How is the living in Belen? (Albuquerque, Deming: real estate, crime, how much)

[mmross105]

We like the notion of Mountainaire, but it is really small, and are worried there will be too few services (healthcare, petsitting, veterinary, etc.) there, so are checking out Belen. It seems easy enough to get 2-3 acres there, which we want. Appears it has population of 7,000-8,000. Can anybody give information on:

Crime rate
Shopping
Health care availability
Veterinary services

Thanks much!

[Mark S.]

Belen is one of the worst towns in NM. Crime is really, really bad there.

Check out City Data's list of Least Safe cities in the US. Belen makes the list.

[_yb]

Property crime seems to be really high. Probably due to the drug and gang problems they have. Illegals probably have something to due with it also.

[Steve97415]

Also an area for internet-sales land scams. Be very careful where you invest your real estate money. Ebay is no substitute for a qualified realtor or land-use attorney.

[songinthewind7]

My boyfriend's mom has lived there for 15 or more years and although she is careful about leaving things out ect... she seems to think it is OK. He has visited several times over the years and he likes it for the golf course community where his mom lives and the mountain views. She lives out away from town across the Rio Grande so it's not like she lives downtown. They have a Walmart and she is happy with veterinary services as she has wild cats she feeds and has spayed or nuetered when she catches them. All in all I don't think it's a terrible place unless maybe you live downtown. There is not much shopping there but Albuquerque is just up the road for that. Hope this helps.

[mikus]

Originally Posted by mmross105

We like the notion of Mountainaire, but it is really small, and are worried there will be too few services (healthcare, petsitting, veterinary, etc.) there, so are checking out Belen. It seems easy enough to get 2-3 acres there, which we want. Appears it has population of 7,000-8,000. Can anybody give information on:

Crime rate
Shopping
Health care availability
Veterinary services

Thanks much!

go to www.nmbiz.com (broken link) there is a write up on belen under the community focus section..

[tcburns]

Although above is an older post, the www.nmbiz.com, denies access ~permission not granted etc., to bad, as Belen is on our list of towns we're very interested in moving to.

[myfuturebirthday]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

Also an area for internet-sales land scams. Be very careful where you invest your real estate money. Ebay is no substitute for a qualified realtor or land-use attorney.

Steve or Anyone else- Do you have any specific instances of particular e-bay land scams in Belen? Also what types of scams- are they people just trying to dump land with hidden easements, undevelopable land, problems with uninsurable title, or "ocean front property" in New Mexico? I'm curious because one of my friends (no, this isn't code speak referring to myself , it is actually one of my friends) has bit the bullet on buying some land in Belen for a few hundred dollars on ebay and it sounded way too good to be true. Just wondering if you or anyone had any specifics or information on these types of scams they are running so I can point my friend in the right direction. I've read some articles on these types of scams, but I haven't seen much else and thought I'd pick the forum's brain for info. Thanks.

[mikus]

Originally Posted by tcburns

Although above is an older post, the www.nmbiz.com, denies access ~permission not granted etc., to bad, as Belen is on our list of towns we're very interested in moving to.

tcburns..you are right..i dont know why new mexico business journal is not allowing access..it was working fine last week...the website was under construction for about 2 or 3 years, its been back online now for about 5 months....keep checking, they might be having technical difficulties..

[catman]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

Also an area for internet-sales land scams. Be very careful where you invest your real estate money. Ebay is no substitute for a qualified realtor or land-use attorney.

I have noticed that there have been a lot of land deals on eBay for the Deming area lately. They don't sound all that great to me, certainly without going out to the area to have a look at it myself and finding out more about how much improving the site would cost. Just be careful!