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This won't be a 2008 situation. Dodd/Frank and Truth in Lending have now largely shielded the public from predatory lending. Throughout the mid-2000s, especially, there were all types of loans being approved. 3-5 year balloons were most popular. Reverse mortgages with teaser rates. All kinds of creative financing were the rage. Then everyone with the balloon payments due saturated the market, and depressed the market. You know all of this. And to compound it the feds had a social engineering thing going on that promoted homeownership over renting, the idea of that was very prevalent in the day. Anyone with a body temperature roughly in the 90s was being pre-approved. Well, a lot of good came out of that. Banks are VERY careful nowadays with lending, if your credit score is under 620, you are going to be given a 'time out' and referred to a credit restoration specialist, and come back again in 6-12 months and try again. The upshot of all of this is I don't foresee a mass sell-off that occurred back in the day. Instead, if the feds raise the interest rates next year (and I think that's inevitable), then a lot of especially younger buyers that can't remember back to the late 70s early 80s during the Carter era, when interest rates were 15-18%, are going to think that a 4% rate is too much, and will continue to rent instead of own. That I think will free up some inventory. As of right now me typing this there are 202 listings in this MLS. That's the entire county, plus some strays in Alamogordo, Deming, and other far-flung outposts where realtors have subscriberships to multiple MLS's. This time of the year, there aren't as many buyers, but there aren't many who want to list now either. But there are still more buyers than sellers. My feeling is that Tucson and Phoenix have similar low inventory issues as well. So you will benefit from selling now, but you are also going to pay hefty on the backside. I think in the short term, the first 90 days of 2022, all hell is going to break loose, in front of a speculative rate hike, and the inventory is going to plummet, which will help you now, but again, you have also concluded this is going to get passed on to you in Tucson or Phoenix. I hope I am wrong, by the way. I would love to see more inventory. We really need it.
I think we will rent when we first move. My job is remote so nothing changes but my wife will need to find a job in her field so we’ll need to concentrate on that first. Plus we would like to see if the market corrects a bit. I could see us renting for a year or two but not longer than that. If the market is still whacked after two years we’ll have to plug our noses and take the plunge. I’m also just a few years away from my 55th so we might look at adult communities ( I can’t believe I’m saying that because I never saw myself moving into one of those). My mom lives in a place south of Phoenix and homes start around $400, which is towards the top of where we want to be, especially considering HOAs. I just like the idea of peace and quiet, something we certainly have not enjoyed here.
Tucson and Phoenix have the same issues as Las Cruces as far as everything you described being negative. Have you seen the news and read the stories coming out of there lately?? And, as was mentioned, they are even more expensive. Why not just move to El Paso?
I don’t know, I mean I understand places like Tucson and Phoenix have their issues but at least they have decent infrastructure. The lack of police around here is astounding. I’ve lived in 4 different states from very large cities to small ones and I’ve never experienced this before. I’ve been to some local meetings and budget is all they talk about. We understood New Mexico wasn’t a rich state when we moved here. Actually we like the fact that New Mexico’s interstate rest areas were mostly built in the 60’s. We love the fact that New Mexico doesn’t try and impress anyone. The other side of that coin is when you really need for change to happen to better your quality of life, you’re told they can’t afford to police your neighborhood. Those doing it just don’t give a crap. The ones that race, or sit on the side of the road with their music blaring at 3am on a weeknight suck at being good, respectful citizens. I’m sure this happens in every state in America but at least in those states (at least most) there’s at least some threat of them being ticketed or punished in some way. Here they do it with impunity. El Paso is OK but it’s not very pretty to look at. LC has a wonderful setting with the Organs, Tucson is beautiful. El Paso is also in Texas and I just don’t think I could get my wife to live there. I’m pretty middle of the road when it comes to politics but my wife is a pretty big lefty, she told me she wouldn’t pay one red cent in taxes to support their government, so if we did live there we’d need a pretty good tax attorney.
