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Relocating to Albuquerque
Hi everyone - I'm going to be moving out to Albuquerque at the beginning of April. ?Hopefully someone can give me some ideas of places to live.
A few details: my DH is going to be stationed at Kirtland AFB. ?We're looking to buy a house. ?Ideally we'd like to be semi-close to the base, but I've heard that the nearby neighborhoods are sketchy. ?(I've also heard that all of ABQ is sketchy, but that can't possibly be true). ?I'm a librarian, but I don't have a job there yet, so no idea on my commute. ?
So far, our realtor has only sent listings in the west section, near I-40 and Unser. ? This seems pretty far away - I had been looking around Mirabella, but maybe this is a worse neighborhood than I thought? ?Anyway, I was looking in the less than $200k range. ?
I'm really excited to be moving, so any help you can give would be greatly appreciated!
Re: Relocating to Albuquerque
Hi and welcome! Well, almost.
I just relocated here myself in September, so I can give you answers to some of your questions, and maybe some of the other girls can help with other things.
As far as "sketchiness", I definitely don't think the whole town is sketchy! Like all semi big cities, there are good parts and bad. It also depends on where you are moving from? That will also help with the commute question.
I relocated from Phoenix, so to me there is NO commute here....the westside area you are talking about is maybe 20 mins from Kirtland (help me out girls, is that right?) so to me that is nothing. My experience has been that most people who are looking for new (or newER) homes in your price range will buy over there, because it's affordable. IMO the area right around Kirtland can be sketchy, and most of the homes are older, so that is something to consider.
I hope that helps- feel free to ask away.
Thanks for the reply! ?I was beginning to think that no one used this board at all.?
We're coming from Dayton, OH, but before that we lived in Los Angeles. ?I definitely don't miss the traffic from L.A. where I had an hour in traffic, each way, to work. ?I've gotten used to the 20 minute drive here, so 20 minutes there shouldn't be too bad either. ?
Obviously I don't want to live in a horrible neighborhood, and normally, I'd be okay with something that was transitioning to a nicer neighborhood if it had interesting older homes. ?But, I know we'll be moving again in 4 years, so resale is more important at the moment. ?
If anyone has any inputs on these neighborhoods (per Google Maps) let me know:
Tierra Oeste
Las Lomita
Ladera West
Quaker Heights
Mirabella/Willow Wood/ Four Hills
Chelwood Park
We do use the board, we're just a small group who doesn't post allthe time.
You should have no problem finding a house in your price range since teh average price in ABQ these days is about $180k.
I'm really only familiar with Chelwood Park and Four Hills on your list. The rest don't even sound familiar to me, but I really only know the NE Height and downtown areas. Both the neighborhoods I know are close to Kirtland, which I think would be a plus for DH's commute. I like Four Hills because you are on teh edge of teh city and right at teh moutnains and all it's trails adn biking routes.
For resale, school district is a big thing. For various reasons (many based on perception and opinion) people really like the La Cueva school cluster. (Basically Dennis Chavez, North Star, Double Eagle & Humphrey Elementary; Desert Ridge & Eisenhower Middle)
ABQ has an odd housing market. We never boomed like the rest of the country and our drop hasn't been as severe. There is a local realtor who does a monthly housing analysis I like - http://www.newmexicohomesearch.com/content.php?page=marketupdate . I have never used him, so this isn't an endorsement. I just like how he does monthly updates and how he presents data.
I tell most people to just look at all the neighborhoods when you move out here. We have a lot of different neighborhoods - rural in teh North & South Valley; old Hispanic neighborhoods like Old Town, Martineztown, Barelas; urban/hip areas like Huning Highland, Downtown and Nob Hill; more suburban areas like the NE Heights and West Side, etc.
Flame pretty much got you all the info I had. I really only know the same neighborhoods she mentioned....and actually, I'm not so sure I really know Chelwood Park. I'm thinking of the area around the street Chelwood and I used to live up there. The houses were older but okay. I haven't been out that way in a few years.
But no, the entire city is not sketchy.
.: Diary of a Recovering Runner :.
Welcome!! I don't live in Abq., but I grew up there. I'm not really much help, though, because in the 8 years that I've been gone, it's expanded so much that I have a hard time getting anywhere now.
Abq. is a great place to live, and I really think you'll enjoy it Are you planning on applying for a job with one of the libraries around here? If you have any more questions, the ladies are on here are very helpful, and will be glad to try and answer any you may have.
I live in the so-called "sketchy" area around Kirtland and my family has lived in this area for the past 50 years. It's not as bad as people make it out to be and the housing costs are reasonable. You can easily get a good home for under $200,000. There are some great restaurants and a really cool International Market around here plus easy access to I-25, I-40 and Uptown.
As for some of the other areas, finding a detached home in Four Hills for that price is not going to happen (I do love that area though). Mirabella and Miravista seem to be nice areas too and they're super close to the Eubank gate at Kirtland. You might be able to find a house for under 200K. Chelwood Park has older homes for that price too and great views of the mountains. I don't get over to the West Side unless it's to see my SIL so I can't help you with those areas.
Good luck!
Thanks to everyone who responded! The more I look at neighborhoods, the more I am convinced that there are a lot of places I could be happy living in ABQ. ?One of my brother's good friends lives in the Nob Hill area, so he's given me some advice as well. ?It's really nice to hear from people who are living in Albuquerque by choice, rather than forced to by circumstances (a different viewpoint, for sure).
Hi!
I have lived in Abq. my entire life and it is wonderful for somethings like you get all of the seasons and it can be beautiful to some people, not to others you just have to get used to it. But I live close to the Nob Hill area and it's nice, but the houses are older. I grew up on the westside, and thats the way to go if you want a newer house cheaper, and everything north of I40 is pretty good I would probably stay away from Ladera, just because lower income people are begininning to move in there and it's becoming more schetchy.... it's pretty close to the I-40 line. you can get anywhere in albuquerque within 20 minutes. I may also recommend the very south side of Rio Rancho, it may seem far but it's really not bad, and there are new houses from about $160K brand new the area is called Cabezon, again it would probably take your husband about 20 minutes to get to work, but it's a cute little neighborhood with good parks and a community pool, and close to everything. I hope this helps...
Hi there, I'm in the exact same boat as you...although I'm no longer in the Air Force. My man and I moved here by choice. He was born and raised here. We are in the process of getting a house on the westside in Ventana Ranch. The neighborhood seems so nice and they seem to hold their value well which makes for ideal resale in 3-5 years! I came from Phoenix as well....so the commutes here are a joke to me.
Hope everything has gone smoothly in your transition to New Mexico!