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Old 10-07-2014, 09:00 AM
 
Location: Sacramento Mtns of NM
4,280 posts, read 9,107,332 times
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Las Cruces would come closest to meeting ALL of your criteria, IMO. There is an area (not gated, but very private) SE of town in the foothills of the Organ Mtns that has unpaved streets, late model homes, reliable community water system, and in the county - outside city limits. All of the lots include acreage. Ask a realtor about the Talavera subdivision.

As for "sandy" locales, look to the west of Las Cruces - perhaps even Deming, NM. But realize that being in a sandy location means spring wind storms can be unbearably harsh.

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Old 10-07-2014, 11:27 AM
 
Location: New Mexico U.S.A.
26,527 posts, read 51,530,074 times
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Default Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes - We do have mosquitoes in the Albuquerque area. I have seen them several times over the past 14+ years... But it normally appears to not be a major issue.

Mosquito Control — City of Albuquerque


Published 1:22 PM MDT Jul 23, 2014: "ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —Albuquerque-area health officials say they've collected mosquitoes positive for the West Nile virus in Bernalillo County for the first time in 2014."

Read more: Mosquitoes with virus found in Albuquerque area | New Mexico News - KOAT Home

City-Data thread: http://www.city-data.com/forum/albuq...osquitoes.html

Mosquito Control Awareness Week « Albuquerque Downtown Neighborhoods Association




Last edited by Poncho_NM; 10-07-2014 at 12:38 PM..
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Old 10-07-2014, 03:23 PM
 
520 posts, read 606,023 times
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Yes, there are mosquitoes in Albuquerque, as Poncho notes. I've mainly seen them in grassy areas after it's rained. But I've seen a lot more cockroaches and spiders.
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Old 10-07-2014, 05:04 PM
 
92 posts, read 175,176 times
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Hi all,

I don't know how to do the multiple quote thingy on my iPad, so i will just do it the old fashioned way if that's okay. :-)

Lady Researcher: "Just a little correction - if you will be considering High Desert neighborhood (87111), it is actually North East quadrant, and as I've seen from the crime map the safest area here is right side of the Tramway Blvd..."

I have read this too, and my only two hesitations with the area have been housing cost for our initial purchase, and weather. I know ABQ isn't exactly a mecca for affluence, so my logic has been that the more expensive an initial property is, the longer we can expect it to sit on the market when we do sell, while it waits for the right buyers. Hence my desire to go "popular, cheap, family area" for quick resale down the line, even though I could totally see us in a house east of Tramway from the ones I have seen online. :-) Would you disagree with this logic?

That being said, I am not writing the area off, because it does seem like an ideal area, if not ideal houses in our budget - like you said, very small yards and stuff. Weather-wise, we are just so sick of wet and cold here that we want to get as far away from it as possible. I am sure that a bit of mental swinging to the other end of the pendulum is happening for us, since we're going through a lot more to relocate than an American would, we want it to be REALLY worthwhile and not even CHANCE that we'll end up in the "worst weather" part of the city. I know weather is all relative, but still...

Bellflower: "If I may ask, what mass exodus are you referring to regarding Rio Rancho?"

Just a lot of foreclosures. I've read recent articles suggesting that te RR market is still crashing, there are lots of abandoned homes at the moment, and the police are kept busy dealing with break-ins and vandalism. While the houses are lovely for the money, by the sounds of what's going on there, I am not sure it would be wise to expect to come home to our house intact after a week or two away in some of the areas. I keep being drawn in by the house values, so we are definitely going to check out the area on our trip, but the security thing is a very real concern for us.

Funkymonkey: "Well, normally when someone with your interests comes I mention Nob Hill or areas east/west of downtown, but those areas aren't desert and sometimes not the place to leave your property unattended for long periods..." and "A wildcard would be Mesa del Sol"

Yeah, no downtown. ;-) We are hoping to get away from people, for the most part, while still recognizing that we need a reasonable population to support our business. I will look into Mesa del Sol, but it doesn't look like there's too much there from what I can see on Google. Also, really small lots! I am all for an isolated little subdivision, but to be in the middle of nowhere and STILL be built so close to your neighbour that you're practically on top of them is a bit odd. The subdivision itself looks all shiny and new, and something like that is really appealing!

Westbound and Down: "I suggest that you should rent for the first 6 months to a year and get familiar with neighborhoods and different areas of the city (etc...)"

