Moving to Abq July 2009 (Albuquerque, Rio Rancho: renting, condo, mortgage)

[Suebrown67]

Hello,

I am in the Air Force currently serving in Afghanistan. One of my perks for being over here 9 months is a transfer to Kirtland AFB next July. My husband and I dont want to live on base as we have been in base housing since 1994. We want something that is ours.

My question is, where is a good area for me to start looking in? We dont have kids so we would be looking for a 3 bdrm, 2 bthm single family home or condo/townhome for no more than 150,000. I dont mind commuting to the base, but would prefer it be under 30 min.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. We are both excited about moving to Abq. We have been at Andrews AFB, near DC for 18 years. It's time for a change.

[ziaAirmac]

Suebrown67, thanks for your service! Glad to hear your family's getting a break.

150K in a family friendly area is going to limit your options, but there are some properties out there. I would recommend the older homes north of I-25 and between Juan Tabo and around Pennsylvania or so. Some of the houses will be well out of your range, but if you can find one in these areas it will be in nice neighborhoods, close to highway access, shopping (Coronado Center, Albuquerque Uptown, etc...) and a straight shot south to the base. Look in neighborhoods like: Princess Jeanne, Hoffmantown and Snowheights. We picked up a 3 bedroom 2 bath brick home in Hoffmantown for 149k a couple years ago. The homes can be spotty in these older neighborhoods. Some of them look suspiciously like the base housing you're trying to avoid, so have a look around.

Kirtland is interesting because it's attached to the Sunport. We have the 'Flying Tacos' (F-16's), a spec C130 contingent and we picked up a training squadron for the OV-22. Nearby Canon is transitioning from the 117 to the Raptor. Latest and greatest!

Here's some great shots of the Osprey, some of them with the Sandias in the background!


Lifting off with the Rio Grande valley in the distance:



On the ramp at Kirtland with the foothills in the distance (Looking East):


Buzzing the Sandia Mountains:

[lisdol]

Hi there. My dh is at Kirtland and we live out in the E Mtns.

Just a couple of suggestions that will give you something to look at with a short commute to base.

I don't know the prices but there are some nice looking townhouse style homes that just went up over the past couple of years right near the base. They are off of Southern Blvd, across from the Manzano Mesa Community center. Its minutes to base from there and in a nice little residential neighborhood. The cons would be that the area is full of military and nat'l labs people and if you are looking to get away from that, that is not the neighborhood for you. But, if you are simply looking for ownership and to get away from military housing, it might be worth a look. There are also a lot of new townhome style properties going up in the Four Hills area between rt 66 and old Four Hills, just east of Tramway.

My dh tells me there is new development on south Juan Tabo as well, but I have not seen it, just heard of people buying down there.

I hope someone out there knows who is building the homes I just mentioned and can direct you to their websites. I think the four hills one might be called Wagon Wheel.

[Casper Nav]

If you are cool with a 30 minute drive look at the north end of Rio Rancho. We just recently moved here from overseas and love it. We are up off of Route 528.

[Zoidberg]

I highly recommend looking east rather than northwest if you're dead-set on a 30-min. commute (Albuq north of the base should have plenty to choose from by 7/09 if housing price trends continue).

If you were to look in, say, Edgewood or Tijeras, you'd get outstanding scenery, and far less traffic per mile than Sandoval County would offer. The only drawback is winter weather problems on occasion (but they've dramatically improved the freeway through there so that should be less of an issue now).

Either place (RR or E-mtns) will have zero sidewalks and iffy planning. The difference is one has more underfunded/overcrowded schools and neighborhoods that can feel like steerage.

In any of the above cases, seriously recommend finding yourself a realtor who knows the metro area, and renting as long as possible so you know the neighborhoods and where you like and where you don't (houses in ABQ have been getting cheaper for the past year, on average, and the longer you take to buy, odds are the better deal you'll get).

More so than before, renting is not necessarily throwing money away.

[Towanda]

Suebrown:

I don't have any information for you but I do want to thank you for your service to our country -- God Bless you!

Welcome to the New Mexico forum. This is the best place to come for good information and answers to your questions.

(We were at Kirtland for one year -- 1970 -- and I loved ABQ and it began a lifelong love affair with the state for me.)

[Mike Horrell]

Welcome from a former Alexandria resident.

I want to join in with Zoidberg in saying that Rio Rancho and most of Northwest
will not meet your requirement for a 30 minute commute. We live just below Rio Rancho
and it is possible to get to the general area near the base entrance in 30 minutes,
but only in "off peak" hours.

There was a similar thread not long ago and people posted maps, discussed specific areas,
zip codes, etc. You might want to search for that one.

[berncohomes]

I hear a lot of people saying you should wait as house prices are coming down and they stand a good chance of coming down further. What you should be keeping an eye on is mortgage rates as there is a lot of talk of rates dropping to or below 4.5%. There is really no benefit of getting a house for less if the mortgage rates go back up. I personally would prefer a $170k house at 4.5% than a $150k house at 6.5%

You should talk to a mortgage specialist and see what options are available to you, if you are a first time home buyer there are down payment grants/low interest loans available to you through the state of New Mexico and in your case you are probably eligible for a VA home loan.

[Fox Two Splash]

I posted this originally on the NM thread but have received only a few responses, thank you to those who did respond!

Need help, I have recently received orders to Kirtland AFB and am trying to find a realtor who understands the Military. I am familiar with ABQ and know some of the areas as I have done numerous TDY’s there. We are real excited about this new opportunity but am having a hard time finding a realtor who understands anything about military. Does anyone have someone they might recommend?

[lisdol]

Top Quality and Affordable Homes

He is in the military. I don't know anything about them professionally; they are nice people.

If you want a realtor that understands the military lifestyle, this team will.

I am sure there are also realtors out there with national companies, like ReMax or Coldwell Banker, that are retired military as well, but I am not sure how to find them.