Where in NM (with horses)

[LordyLordy]

Answering all the questions (and thanks for replying!!):

NMHacker: How much land: as much as possible. I have seen properties outside of Mountainair on 300 acres with a nice home go for $425K asking price. However, I doubt they have cable or DSL out there.

Internet: Must have broadband for what I do, I am a software engineer and talk to people daily, need fast connectivity etc. A good line-of-sight may work too, that's what we have here in TX now.

rruf & rwjoyak: Have I talked to realtors? Somewhat. We are going to be visiting again next week and so far have these lined up: 1) Lake Valley Ranch and Berrenda Creek Ranch south of Hillsboro. Both are working ranches with cattle operations, at least one of them has real cable internet (!), all homes already come with wells and electric that has been buried under ground, thousands of acres to ride horses and adjacent to more BLM and Gil forest land. This is our first pick, however, they are far more than 45 min outside of a town (70-80 miles to Las Cruces, 10 miles to Hillsboro but to me Hillsboro is just for a visit and fun, TorC - I don't know anything about so cannot classify). 2) Las Cruces - we found a home or two in the Talavera a neighborhood where there are a lot of nice, custom homes and apparently the home we are looking at is 1/2 mile from hiking and horseback riding trails in the Organ mountains, has a riding arena attached etc., however, it is only 2.3 acres - to me owning land is important. 3) we have been to Mountainair before and liked it - there is plenty of land with some nice homes scattered around the area - however, I am not sure about Internet there, in my opinion, that will be the obstacle.

Are we willing to build? NO! Why? Current place we own was a foreclosure that we purchased in a very popular area of Texas, 40 miles south of Austin, in the popular (and overrun) Hill Country. We paid a song for it and did the renovations ourselves, while working full time jobs. The point was to make profit and we achieved that - it is this profit combined with my work-from-home salary that will make it possible to live our dream in NM or SW Texas. It is the classic - live somewhere expensive, make profit on real-estate and move somewhere cheaper approach. However, after the painstaking manual labor and living like an "animal" for a long time, all we want now is to have a nice home where we can ride horses from our property, garden, keep bees and generally just work and enjoy life...

[rruff]

You always have a give and take between affordable land and how close you are to a big town. Both Mountainair and Hillsboro are fairly isolated. Looks like the nearest Walmart is a little closer from Hillsboro (in TorC), vs Belen for Mountainair. You'll be closer to a big city and airport in Mountainair. You'll be close to some big lakes in Hillsboro. I'd probably pick Hillsboro because it is near the Gila and should have a better climate. Heck, might as well just look it up.
HILLSBORO, NEW MEXICO - Climate Summary
MOUNTAINAIR, NEW MEXICO - Climate Summary

Yep, Hillsboro is warmer in winter especially, and is very mild.

I wasn't necessarily suggesting that you build with your own hands, but thought you might be willing to have someone else do it. If I ever move I'll hopefully be able to do that, because my desires in a dwelling are very different from the norm. It gives you more flexibility also, picking the optimal lot first. What you did in TX is something I'd never consider... renovating a house while I lived in it. Too annoying.

[Wupper]

Mouuntainair? After Tierra Amarilla, New Mexicos freindliest City! I lived in NM and the whole South Valley from ABQ-Belen is about the best but severly crowded. Not enough roads. You need to compare cost of living, taxes, fuel prices, food and property prices. Weather in the winter is not severe but can get to 19 every morning. Everyone paints NM a different way but I'd go to Estancia area.