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Does anyone know where new housing is being built in Albq or Rio Rancho, such as Kb Homes,longford, or artistic, or any others, Im looking for something affordable,around 150,000.It seems like its too expensive to live here unless you have a career.
I'm not keen on where new construction is taking place, but many good homes can be had throughout the city if you're willing to buy a HUD home and don't mind putting some work into it. The amount of TLC these homes require varies from minimal (a few holes in the wall+paint) to major (new roof), but some real gems can be found and made into a real nice home if you have some experience in this kind of work. I would know since I have first hand experience in this.
Sorry that I could not help with your question specifically--I just thought I would offer an alternative.
If you go to the north end of Rio Rancho, and get on Hwy 528 where Price Dairy used to be, you'll find a very large development of new houses.
This development has various builders and a wide price range. One of the neighborhoods is called Alegria. I'm not exactly sure what the starting prices are, but it might be worth your time to take a drive out there.
Best way to get there is to take Exit 242 and head west until you reach 528. Turn left and drive a couple of miles. The new houses are on the left.
Starting prices in that subdivison are around $200K IIRC.
I personally would never recommend KB Homes -- they have a lousy reputation in several states and I just don't like the way they do business etc or the quality of their construction. That said, lots of people do buy their houses because they are inexpensive and some people really like them.
I would recommend Wallen and Longford. Longford seem to do a good job at straddling the price and quality line. My mom has a Longford home and is very happy. Wallen is more expensive, one level down from a custom home, and I think they are great. My personal experience with them was very positive.
I would suggest just looking in the Sunday paper real estate section which lists all the new developments and the price ranges. There are still plenty of places in Rio Rancho where you can get a house for $150K as far as I can tell.
Starting prices in that subdivison are around $200K IIRC.
I personally would never recommend KB Homes -- they have a lousy reputation in several states and I just don't like the way they do business etc or the quality of their construction. That said, lots of people do buy their houses because they are inexpensive and some people really like them.
I would recommend Wallen and Longford. Longford seem to do a good job at straddling the price and quality line. My mom has a Longford home and is very happy. Wallen is more expensive, one level down from a custom home, and I think they are great. My personal experience with them was very positive.
I would suggest just looking in the Sunday paper real estate section which lists all the new developments and the price ranges. There are still plenty of places in Rio Rancho where you can get a house for $150K as far as I can tell.
You can also do that south of town too.
On the contrary, I have a few friends who purchased Longford homes and have complained of shody construction and lots of problems.
I own a KB home, I purchased it when the company was still Kaufman & Broad. It has turned out to be a great home, I've lived in it for 7 years and no problems yet. I think any home you buy with any builder can turn out to be a good home, or problematic one.
Like I said some people are happy with KB homes and that's good. In Texas they have a terrible reputation around the Austin area and they appear to have a bad rep in Georgia too and since being in New Mexico I've heard some real negatives also.
But as you mentioned you are happy and my mom is happy with Longford and you know people that aren't.
So really, it's hard to gauge I guess. My mom and I have both built and bought several houses from tract houses to fully custom and semi-custom and what we have learned is if you want a good product you must be totally involved and stay on top of things constantly throughout the building process. Sub contractors can be the make or break issue -- so just depends on who your general contractor uses.
Does anyone know where new housing is being built in Albq or Rio Rancho, such as Kb Homes,longford, or artistic, or any others, Im looking for something affordable,around 150,000.It seems like its too expensive to live here unless you have a career.
As others have stated, there is quite a bit of building occuring on the west side & Rio Rancho. But from the sound of it, it doesn't sound like these are going to meet your target price. There are other developments closer to your price range in the SW part of town, but I could not recommend these in good conscience, regardless who the builder might be. Just a bad part of town.
However, I would strongly urge you to investigate various in-fill projects/redevelopments around town. One such group is the Sawmill Community Land Trust (www.sawmillclt.org) , which is redeveloping a large chunk of land south of I-40, north of Old Town. The changes they have brought to this area are truly impressive, and their aim is to keep the housing affordable in this area on a long term basis. I believe they are developing the "loft" phase of their project at this time.
I purchased a home some years ago in the pilot project that eventually evolved into the SCLT, and would recommend anyone "just starting out" to check them out. The build quality of my home was more that adequate, and I loved the central geographic location of the property.
My main point is that there are options to consider throughout the city (and all around it). But there are some that take a little more effort to "sniff out".
I'm not quite sure what you're driving at when you say one needs a "career" to live in ABQ. Do you need a steady, full-time job to get by in the city? It certainly doesn't hurt. But I think there are plenty of folks out there that punch the clock and do just fine, without necessarily holding a "career" type position. But just like I said before, it just takes a little (or sometimes a lot) more work.
Chap
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Just a bad part of town.