I don’t know, I mean I understand places like Tucson and Phoenix have their issues but at least they have decent infrastructure. The lack of police around here is astounding. I’ve lived in 4 different states from very large cities to small ones and I’ve never experienced this before. I’ve been to some local meetings and budget is all they talk about. We understood New Mexico wasn’t a rich state when we moved here. Actually we like the fact that New Mexico’s interstate rest areas were mostly built in the 60’s. We love the fact that New Mexico doesn’t try and impress anyone. The other side of that coin is when you really need for change to happen to better your quality of life, you’re told they can’t afford to police your neighborhood. Those doing it just don’t give a crap. The ones that race, or sit on the side of the road with their music blaring at 3am on a weeknight suck at being good, respectful citizens. I’m sure this happens in every state in America but at least in those states (at least most) there’s at least some threat of them being ticketed or punished in some way. Here they do it with impunity. El Paso is OK but it’s not very pretty to look at. LC has a wonderful setting with the Organs, Tucson is beautiful. El Paso is also in Texas and I just don’t think I could get my wife to live there. I’m pretty middle of the road when it comes to politics but my wife is a pretty big lefty, she told me she wouldn’t pay one red cent in taxes to support their government, so if we did live there we’d need a pretty good tax attorney.
I'd really take a good look at everything you're gonna be dealing with in moving to either Phoenix or Tucson. Really drill down into the numbers and stories. People tend to look at other places with rose-colored glasses. Arizona is not that advanced or better at infrastructure. Phoenix and Tucson and their various suburbs and nearby communities face the same issues as New Mexico. Arizona on a per capita basis is not much better than New Mexico in most measurements, from GDP to income levels and wages, quality jobs, etc. Phoenix and Tucson both have higher costs of living than everywhere in New Mexico besides Santa Fe, certainly higher than Las Cruces.
Phoenix is the poster child for that kind of "bro" culture you say you are dealing with in Las Cruces. Street racing and it being a low priority due to staffing and funding issues is going on in both Phoenix and Tucson as well.
Where I live, road racers get dealt with quickly and effectively. No state income taxes, so they state doesn't get any direct tax money from the citizenry. Then again, we have a large percentage of Republicans.....maybe that's why.
Where I live, road racers get dealt with quickly and effectively. No state income taxes, so they state doesn't get any direct tax money from the citizenry. Then again, we have a large percentage of Republicans.....maybe that's why.
Yeah, I'm neither a D nor an R and, although I don't like the heavy handedness of the Texas leadership re abortion (I have more of a libertarian bent), but it is not enough (yet) to drive me from the state.
I'm a California native, and I lived there for over 45 years, but for the last 20 years or so I've felt about California government the way the OP's wife feels about Texas government (I've lived in Texas since the late 2000s)
Yeah, I'm neither a D nor an R and, although I don't like the heavy handedness of the Texas leadership re abortion (I have more of a libertarian bent), but it is not enough (yet) to drive me from the state.
I'll admit to mixed feelings on it....but the life-loving (in general) part of me says that the fetus should have a right to live, also. In this day and age, there's really no reason to become pregnant unless you're just careless. In the case of incest and/or rape, however, then the mother should have an absolute choice. Not "fair" to the fetus, perhaps - but I can't imagine the mental issues created by a woman having to carry a baby to term that was created by violence/incest. It's not an easy, "open-and-shut" situation, to be sure.