You're absolutely right. Unfortunately, with 3 dogs it is rarely an option. Don't get me wrong, we are going to do all we can to rent for 6-12 months first. My husband and I were discussing it last night, and we will happily pay a bit more, or happily pay the entire 6 or 12 months upfront if that incents the homeowners. There are definitely options. Maybe we will get lucky and someone who is trying desperately (and failing) to sell a nice house will look past our three dogs in exchange for higher rent, or rent paid upfront. Who knows? But we have to expect that we won't necessarily find a suitable place, and plan accordingly. Our experience has been that, regardless what we offer, the types of homes that are "pet friendly" are generally not the homes in which we wish to live.

Joqua: "Las Cruces would come closest to meeting ALL of your criteria, IMO. There is an area (not gated, but very private) SE of town in the foothills of the Organ Mtns that has unpaved streets, late model homes, reliable community water system, and in the county - outside city limits. All of the lots include acreage. Ask a realtor about the Talavera subdivision."

I am actually not writing off Las Cruces. I would be interested in considering it, and we plan to check it out (we are definitely going to see Elephant Butte and White Sands, so will make it down to the area) but from what I've read about Las Cruces it seemed ABQ was better for us from a city/entertainment perspective. Though Las Cruces is near El Paso, and maybe that's an acceptable compromise. I don't know much about this. I will have to dig deeper into Las Cruces (and El Paso as our entertainment city) in general and on these forums. The few people I have asked who live(d) in NM have unanimously said "ew, no!" When I suggested Las Cruces as an option, so I may have let that colour my impression.

Poncho and Smashystyle: "Mosquitoes..."

Oh, I know there are mosquitoes in NM. But the fact that you can even say you have "seen them several times" means you do not have mosquitoes like WE have them. Here, you cannot enjoy your back yard without being eaten alive. Some years you will pick up 5-10 bites just coming in from the car, and then spend the rest of the evening trying to kill the half-dozen or so mosquitoes that snuck into the house while you quickly opened and closed the door. It is miserable. I don't think there's anything quite like that in the desert, but please correct me if I am wrong. I do figure we'll need some bug spray when we hike in the mountains. :-)

Cockroaches do not bother me in the least. I may be startled by them, but I have zero issue with them. Spiders, centipedes, and scorpions are worse because they bite/sting. I don't LIKE them, but they won't keep us from the desert, and if we keep a clean home and yard I don't expect to have tremendous issues with them. Maybe we'll get a few chickens and turkeys. LOL

Does the Arizona Bark Scorpion go as far as Las Cruces, or are they pretty limited to the extreme Southwest of the state? Being the only "medically significant" scorpion, I'd rather avoid an area where they live. I can handle the less medically significant scorpion species just fine.

Thanks again, all!
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Old 10-07-2014, 06:15 PM
 
Location: Sacramento Mtns of NM
4,280 posts, read 9,107,332 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AikenHorses View Post
I am actually not writing off Las Cruces....The few people I have asked who live(d) in NM have unanimously said "ew, no!" When I suggested Las Cruces as an option...
I have no idea why anyone would have that reaction, but it comes down to personal preferences when those sort of sentiments are expressed.

Quote:
What Las Cruces is like for active adults

Las Cruces, the second largest city in New Mexico (92,000), is in the southern part of the state. It has been listed as a “Best Place to Retire” by several organizations for many reasons; low cost of living, active cultural life with its major university, and unusually beautiful location. In addition to active adults who choose this as their new retirement community, it is home to 23,000 students of New Mexico State University. Las Cruces is in Dona Ana county.

http://www.topretirements.com/reviews/New_Mexico/Las_Cruces.html
Quote:
For today’s active boomers who mix retirement relocation with second careers, Las Cruces continues to surpass job growth for any other metro area in the state outside of Albuquerque. Retirement dollars go a long way in Las Cruces, retiree can spend their newly acquired time contributing to the community...
Top Places to Retire - Forbes, 2014 - Lists LC as no. 16 of 25 cities


Last edited by joqua; 10-07-2014 at 06:27 PM..
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Old 10-07-2014, 06:25 PM
 
Location: Albuquerque
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AikenHorses, I agree with your concerns about the houses (price and sizes), but about the weather... it's just funny for me, but maybe I'm biased after Moscow winters about what you should call a "bad" and "wet" weather .

One day in High Desert my husband called me from downtown and asked me about the weather (he heard about some rains in our area) and I realized that I completely missed the "bad" weather because I had a 30 minutes phone conversation with a client . Actually "too hot" and "too little rain" were two main reasons we didn't buy a house in High Desert and moved to Cedar Crest.

