Looking for affordable options (Albuquerque, Rio Rancho: appointed, sale, real estate market) - New Mexico (NM) - City-Data Forum

Homewardbound66 · 03-08-2007, 04:55 PM

Hi to everyone! My husband, son and I are looking to relocate to your city as soon as we sell our house here in Illinois We have been kind of floundering in what we want, but have decided to throw caution to the wind and grab the brass ring.

My husband recently quit the company he worked at for 12 years (in computer networking) and decided to find a new beginning. Since he's been unemployed he has tried numerous times to find a techie job in Albuquerque, but has been told they only hire inter-state. We then decided to become locals. Our house goes on the market VERY soon and we make the plunge.

We will only be able to afford $150,000 or less in a house and would prefer a rural enviornment commutable to Albuquerque. We will either have to lease a house or lease with an option to buy because of his employment status. Can anyone recommend an affordable, rurual, commutable area or am I dreaming once again? Thanks in advance for reading my rather lengthy post.

By the way, we will be visiting the area in April and will want to target the areas recommended so I would appreaciate any information you may be able to give before then. Thanks again!!

_yb · 03-08-2007, 07:26 PM

Do a search for threads on Rio Rancho. You can also look for homes in your price range at this link:
http://www.abqrealtors.com/homefinder/ (broken link)

You could also check for threads on Los Lunas.

Homewardbound66 · 03-09-2007, 05:37 AM

Thanks for the reply and the information. I did go to the link you sent and I am saving that link.

Isn't Rio Rancho more suburban with a lot of new developments? What about Edgewood? Probably too expensive, but I've see a few homes in our price range on 1.25 acres there. Is Edgewood more rural?

Thanks again. I can't wait until April!

LLD · 03-09-2007, 10:57 AM

Edwood is more rural that Rio Ranch -- Rio Rancho is a suburb of Albuerquer basically and Edgewood is more of its own stand alone community.

I just saw new houses being advertised at Golf Course and Southern for 170K but this is a subdivision. Don't know if that is Albuquerque or Rio Rancho city limits though.

Homewardbound66 · 03-10-2007, 02:59 AM

Thanks for the help. I did find by just reading through these posts one can gain a lot of information about the area. It sounds like where we live permantly will greatly depend where my husband finds a job in Albuquerque. I mean the commute will vary greatly if he works in Rio Rancho (where he said he saw some computer jobs) versus downtown. We will definitely rent for a year or so until things settle down. Thanks for your replies and thanks to this forum in general. Its really helpful to people looking to relocate.

_yb · 03-10-2007, 05:39 PM

If your husband finds work in Rio Rancho commuting from edgewood may be a little much. Plus for the price you are looking at you may only be able to find a double wide in edgewood.
You can always find a good deal of rentals out in RR. Plus I hear they have a decent school system.

Homewardbound66 · 03-11-2007, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _yb

If your husband finds work in Rio Rancho commuting from edgewood may be a little much. Plus for the price you are looking at you may only be able to find a double wide in edgewood.
You can always find a good deal of rentals out in RR. Plus I hear they have a decent school system.

Thanks YB. That is definitely something to consider. We might be able to afford more if we weren't moving from as far away as Illinois. I anticpate our moving costs if we hire it done, which we are contemplating, to be around $10,000. That's $10,000 more we could put into a house and maybe that's what we should be thinking when thinking about a do it yourself move. Our realtor is going to list our house in about a week and anticipates a quick sale so hopefully we'll be there in a month or month 1/2 if all goes well.

Thanks so much. We will check out Rio Rancho when we visit at the end of this month. Is that where the majority of technology jobs are (in Rio Rancho)?

Zoidberg · 03-11-2007, 10:10 AM

Rio Rancho is located North and West of the Intel plant, which is purportedly the biggest microchip factory in the world. Westside Albuquerque is located South of the Intel plant. Although the plant is technically in Sandoval county (where Rio Rancho is and Albuquerque isn't) it is not in either city. So many Intel employees live in both cities. Other than businesses that contract to Intel which happen to be located in Rio Rancho, as well as a few smaller R&D firms, Rio Rancho has little in terms of technology jobs compared to the city of Albuquerque.

Albuquerque's major tech employers include Sandia National Laboratories (ever wonder where the nerds in high school ended up?), and a wealth of small, medium, and large sized businesses in almost every industry imaginable. From spacecraft to commuter jets to luxury mattresses to breakfast cereals to electric cars to solar cells, the tech jobs are here.

I recommend at least looking at some small places in the valley in Albuquerque. Many are small, humble places which actually feel like rural areas, despite being in the middle of everything. Some areas are actually affordable, if a bit humble. If you picture having water nearby when you think rural, this meets that definition. Let's face it: $150k isn't going to buy you much more than humble with this market.

rainbowrabbits · 03-11-2007, 02:23 PM

Hi, If you have been watching the papers, there is a big upheaval in the mortgage, real estate market nationwide. Might be a good time to wait and see if it impacts ABQ soon. Could mean more availability and lower prices.

Homewardbound66 · 03-12-2007, 05:40 AM

Wow. Thank you so much for the information on where the jobs are. How much are the houses in say, Edgewood starting at? I thought I saw some modulars under $150,000. Modulars aren't trailers there just houses put together mostly at the factory and shipped there right? My Mom and her husband want to move there after we get settled and they're retired. We thought they would be able to find something under $150,000 and rurally located. Boy am I feeling more than a little disappointed. I didn't know real estate started at what $200,000!? That's not affordable for us or them.

I really did not want to live in the city of Albuquerque nor did my Mom and so . . . Well I'm still going to visit and meet with a realtor. Thanks again for the info on where the technology lies in the area.