Excellent post, 100% accurate, and basically reinforces what I've been getting roasted for saying for years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redcrow46
We’ve been here for three years now and my wife and I have decided we’ve had enough. When we first moved here we liked it. Weather is fine and the Organs are beautiful but the negatives have begun to outweigh the positives. First off the people here are not friendly. Aggressive drivers. Aggressive people in general. I’ve had run ins with strangers here when I never had any in the place we came from. No matter where you go the customer service sucks. From restaurants to stores and everything in between. It has a small town mentality and the basic thought process is, if you don’t like it, go somewhere else. There’s absolutely no police presence whatsoever and idiots use the road near our house as a racetrack 24/7. Extremely loud cars and loud music constantly, disrespectful to the point of making our neighborhood unlivable. I’ve called the police several times and not once have I seen them show up in our area. There are a few decent restaurants but they get old after a while. No real sports bars, we’ve gone to one and paid $9 for a hamburger the size of a McDonalds regular hamburger and the place was so dirty we’ll never go again. No real entertainment, for that you’re driving 45 minutes to El Paso and dealing with the Highway of Death (I-10). We wanted to relocate to a different neighborhood but now the one good thing Las Cruces had going for it is gone; affordable housing is no more. If you want a nice house in a nice neighborhood you’re spending $300k for a 1500 sq ft track home with a postage size lot. Truth is, it’s boring here. If you’re retired and have a bunch of money you might like it here. Buy a nice home in a quiet neighborhood and don’t go anywhere, this might be the place for you. Just know if you go outside of your neighborhood you’re going to be dealing with aggressive bro’s with bad attitudes driving their BMW’s with 84 month loans. The job market is horrible because of its size. My wife has a masters and the same teaching job she had where we’re from pays almost half here as it did there. She’s looked for work the entire time we’ve been here but if there’s not a Spanish requirement, the pay is laughable. If this place had more going for it it would be one thing but it’s just a dusty patch in the desert with overpriced homes and nothing to do. We tried to like it here, we tried to make it work but are now done. It’s not worth it. This place ain’t worth trying for. If you’re thinking about moving here, look at other options first. More than likely we’ll end up outside of Tucson or Phoenix as Albuquerque is just a bigger version of this.
I'd really take a good look at everything you're gonna be dealing with in moving to either Phoenix or Tucson. Really drill down into the numbers and stories. People tend to look at other places with rose-colored glasses. Arizona is not that advanced or better at infrastructure. Phoenix and Tucson and their various suburbs and nearby communities face the same issues as New Mexico. Arizona on a per capita basis is not much better than New Mexico in most measurements, from GDP to income levels and wages, quality jobs, etc. Phoenix and Tucson both have higher costs of living than everywhere in New Mexico besides Santa Fe, certainly higher than Las Cruces.
Phoenix is the poster child for that kind of "bro" culture you say you are dealing with in Las Cruces. Street racing and it being a low priority due to staffing and funding issues is going on in both Phoenix and Tucson as well.
As for El Paso and the negative aspect of it being in Texas, I understand. I also wouldn't want to live in Texas because of the statewide leadership.
I get what you’re saying. I’m not looking at AZ with rose colored glasses. I’ve spent enough time in AZ to see it isn’t paradise. The thing is I feel that LC has a lot the same issues as Tucson and Phoenix but without the benefits. There’s nothing here. Ok, if I have to put up with street racing and the bro culture then I want options. I want Italian food. If we want to go to a chain restraint on a weeknight for a steak because we’ve worked all day and don’t want to cook, I don’t want to wait an hour and a half for a table because there’s only one or two in town. Instead of 13 houses to choose from that are in our price range and a neighborhood we would move to, give me 75. Instead of one car dealer (of our cars brands) that tell you you’re going to have to book out an oil change 3 weeks in advance, I want to pull up and get it done when I want. It took my wife three hours to get blood drawn while stuffed in a waiting room with coughing people during a pandemic. We understand hospitals are pushed to the breaking point these days but it would have nice to get some sort of beeper or one of them new fangled things called a “text”and wait outside than to have to stay in the waiting room waiting for your name to be called, sitting next to Typhoid Mary for two plus hours. This was at LC’s ‘premier’ hospital btw, not some clinic in town.
This was at LC’s ‘premier’ hospital btw, not some clinic in town.
And that's why LC really shouldn't be on a retiree's list of destinations either. LC is not exactly a hub of stellar health care.
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