As for the resale value and time- I monitored the market for 6 months in 2013 and I didn't remember the house up to $350K in this area which was not sold in a month or two. Another question is that it is not very easy to find a good house for this price there. Also if your dogs are big I've heard that some gated communities in High Desert have HOA restrictions about the sizes of dogs you are allowed to have.

I also remember that we found a good house in Four Hills area during our "house hunting" and I liked the area in general, but I can't say much about it - maybe you would like to check it also.
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Old 10-07-2014, 06:42 PM
 
92 posts, read 175,176 times
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Thanks again, guys.

Joqua, I will give Las Cruces the research it deserves. Housing certainly looks great in the area. I briefly checked out the subdivision you mentioned, and I will look more at that and real estate there in general this evening. It is closer to Elephant Butte (we enjoy boating) and even a bit closer to Phoenix for road tripping. A bit further from Denver, but El Paso offers direct flights to both as well as Las Vegas, so... :-)

And yes, LR, that's exactly what I meant when I said the pendulum is possibly swinging the other way for us, which I imagine anyone living in NM is laughing at. But today it is COLD and RAINY all day here, as it has been since the snow melted except for maybe 10-15 days all summer. My husband says if we are going to pack up and move, including the process of immigrating, then it had better be worth it! :-)

I think it does say a lot for NM that you went all the way from Moscow and ended up there instead of just about anywhere else you could have ended up. :-) Was it for work?

Edit: Oh, and as far as the dogs, I have a little dog and my husband has two big dogs who are seniors. We are not planning to have big dogs again, but I will always have little dogs. For this reason, an HOA that will grandfather the two big dogs in (one is 8, one is 10) would be considered. I know around here they do that in some of the condos.
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Old 10-07-2014, 07:09 PM
 
Location: New Mexico U.S.A.
26,527 posts, read 51,530,074 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AikenHorses View Post
Bellflower: "If I may ask, what mass exodus are you referring to regarding Rio Rancho?"

Just a lot of foreclosures. I've read recent articles suggesting that te RR market is still crashing, there are lots of abandoned homes at the moment, and the police are kept busy dealing with break-ins and vandalism. While the houses are lovely for the money, by the sounds of what's going on there, I am not sure it would be wise to expect to come home to our house intact after a week or two away in some of the areas. I keep being drawn in by the house values, so we are definitely going to check out the area on our trip, but the security thing is a very real concern for us.
Albuquerque currently has more homes and a higher rate of foreclosure than Rio Rancho.

Homes in foreclosure
As of July:
In Rio Rancho: 1 in 455 homes
In Albuquerque: 1 in 1,181 homes
National average: 1 in 1,203 homes

"an estimated 1,500 to 1,800 abandoned homes in the city (ABQ) at any given time. There are an estimated 700 more in Rio Rancho."

Reference: Ghost houses: Foreclosed properties run the gamut | Albuquerque Journal News


Quote:
Originally Posted by AikenHorses View Post
Poncho and Smashystyle: "Mosquitoes..."

Oh, I know there are mosquitoes in NM. But the fact that you can even say you have "seen them several times" means you do not have mosquitoes like WE have them.
No. It means we have mosquitoes.

You also have mosquitoes that have tested "positive for the West Nile virus" in your county?

And from the reference "In the meantime, humans are urged to take precautions to avoid mosquito bites while horse owners are strongly encouraged to vaccinate horses."
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Old 10-07-2014, 08:13 PM
 
Location: Albuquerque area
244 posts, read 246,359 times
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Thank you, AH, for answering my question and thank you, Poncho, for the foreclosure statistics.

My biggest insect issue living on base and in Rio Rancho was the pesky little silverfish that seem to love bathrooms. We had the occasional spider, the rare mosquito, one child of the earth and zero roaches. People warned me about the millipede (centipede?) but I only saw two in 15 years -- both outside, thank God.
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Old 10-07-2014, 08:58 PM
 
92 posts, read 175,176 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Poncho_NM View Post
No. It means we have mosquitoes.

You also have mosquitoes that have tested "positive for the West Nile virus" in your county?

And from the reference "In the meantime, humans are urged to take precautions to avoid mosquito bites while horse owners are strongly encouraged to vaccinate horses."
Yes. We have had WNV in Ontario since well before 2002. This is a dated map, but the issue has worsened. I live in that little red square, 53. I also lived in (and had horses in) Alberta, where there is WNV to a lesser extent than here in Ontario.



Oops, that didn't work. I will attach...
Attached Thumbnails
Upcoming ABQ Trip. Need Neighbourhood Advice! :-) ***LONG***-image.jpg  
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