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I will be moving to Albuquerque in a year or two and am looking for a well built existing home. That should not be too hard to find but in the chance that I might have to go with one of the new construction builders does anyone have a few reputable names you can give me. Please don't give me any one not to go with, I don't want anyone being sued by a contractor. Let's just stick with the postive. If you do recommed a builder could you give me a few reasons why you suggest that builder.
I know two people who live in Mossmans and although they are very 'mid-century' and 'middle America' looking, I think they are some of the best quality houses of the post-war period in Albuquerque. Pretty solid and nice floor plans.
I also like a lot of houses from the 30s and 40s. Very solid with a lot of nice architectural detail.
If you want a good modern house, the best built ones are the really expensive ones. I find a lot (but not all) of the less expensive, newer housing around the edges of the metro to be slapdash in construction.
I live in Sundoro on the west side of Albuquerque. We bought a new Fuller home two years ago. It is a great house and very well built. My husband does construction inspection so he knew what to look for. There are still lots available and some houses for sale that are only a couple years old.
I have been in the construction industry for 30 years and owned my own custom home building business for over 10 years before relocating back to NM.
I too was searching for a home this past summer (interest rates close to 4% and a sluggish real estate market were irresistible!) and like many of the previous posters, I was willing to give up a lot of the convinces of a new home for the neighborhood/feel of an older home.
I searched Nob Hill extensively and found that most of the construction there wasn't as quality as I had initially expected it to be. For one thing, I thought most of that area was adobe construction, which it isn’t (almost all is plaster over stick framing). I looked at nearly 30 homes and the majority of them had been remodeled several times over the past decades- usually by (what appeared to me) to be unqualified people. I saw code issues, patched together plumbing jobs, dangerous electrical work, and shoddy craftsmanship. All this would cost some major $'s to correct. I felt the area was (with a couple exceptions) a bad value for the money. The $/sq ft cost for the typical Nob Hill home is crazy expensive for typically tiny, one bath, energy inefficient house with a single car garage (if you are lucky).
So I expanded my search to the NE/SE Heights and finally found a home built in 2003 by Roger Smith which was very well done. The modern energy efficient hvac systems/electrical/plumbing/windows all make a very energy efficient house. I don't know Roger Smith and I’ve never talked to him, but from my perspective as a custom home builder he does quality work. A new home starts to show its flaws when it’s about 5 years old and so far I don’t see the usual signs of bad construction nor workmanship. I have no regrets about not moving into the Nob Hill area what so ever.
Roger Smith: Roger Smith Homes (http://www.rogersmithhomes.com/ - broken link)
I searched Nob Hill extensively and found that most of the construction there wasn't as quality as I had initially expected it to be. For one thing, I thought most of that area was adobe construction, which it isn’t (almost all is plaster over stick framing). I looked at nearly 30 homes and the majority of them had been remodeled several times over the past decades- usually by (what appeared to me) to be unqualified people. I saw code issues, patched together plumbing jobs, dangerous electrical work, and shoddy craftsmanship. All this would cost some major $'s to correct. I felt the area was (with a couple exceptions) a bad value for the money. The $/sq ft cost for the typical Nob Hill home is crazy expensive for typically tiny, one bath, energy inefficient house with a single car garage (if you are lucky).
Did you check out Southeast Heights area? We had an engineer inspect our house and asked him where the best house he'd ever inspected was located (he had inspected many hundreds of houses by then). He said it was on Graceland, south of Zuni, which is close to Nob Hill, an area with 1950's-60's-built houses.
Of course you will find lots of code issues in all the older houses simply because codes are always changing. If anything is "dangerous" it would need to be addressed before sale.
For me, I can't warm up to newer houses built on a slab. Do any of the newer builders build crawl spaces anymore? I grew up with basements and hardwood flooring that creaks underfoot on the ground level. That's part of a "homey" feel for me, the floor can't be rock-solid. So I picked an old 50's neighborhood with mediocre construction and creaky floors and really enjoy it. Just 1400 sq. ft. with 1-3/4 ba and 2-car garage. Loving the location, too, about 5 minutes to Nob Hill.
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