just as interesting to you.
Depends what you want to get out of the experience, really. Corrales would suck slightly worse for traffic.
If you go to places like airport or rail runner or malls that aren't on the ropes (Cottonwood, once the area's darling, is now in the worst shape) then add 5-10 minutes travel time each way if you pick Corrales vs. other North Valley areas.
The jury's still out when and if NM's economy will rebound, but you may find that renting something nice for 5 years would help you avoid an upcoming real estate crash, keeping $100k+ of your hard-earned money out of the proverbial garbage can.
Zoidberg, the housing market seems rather stagnant ever since the recession although better in ABQ than in many other NM towns. So I am surprised at your mention of a possible upcoming real estate crash given that we have not had a boom. Do you see this as just an effect from an upcoming crash in other parts of the country (e.g., California, PNW, Texas metros) where it spreads to NM given that we are somewhat dependent on transplants to keep our housing market propped up? Or an isolated crash in NM if our economy continues to deteriorate?
nmguy, I prefer the North Valley over Corrales if you can find a place close to Rio Grande Boulevard, Guadalupe Trail, etc. as agree that it is a heterogeneous area. Of course, neither areas is close to doctors, movies, etc. so you will have to do some driving. But that is what makes those areas appealing to me is the lack of big box stores and other commercial developments. Also you could be limited to a single family home, probably older, with large yard to maintain - don't know if that is okay with you at your age. But agree that renting at first is a good idea.
Zoidberg, the housing market seems rather stagnant ever since the recession although better in ABQ than in many other NM towns. So I am surprised at your mention of a possible upcoming real estate crash given that we have not had a boom. Do you see this as just an effect from an upcoming crash in other parts of the country (e.g., California, PNW, Texas metros) where it spreads to NM given that we are somewhat dependent on transplants to keep our housing market propped up? Or an isolated crash in NM if our economy continues to deteriorate?
I was going to say just this. Zoiberg is a crotchety geezer (in spirit) and some bias or previous life experience may predispose him/her towards this opinion... However, from my hobbyist study of real estate, and more so focused on the ABQ'ish area of sales, there really hasn't been a massive boom or upswing in sales figures here to indicate a bubble or an impending crash. Some areas in other large metros definitely have that more in their gambling scenario, but not so much here. I too believe it's been fairly stagnant, and maybe just following inflation since the "Great Recession." If anything, I believe there'd be very little net loss (overall) for your typical home buyer, and a better possible potential for net gain in the coming 5-10yrs... This of course assumes we don't incur any devastating droughts/fires.
Zoidberg, the housing market seems rather stagnant ever since the recession although better in ABQ than in many other NM towns. So I am surprised at your mention of a possible upcoming real estate crash given that we have not had a boom. Do you see this as just an effect from an upcoming crash in other parts of the country (e.g., California, PNW, Texas metros) where it spreads to NM given that we are somewhat dependent on transplants to keep our housing market propped up? Or an isolated crash in NM if our economy continues to deteriorate?
There's little purpose to having a house if there is no one to live in it. Unlike all the other places mentioned, Albuquerque has had a stagnant past 10 years. When somebody moves for their job to the state to become a homeowner, there's a newly vacated home from someone who moves for their job from the state. Or two.
Local housing prices have actually gone up a fair clip from the bottom around 2008-2010. This probably doesn't qualify as a bubble in terms of what we understand a bubble to be, but if you look at parts of NM that are generationally depressed in terms of housing market (Roswell comes to mind), there's a lot further south these prices can go.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MountainDweller
I was going to say just this. Zoiberg is a crotchety geezer (in spirit) and some bias or previous life experience may predispose him/her towards this opinion...
Zoidberg could very well be younger than you. And less crotchety.
Bias and previous life experience are definitely worth listening to, but the population statistics and economic statistics are all you need to listen to if you're considering buying.
When we drove through Coralles on a Saturday afternoon a couple of years ago I was impressed by the traffic that was nearly as bad as the mall monsters around Southern New Hampshire. Another thing that impressed me was the condition of the irrigation canals. We saw an lot of canals in disrepair when we took the Railrunner to Santa Fe. Coralles looked like a good place to retire or just snowbird.
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