Upcoming ABQ Trip. Need Neighbourhood Advice! :-) ***LONG*** (Albuquerque, Rio Rancho: for sale, real estate market)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Please ignore my username. Yes, our search started out quite a bit east. ;-) Anyway...
My husband and I are flying to NM in 2.5 weeks to have a look around. We don't have much time to spend there so we need to be as efficient as possible during our trip. I have read SO MANY threads on here about the different neighbourhoods, but nobody has really had our unique set of criteria and I am having a bit of a time piecing together all the information from a mix of threads.
About us: Early 30's. No kids. We both work in our own business, which will continue to run up here in Canada and we will also need to start a US branch in our new city of choice, so we are going to be bringing our own jobs and additional jobs for others. For fun we like the usual dining and nightlife that you would expect of a semi-urban 30's couple; I like shopping (clothes, furniture, art) and we both like dining (everything from upscale to casual to street food) with some desire for bar/lounge type nightlife on Fridays and Saturdays. We also like outdoor recreation (boating/jet skiing, ATV's, hiking, cycling) and road tripping (eg. up to Denver, over to Phoenix or San Diego) as well as community events (Rodeos, BBQ's, art exhibits, fairs, cook-offs, etc.)
What we are looking for, besides the obvious neighbourhood conveniences:
1) DESERT feel! The sandier and more barren, the better. Our ideal yard would be a rectangle of sand and xeriscaping, and while we will LOVE regularly hiking in the mountains among the trees, we sure don't want to have any grass to maintain. Sand, rocks, and the odd cactus/succulent to make the yard look pretty.
2) SAFETY. We don't have kids to worry about, but I need to be able to walk the (little) dogs or stop and get gas/groceries in safety. We also travel a lot (regularly, including for our business) so we need to be able to leave our home for days/weeks at a time. A lot of the fun will be taken out of the whole relocation for us if we constantly come home to a broken/vandalized home. I guess along those lines, easy access to services that will manage our property for us while we are away (landscapers, house sitters) would be important.
3) NICEST WEATHER possible, while considering the first two priorities. I know ABQ has a lot of variability from North to South and East to West because of the topography, so the least rain and most sun possible would be great. I think the South Valley area looks good on paper in that way, but not necessarily safety/demographics wise. At the same time, something approaching the mountains likely gets wetter and colder, no matter how safe the neighbourhoods may be, so...
4) HOUSES in the +/- $250K range (3-Bed, 2.5 Bath) with as much property and "bang for the buck" as possible. Nice floor plans, nice kitchens and baths, double garage, etc. We want to minimize our cash investment while figuring out if we like ABQ enough to stay, completing the immigration process, and growing our business in the Southwest.
5) RESALE potential is somewhat important. We'd like the house to hold our initial investment value as much as possible, since we'll want to sell and move up after a couple of years of immigrating and establishing our US business. For this reason, a generally "popular" and growing area among buyers would be ideal for us to start out in.
6) Gated community is a bonus for the security factor, I think. I don't know if that's possible in our price range, especially while meeting the other criteria.
I was initially coming across homes in the Rio Rancho area, north/south of Petroglyph National Monument, or even a couple much further north on the NW side. House value seems to be good, but I am unsure of the "mass exodus" from Rio Rancho I have been reading about. I've also seen stuff in the SE and SW quadrants that fit the budget (under $200K, even!) and the "look" really well, but I am concerned about the areas' safety.
Basically, I need some guidance. I sincerely appreciate your help, in advance. Thank you! :-)
Desires were already listed in priority order, I figured. If you need me to clarify anything, just let me know what, specifically!
No renting. We currently rent a nice little townhouse here in Ontario because landlords here cannot enforce "no pets" clauses. But we have rented before in other provinces without that sort of situation, and we won't do that again. Also, the market is in a good buying time down there. No real reason for us not to buy other than resale. But it is unlikely we'd lose so much on resale that it would equal 3-4 years of rent anyway. If it did, hey, that was the cost for us to not have a landlord poking in all the time. :-)
Maybe High Desert area in Sandia Foothills (Glenwood Hills nearby)? Not perfect for all your points, but close.
1) DESERT feel!
Absolutely.
2) SAFETY.
Yes, very safe.
3) NICEST WEATHER possible.
You can really feel the weather difference only between Albuquerque and East Mountains towns (different sides of Sandia Mountains). Sandia Foothills and Rio Rancho - maybe several degrees, but it is really difficult to find "wet and cold" place in ABQ from March till October.
4) HOUSES in the +/- $250K range (3-Bed, 2.5 Bath) with as much property and "bang for the buck" as possible.
In High Desert can be hard to find but possible (more possible with 350K). BUT for this price you'll have really tiny yards in this area.
5) RESALE potential is somewhat important.
Good (excellent schools).
6) Gated community is a bonus for the security factor.
It's possible in High Desert (but with really tiny yards and houses are not very big).
Me and my husband also have our own businesses and moved to New Mexico from Russia. We liked High Desert very much and have been living in this area for last 5 years, but now enjoying East Mountains much more (but it doesn't have "desert feel" at all - that's why we are in Cedar Crest now :-).
With reference to your preference for barren desert, if you are looking for sandy, as in sand dunes, that could be tricky as Albuquerque is in a clay desert. There is a range of conditions, though.
You mention the South Valley, but all parts of the valley, South and North are in the bosque (woods) zone of the river which means trees and grass. Not as lush as a Kentucky horse farm, but not far off, either.
