Moving to Santa Fe suburbs (Silver City, Espanola: for sale, new home, neighborhoods)

[Karen INFP]

Hi -

We are considering moving to the Santa Fe area but cannot afford to buy a home in Santa Fe proper. Can anyone give me information on the surrounding area (20-30 mile radius) and suggest nice small towns to look at?

We are coming from a very rural part of Maine and first considered Silver City but we think it might be too small for us. I can work from anywhere since I teach online but my husband would need to find some work for at least a few more years. He is a Mechanical Engineer.

Thanks much!

Karen

[Devin Bent]

Originally Posted by Karen INFP

Hi -

We are considering moving to the Santa Fe area but cannot afford to buy a home in Santa Fe proper. Can anyone give me information on the surrounding area (20-30 mile radius) and suggest nice small towns to look at?

We are coming from a very rural part of Maine and first considered Silver City but we think it might be too small for us. I can work from anywhere since I teach online but my husband would need to find some work for at least a few more years. He is a Mechanical Engineer.

Thanks much!

Karen

South

Going southsouthwest you have Madrid/Cerillos. Madrid is an old mining town, Cerillos a Hispanic community. The area is becoming very arty. Houses will be a mix -- some of the old places may not have been build well. Water may be an issue. Some people down there live off the grid.

Southsoutheast. Eldorado and some of the surrounding communities offer newer homes -- planned with good amenities and covenants. Lots mostly i 1.5 to 3 acres, I THINK. There are always some homes for sale there.

Cienega? Southwest. Not familiar with it.

To the north.

Close north. Teseque. No price relief here. As expensive as you will find in NM. Las Campanas and surrounding communties. Ditto. Wealthy outsiders -- homes will be vacant for extended periods.

20 minutes north. Pojoaque Valley. A series of small traditionally Hispanic communities -- east to west are Nambe, Pojoaque, Jacona, Jaconita, El Rancho. A mixed area. You might find a 100 acre estate with a trailer next door on a small lot. A mix of Hispanics, Anglos, and Indians in that numerical order. But people take pride in getting along well. Three pueblos -- Nambe, Pojoaque, and San Ildefonso. Note that the Hispanic community and the adjacent pueblo often have the same name. I live in Nambe, the traditionally Hispanic community, two miles driving from the nearest reservation land.

Beautiful scenery. You can find a few consistently nice neighborhoods, but have to look. Mine is like that with five acre lots, only thing for sale right now is a vacant lot -- 5 acres with beautiful views. Well and septic in. Telephone line to lot. Good wireless -- Verizon.

Nambe is getting a little pricey even in the short time that I have been here -- that lot is $330K.

[Karen INFP]

Thanks Devin for the detailed reply. It still sounds pricey in the suburbs. I'm not sure what I was expecting. Have seen some decent properties for decent prices in the Silver City region, so I was hoping.....

I'll have to get my map out and look at where you talked about. We are planning to take a trip out there in January, so we will check out the areas you have mentioned. Sounds interesting anyway and certainly alot different than Maine!

Thanks again.

[Devin Bent]

Don't go by the Nambe prices for all the places I mentioned. IMO -- the fickle finger of fashion is pointing at Nambe and prices may be higher than for other places a comparable distance from Santa Fe. El Dorado, for instance, might provide better deals.

You might also consider some of the suburbs of ABQ. ABQ might have job possibilities for your husband and those suburbs would be a little less pricey. Santa Fe would still be a reasonable distance for visits.

[santafescribe]

Though I hate to echo the "Santa Fe's too expensive" line, it's getting there, for people who need to make a living and pay a mortgage. That said, there's some great property - relatively new homes in a subdivision called Tierra Contenta - around the $250,000 range in the south side of the city. If that price range is too high, then you're priced out of an area around 20 miles of Santa Fe, and you should consider Espanola/Mesilla to the north and Edgewood to the south.

[Towanda]

Devin often quotes Eldorado as being the most affordable place in or near Santa Fe .... but there is an area southwest of the city off Airport Rd. where there are the lowest priced new homes I have seen in Santa Fe. We were not interested in them - cookie cutter homes kind of squeezed together on small lots - nothing wrong with that but we have lived that way our entire lives and wanted a place with more land and houses more spread out, so we chose Eldorado.

Is this development off Airport Rd. where Tierra Contenta is?

[Devin Bent]

OK, we want to talk affordable. There is an area -- Cuyamungue -- north of Tesuque and south of the Pojoaque Valley. I think for MLS purposes it is listed as part of the Pojoaque Valley -- but it is really Tesuque Valley along both sides of 84/285. I think you can get a decent house there for 200K, maybe even with water rights and a decent view.

But -- somehow, Cuyamungue IMO grew up a little messy. You'd have to see it to understand. BUT you are within fifteen miles of Santa Fe by limted access four lane highway.

[santafescribe]

Originally Posted by Towanda

Is this development off Airport Rd. where Tierra Contenta is?

Yes, Tierra Contenta is in the southwest.

[Devin Bent]

Originally Posted by Towanda

Devin often quotes Eldorado as being the most affordable place in or near Santa Fe .... but there is an area southwest of the city off Airport Rd. where there are the lowest priced new homes I have seen in Santa Fe. We were not interested in them - cookie cutter homes kind of squeezed together on small lots - nothing wrong with that but we have lived that way our entire lives and wanted a place with more land and houses more spread out, so we chose Eldorado.

Excuse me Towanda but I hate having people put words in my mouth. I don't believe that I have ever said that El Dorado is the MOST affordable place in or near Santa Fe. All I have ever said is that El Dorado is one of the places or an example or instance of a place where -- if you like that sort of community -- that you can get a reasonable return for your money.

Clearly there are cheaper areas.

And I say enough stupid things without any help. Thank you.

[Towanda]

Devin, I'm sorry if you feel like you were misquoted. I apologize. It is never my intent to "put words in people's mouths."

I have enough trouble with my own words.