Paradise Hills Neighborhood (Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Edgewood: hardwood floors, transplants, real estate)

[gaby]

hi everyone-

just wondering what paradise hills is like? near unser?

thanks!

[Crackerjack]

Paradise Hills is nice and Unser Blvd winds through there and is a long meandering Blvd that goes past the Petroglyph Nat'l Monument. It goes down into Abode Acres to the South where they are building a lot of new homes. A nice area to live.

[jrod2828]

I'm really liking the homes in this area. Can someone tell me a little about the area? Commute to ABQ, Crime, Schools, who lives there (transplants, old people, young people, etc.), restaurants, things to do.. etc.

The homes are really nice, have some charm and seem reasonably priced. They seem less cookie cutter than Rio Rancho. Schools and Crime are our deal breakers since we plan on knocking out a few kiddies in a couple years.

Thanks!

[kensgirl]

Paradise Hills is just south of Rio Rancho. If you're on the east side of Paradise Hills (east of Unser, Area 121 in ABQ MLS), you're close to Cottonwood Mall, and a large complex of other stores (Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Sam's and Costco), which are in a triangle formed by Coors Bypass and Coors Road. There are a number of restaurants along this area (a whole collection of national and regional chains) as well. You're also fairly close to 2 major east/west arteries, Alameda Blvd and Paseo del Norte, with access to I-25. Depending on where you are going and what time you leave, it can be 30-45 minutes to get across town. I was making a daily drive from Rio Rancho, just north of Paradise Hills to Wyoming Blvd in NE Heights. If I left at 7:00, it took me close to an hour. If I left at 8, it took 25-30 minutes, via Paseo del Norte.

Schools are part of APS. The residents are a combination of retirees and families. You'll find more transplants, since there was always a stigma for old timers to come across the river. We found it very easy to meet people, since most residents were from somewhere else. As to crime, I'm not quoting statistics...but, personally, we never experienced any problems.

Hope this helps.

[jrod2828]

Very helpful kensgirl. So the schools are APS? How are the public schools in ABQ?

Since your a realtor let me throw out what we're looking for and perhaps you can point me in the right direction.

wife and I are both in our mid-upper 20s. kids in a couple years.

Looking for in a home..

180 - 220K
3 bedroom minimum
hardwood floors
character (arches, very open floor plans, kitchens with breakfast bars.. big kitchens a plus!!)
big yards (or as big as possible) big dog lovers and have 2 basenjis who need room to play (a doggy door would be nice)
Safe
Good Schools
Don't like the tiny box back yards I've seen on some websites.
So far like the homes in edgewood, Tijeras and Paradise Hills
Althought EnjoyEP told me Edgewood and Tijeras may be moutainous.. don't want that.. we are moving to find some warmer weather.
Hot tub would be nice too (but not a necessity)
Deal breaker for wife is hardwoods,character, big kitchen.. deal breaker for me is decent size yard for the dogs, open floor plan, safe neighborhood w/ good schools.

Any areas you would point us to?

Thanks!

[Chaparral]

Originally Posted by jrod2828

Looking for in a home...

$180 - 220K...3 bedroom minimum...hardwood floors...arches, very open floor plans, big kitchens...big yards...Safe...Good Schools...Don't like the tiny box back yards...Hot tub would be nice...

...Any areas you would point us to?

Not to be harsh, but you would have to look in the era of the Clinton presidency to find those amenities in that price range in ABQ.

One thing that many folks moving from the Midwest may not realize: generally speaking, homes/land in the Midwest are dirt cheap compared to the rest of the country. You may be in for some sticker shock as well as culture shock.

Chap

[jrod2828]

Chap,

I found a bunch of homes like that in Rio Rancho and Paradise Hills.. maybe not the big yards but everything else.

[EnjoyEP]

Yeah, actually I kind of respectfully disagree with my amigo Chap on this one.

Now, Chap has lived in ABQ far longer than I did and he is still currently there, and I will cede his point on some of the ammenities perhaps, but Chap, depending upon the portion of the Midwest (and Indianapolis to my knowledge actually is an extremely cheap housing-wise portion of the Midwest), overall ABQ housing is much more affordable still than many Midwestern cities.

FOR EXAMPLE (before I have some outside poster come on here and lampoon me about Kentucky or Ohio-area housing), my money went / goes much farther in Albuquerque housing-wise than in the Milwaukee-metro area. A $225K house in a decent area of metro Milwaukee - comparably - would go for $190K, $195K in Albuquerque. Also, the property taxes would be INCREDIBLY lower in Albuquerque, which goes infinitely long on your monthly mortgage payment.

Now...one thing that Midwestern houses in this example would have typically that ABQ area houses don't have typically - basements. That helps alot in the Midwest. However, transversely, typically the houses you'd be looking at in the ABQ market are newer and less maintenance laden than they would be in this area of the Midwest which can save hundreds or thousands.

While my scenario may not hold as true for areas like Indy, St. Louis, or some of the aforementioned housing areas in the far lower Midwest (like KY and OH) - all of which I believe have fairly low housing prices - for major metros like Milwaukee, Chicago, or the Twin Cities, housing is quite a bit more affordable still in the ABQ market (with considerably lower property taxes).

I am constantly currently monitoring ABQ real estate websites / listings, and also am in semi-regular consultation with my old ABQ realtor, and actually, I don't think jrod is that far off. I think $200K+ takes you pretty darn far in ABQ housing-wise. Again, maybe not a few of the ammenities he lists, but overall, yeah, I think he could get many / most of them in that range (with low property taxes which I cannot stress enough importance-wise).

I am not in your range quite jrod! (Lower, more in that ol' $150K - $170K range) and I still think I could get a pretty darn nice house in ABQ in a nice area for 1600 square feet or so. I think you could pull it off fairly darn well.

[GregW]

Jrodxxx- I suggest buying a house of the right size and lot size as your first considerations. Changing either can be very expensive. Make sure the roof is in good shape and the place is insect free.

Replacing a faded 1970's shag rug with hardwood is a weekend job even if you haven't done it before. Redoing a kitchen is more but not that bad. Everything else can be changed but get it done before the kiddies. Kiddies will take up at least 150% of your time and twice your income .

[jrod2828]

Good advice Greg. Yes, the cosmetics can be done but yard size and square footage are what they are. Good point. We have 2 basenjis right now and they already take up a decent portion of our income and a lot of our time.

EnjoyEP,
I agree with you. Although I think Milwaukee may be a little pricier than Indy. I've been doing tons of research and I'd say Indy and ABQ are about even when it comes to cost of housing. Indy's property taxes are extremely high where I live. But in Indy we have huge basements and thus much bigger homes than in ABQ. But overall, I'd say they are pretty similar. One big difference is the cookie cutter stuff in Indy is a piece of crap. The cookie cutter stuff in ABQ (according to you guys is in Rio Rancho) is beautiful, minus the closet for a backyard.

Plus, all the homes, even the cookie cutters, in ABQ have character. That is hard to find it Indy. Why is it that homes in ABQ don't have basements? Something wrong with the soil? Also, what kind of insects should I look out for? What's up with the roofs? I know nothing about these style of roofs. What should I look for? What should I be wary of? Which is more expensive to replace?

Thanks again for all the great info!