The High Desert development is in the foothills of the Sandias and is desert, but it is more of a boulder strewn, gravelly place and has a fair bit of vegetation from shrubs to small pines and junipers. this area is also the coolest, wettest, and snowiest (relatively speaking) part of the Albuquerque area.
You will mainly find 'barren' on the West Mesa or Westside Albuquerque and Rio Rancho. If you want a 'patch of sand' this is where you are going to find it. Based on the environmental criteria of your search, I would concentrate on this area. Hopefully some folks more knowledgable about this part of town than myself can help you narrow down your search regarding specific neighborhoods.
Clay/dirt/boulders is all well and good. I am not talking sand like Dubai, or White Sands, just not green. This is for practical purposes (low maintenance) but also because that's much of what draws my husband to the Southwest. Also, we figure the flying-biting insect situation is likely to be better where people tend to have dirt and rocks for a yard as opposed to a lush oasis. Cannot FATHOM living where there are lots of mosquitoes anymore.
Admittedly, I was a LITTLE concerned about the Foothills region being coolest/wettest/snowiest, but I am not sure how much of that won't be a big deal given we now live in Ontario, Canada. Regardless, we DO want to get away from overcast, rain, and 5-month long snow piles. I think we would accomplish that anywhere in ABQ, which is why I will remain open to the NW quadrant in the future. Just a bit worried about pricing there for the first house purchase.
That being said, the most flexible aspect of our wish list is the budget. So, as Lady Researcher noted, if we have to flex a little on the budget to accomplish everything else we are seeking, that's probably going to be fine.
Are there any BAD areas (from a safety and leaving our home for days/week+ at a time) around Rio Rancho, and the NW quadrant?
Last edited by AikenHorses; 10-06-2014 at 08:41 PM..
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 (many people also prefer to live there because you don't need to drive to get to beautiful hiking and biking trails). Maybe I'm wrong, but my personal "safety map" for Albuquerque is from north east (safest) to south west (not very safe).
Hello, OP, If I may ask, what mass exodus are you referring to regarding Rio Rancho?
Although I consider Rio Rancho home, I've been away for a few years so things might have changed, but we lived in the Snow Heights, Tecolote Estates area just off Meadowlark and never had any safety issues, human or otherwise (and the views while walking our dogs along the ridge separating Rio Rancho and Corrales were heart-stoppingly beautiful). I am pretty sure there is the occasional coyote out and about and a bear once walked into the hospital (medical building?) at the corner of Southern and Rio Rancho Blvd, but stuff like that just adds to the allure of high desert living.
Desires were already listed in priority order, I figured. If you need me to clarify anything, just let me know what, specifically!
No renting. We currently rent a nice little townhouse here in Ontario because landlords here cannot enforce "no pets" clauses. But we have rented before in other provinces without that sort of situation, and we won't do that again. Also, the market is in a good buying time down there. No real reason for us not to buy other than resale. But it is unlikely we'd lose so much on resale that it would equal 3-4 years of rent anyway. If it did, hey, that was the cost for us to not have a landlord poking in all the time. :-)
Thanks!
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.
So, for most desert-like with the least extremes of weather and least crime I'd say the west side of the river, well north of I-40, and into Rio Rancho. I'm not familiar with the gated communities in this area. A wildcard would be Mesa del Sol, however it's rather remote from shopping and amenities but does have easy access to the airport and it's surrounded by desert in all directions. Further up the foothills will be cooler year-round than lower elevation areas but the difference isn't that huge in the scheme of things.
If your desire for desert is more based on low-maintenance landscaping, ie xeriscaping, that can be had in all areas of the city.
Clay/dirt/boulders is all well and good. I am not talking sand like Dubai, or White Sands, just not green. This is for practical purposes (low maintenance) but also because that's much of what draws my husband to the Southwest. Also, we figure the flying-biting insect situation is likely to be better where people tend to have dirt and rocks for a yard as opposed to a lush oasis. Cannot FATHOM living where there are lots of mosquitoes anymore.
Have you ever visited ABQ before? It is a very brown, barren area. And you will have no problem finding a xeriscaped yard anywhere in the city.
As for mosquitoes, I live near UNM/Nob Hill, and this area is hardly "green" anyway even if slightly greener than outlying areas, but still there are no mosquitoes to speak of here (I have lived most of my life in the south, so I know mosquitoes...)
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. I came out twice for 10 days in April and again in May and was looking in a very limited geographic area (unm, nob hill) for either a house to buy or rent, and I gave up on the idea of buying because it just wasn't enough time to find a suitable house for sale in such a short time. No need to get in a rush to buy here, either; prices are still flat and not going up anytime soon.
I can't imagine coming out here and considering the vast area you are thinking about to buy a home - find a home to rent in a close-in location and then spend the next year investigating different areas of the city. We were somewhat fixated on one neighborhood before coming out here, and we ended up renting in another one, and we have come to realize that the first place we looked would have been less suitable for us than where we ended up - it is one thing to make a mistake like that when renting, but when you are buying, that is a really dumb mistake to make.
Finally, if resale potential is important to you, your ability to recoup your original purchase price and also to sell your house will be higher in the more high demand neighborhoods near UNM, for instance, than in an area with lots of foreclosures (for example Rio Rancho). There are large supply and demand imbalances throughout the ABQ metro area real estate market...take your time to investigate the different neighborhoods and real estate sub-markets here before committing to a purchase.
Last edited by Westbound and Down; 10-07-2014 at 07:43 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. 
