Affordable communities near SF? (Santa Fe, Los Alamos: rentals, mortgage, buying a home)

[mchavez007]

We are a young couple looking to relocate somewhere near Santa Fe/Los Alamos. My husband just got a job offer from LANL. We have a new baby and I am planning to stay home with her until she is a bit older, so we'll have only his income ($85k).

I'm pretty sure we can't afford to live in Los Alamos, so we are thinking Santa Fe or surrounding areas. Are there any communities/areas near Santa Fe that are more affordable for a young couple just starting out? My husband doesn't mind commuting around 1 hour to LANL.

We'd love to buy a home, but we will probably end up renting at first, and would like to spend under $1500 per month.

Any insight is greatly appreciated!

[old bird]

Look in Eldorado. Good for families. Reasonable home values (at least for Santa Fe). Great k-8 school. Community center with a pool and playground. I wouldn't consider living anywhere else in Santa Fe with my young kids.

[Towanda]

I love Eldorado, have lived here for a little over two years, and would not want to live anyplace else in the Santa Fe area.

The cost of homes here has gone down in the last two years, and you can find some homes down in the upper $200 range. Part of the reason Eldorado prices stay up is due to the reason all the homesites are on 1 to 1.5 acre lots.

There is a new area of Centex homes being built in Santa Fe at Richards and Governor Miles Rd. We drove by there the other day and they have a lot of homes under construction. The lowest priced model starts at $229,000. For Santa Fe that is a phenomenol price. I was thinking how perfect those houses would be for a young family that wants an affordable home in Santa Fe. I have not seen the interiors of any of the homes, so I cannot speak to the amenties and the quality there.

Villa Sonata.

At that location, you would be much closer to getting on the highway for a commute to Los Alamos than you would living in Eldorado. Villa Sonata is being built on the southside of the city, while Eldorado is a 20 minute drive southeast of the city.

[GreatSantaFe]

You might want to check out White Rock, which is a suburb of Los Alamos - they've got 15 homes currently on the market for under $300,000 and it's in the highly rated Los Alamos School District.
But don't give up on buying a home in Los Alamos either - there are currently 37 homes there priced between $100K - 299K. Your husband probably has better things to do with you and the baby at home than commute up to 2 hours a day!

[mortimer]

Originally Posted by GreatSantaFe

... husband probably has better things to
do ... than commute up to 2 hours a day!

That would be a quality of life issue.

It's amazing that someone smart enough to work at Los Alamos
considers a 1-hour commute to be reasonable.

There is also the cost of such a commute. One hour of driving
would be around 40 miles which you can assume to cost you
about $40/day. $40, that is, if you completely ignore the value
of your time wasted in the car.

$40/day is $40 x 21.7 days is $870 per month.

Think you can't afford to live in town? Think again.

[Ziasforever]

Originally Posted by Towanda

I love Eldorado, have lived here for a little over two years, and would not want to live anyplace else in the Santa Fe area.

The cost of homes here has gone down in the last two years, and you can find some homes down in the upper $200 range. Part of the reason Eldorado prices stay up is due to the reason all the homesites are on 1 to 1.5 acre lots.

There is a new area of Centex homes being built in Santa Fe at Richards and Governor Miles Rd. We drove by there the other day and they have a lot of homes under construction. The lowest priced model starts at $229,000. For Santa Fe that is a phenomenol price. I was thinking how perfect those houses would be for a young family that wants an affordable home in Santa Fe. I have not seen the interiors of any of the homes, so I cannot speak to the amenties and the quality there.

Villa Sonata.

At that location, you would be much closer to getting on the highway for a commute to Los Alamos than you would living in Eldorado. Villa Sonata is being built on the southside of the city, while Eldorado is a 20 minute drive southeast of the city.

Sometime back I went into one of those homes that had been optioned-out pretty nicely. It was roomy (for Santa Fe) and the price was only $250K.

[GreatSantaFe]

P.S. to my earlier post - If you do want to rent first, figure the cost will be something around $1/sq.ft./mo. So you should easily be able to get a decent sized home for at or under your budget - whether in Santa Fe or the Los Alamos area. There's a lot of rental inventory available so landlords would probably be willing to cut you a pretty good deal.
Another thought - With millions of dollars of new federal funding coming to Los Alamos - and new hires (like your husband) coming with it, it's possible that prices for homes (and rentals) will firm up in Los Alamos/White Rock and may even go up in the coming months. This is not to suggest that you rush into making any decision; it's just one more factor you folks might wish to consider (along with the fact that you could get into a fixed mortgage rate now of between 3.75 - 4.25%).

[Gearhound]

I commuted a 137 mile daily round trip (3 hours a day) for almost 20 years.
Trust me, it got old.....real fast!!
Do yourself and your family a BIG favor, and buy something local, IF you can find anything reasonable.
Too much time on the highway, just kinds eats into your soul, and will make you miserable!

Steve