So we are finally visiting Taos and Angel Fire (Albuquerque: appointed, real estate market)

[Dizzydog]

I dont want to write a big long thing so ill do a DO LIKE and DONT LIKE real quick and summary of our decision on where to buy land.

LIKE:

Gorgeous land
Nice Seasons
Low Taxes (for the most part)
Skiing
Golf
Blakes Lotaburger
Grahams restaurant

DISLIKE:

The People. Man you guys are just so uninviting!! I think the feeling we are getting is a complete lack of interest. We are getting good customer service but only at our resort, the El Sagado in Taos. Angel Fire is MUCH nicer in appearance however.

The cost. Angel Fire is SOOO overinflated in price that its just rediculous. $69k for .75 acres, not even on city sewer. No thanks.

Membership FEE's. Ok there are some great amentities to it but the membership conveniently goes from $1200 a year on a decent lot to $2400 a year for a "premium" lot. Not cool. I dont care if it does get you 20% off of golf equipment.

We are going to go back again tomorrow and give Angel Fire another search through and see what we come up with. We will also give the locals another chance. We did hit 1 pizza restaurant (Angel Fired Pizza) and 1 pub. 1 resort. All could care less that we were there. At the Pizza place the owner actually came out with our beers and we though "about time, we are about to get to meet some local friendlies!" All she did was slap our beers down and CARD US. No interest in talking. Then went back in. Keep in mind we are in our late 30's.

Ok thats it for now. Disappointed in this place so far mostly because of the people. Oh yea..Taos....amazed at how Ghetto this place is. Saturday night and all the VATO LOCOS were cruising the town, bumping loud music and all the Bikers...enough with the revving of the bikes, we get it, you have a small weiner!!


ok more later.

[Nedely]

Are you looking to move to that area? Are those plans shot out of the water now? Are you planning on visiting the Taos Pueblo?

[Mike Horrell]

There's a reason why most people avoid ski-resort towns like the plague...

[jiminnm]

We own a second home in Angel Fire and haven't experienced any of the episodes you describe (including eating at Angel Fired Pizza). Pretty near every person we've met, from full time residents to shop owners to second home owners like us, have been great. The AF real estate market is flooded with properties right now, and based on discussions with a couple of realtors there, can be purchased for much less than listed prices. If you're planning on buying land and not a home, it will be difficult. I understand that very little lender money is available for lending to land-only buyers, so cash is your friend.

There are plenty of properties available outside the resort properties, so no resort fees will be assessed against those. Also, the fees you mentioned are wrong. The amounts are based on the membership you select and not the lot. See http://membership.angelfireresort.co...Brochure07.pdf

There are more than 5,000 houses and condos in AF, but only 1,100-1,200 full time residents. There are times when we think we might be the only folks in town, but that's why we're there. It's a quiet life in AF and you need to be ready for that.

Also, try the Yu Garden for good chinese food.

[Dizzydog]

Originally Posted by jiminnm

We own a second home in Angel Fire and haven't experienced any of the episodes you describe (including eating at Angel Fired Pizza). Pretty near every person we've met, from full time residents to shop owners to second home owners like us, have been great. The AF real estate market is flooded with properties right now, and based on discussions with a couple of realtors there, can be purchased for much less than listed prices. If you're planning on buying land and not a home, it will be difficult. I understand that very little lender money is available for lending to land-only buyers, so cash is your friend.

There are plenty of properties available outside the resort properties, so no resort fees will be assessed against those. Also, the fees you mentioned are wrong. The amounts are based on the membership you select and not the lot. See http://membership.angelfireresort.co...Brochure07.pdf

There are more than 5,000 houses and condos in AF, but only 1,100-1,200 full time residents. There are times when we think we might be the only folks in town, but that's why we're there. It's a quiet life in AF and you need to be ready for that.

Also, try the Yu Garden for good chinese food.

You need to talk to a local realtor who knows what they are talking about. There ARE indeed lots in Valley of the UTEs section (the section we liked) that do have a $2400 fee attached, in other words you are REQUIRED to buy a PLatinum membership if you buy that land. We found that requirment a bit tacky. We are cash buyers so I dont think financing was ever an issue in my original post.

[Dizzydog]

Originally Posted by Mike Horrell

There's a reason why most people avoid ski-resort towns like the plague...

Care to elaborate?

[Mike Horrell]

Originally Posted by Dizzydog

Care to elaborate?

I think the original poster summed it up pretty well, don't you?

[jiminnm]

Originally Posted by Dizzydog

You need to talk to a local realtor who knows what they are talking about. There ARE indeed lots in Valley of the UTEs section (the section we liked) that do have a $2400 fee attached, in other words you are REQUIRED to buy a PLatinum membership if you buy that land. We found that requirment a bit tacky. We are cash buyers so I dont think financing was ever an issue in my original post.

If true, then that is a requirement of that particular development. Perhaps you should ask your realtor if that fee is required. A required premium membership is not applicable to other properties in the resort (as we own one and don't pay that much). There are areas (such as Taos Pines and the Aspens) that are not in the resort boundaries and are not required to have a resort membership, although there are smaller homeowners' assn fees that will apply.

Given the tone of your response and postings, however, I expect you will continue to find folks there unfriendly.

[ApartmentNomad]

Originally Posted by Dizzydog

At the Pizza place the owner actually came out with our beers and we though "about time, we are about to get to meet some local friendlies!" All she did was slap our beers down and CARD US. No interest in talking. Then went back in. Keep in mind we are in our late 30's.

I'm 43 and I've been carded in Albuquerque while simply ordering a beer with my lunch. There's a big DUI problem in New Mexico, so I'm sure the restaurants and bars are under a lot of heat to do things by the book.

I am sympathetic to the complaints about ghetto behavior. You mention some things that annoy me. But it sounds like you might have had a mistaken idea of Taos to begin with. I think it helps to have some background on the social context for some of the conflicts that exist there. From everything I've read about Taos, it would not surprise me if most locals are less than thrilled about outsiders moving in. Between the Hispanics having their land grants stolen out from beneath them to the waves of Modernist artist bohemian visionaries who decided that Taos is somehow the answer to the world's problems, to the hippies bringing their drugs and orgies (haha, I sound way more conservative than I am), or in the case of Dennis Hopper, their drugs, orgies, guns, paranoid apocalyptic fantasies, etc., to what had been for hundreds of years a relatively isolated town with traditional Hispanic Catholics living a rural life alongside the Indians in the Taos Pueblo, it's not really too surprising that outsiders aren't particularly well loved. Plus there is the generic resort factor already mentioned. (I think it's fair to say that resort towns tend to have a love-hate relationship with those who patronize their resorts.)

FWIW, the young Native American waitress who served me at the Texas BBQ was extremely pleasant (apologies for buying Texas barbecue at a New Mexico resort town, but I was sort of stuck in a strip mall at that point, and frankly it was pretty damn good), and the service was good in other cases as well. My waitress at lunch was engaging in conversations with lots of her customers. (She didn't do that so much with me, but I was not in the mood, so maybe she read my body language.)

It's a beautiful area. I doubt I'd want to live there.

If you are interested, check out Enchantment and Exploitation by William de Buys, for some of the history of the area. (Utopian Vistas is also good.)

[debbie at bouontiful]

Originally Posted by Nedely

Are you looking to move to that area? Are those plans shot out of the water now? Are you planning on visiting the Taos Pueblo?

I have visited the Taos Pueblo. I found the tour quite interesting but saw lots of men in the middle of the day not working. Had lots of questions but didn't get answers. Although, the people living in the homes that were selling were all so nice and friendly that I think I'll go back this year for another tour.

Off the point I know