Coming To Visit Ruidoso Area (Ruidoso Downs: sales, renting, condo)
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New Mexicans have ties to Spain, or ties to things Hispanic, but not ties to Mexico the nation state. Anyone who has ties that go back to Mexico for centuries hasn't been in New Mexico all that long. I am a native born New Mexican and I have no ties to Mexico. The culture in New Mexico is different from Mexican culture and has developed naturally over the past 150+ years. Once upon a time there was a lot less concern about the difference between Anglos and Hispanics, because both could share New Mexico heritage equally. Once upon a time, native born New Mexicans were concerned about the effects of large numbers of people coming in from either Chicago or Chihuahua, because they were outsiders.
Any New Mexican who wants to celebrate Cinco de Mayo should do so with gusto. Bastille Day or Guy Fawkes Day too, for that matter.
Ties to Mexico do go back hundreds of years. For the most part, Spaniards who immigrated to NM came north from Mexico, not directly from Spain. Immigration from Mexico has been going on since that time and continues today. Some New Mexicans may not have ties to Mexico, but many more do. Mexico is much more than the nation state.
I'm so excited! We finally booked our flights and are spending the week of Thanksgiving in Ruidoso. Our main goal for the trip is to get a feel for the area, verify that this is in fact where we want to move, and then find property.
Anything in particular going on that week that we should check out?
Congratuations! You are doing the right thing looking for property now. We just went through the same exercise, and in fact just had our closing last week. I would like to think we did a pretty thorough investigation of things, so maybe we might be able to help. But let me tell you where we were coming from and see if this helps.
We have horses, so the first item on our list was to have at least 10 acres. We started Ruidoso and north (seemed that the 'rez pretty much took up everything immediately south). Originally wanted to be within 10 miles of Rui, but (of course) found property prices pretty high. So ended up just outside of Alto (toward Nogal, off highway 37). Looked hard at Capitan and Carrizozo areas, but really liked the strech between Alto and Nogal the best for value, beauty, and future resale value.
So if you're looking for a cabin in town, 'fraid others on the board will be more helpful. If you're looking for more land or something outside a bit, maybe we can give some pointers from our limited experience.
Happy hunting! Have a great time, and if you're really going to do some heavy-duty investigations, you'll be amazed at how fast the week will go. Do you already have a place to stay picked out? Of course, there are some great properties on Upper Canyon, but may I recommend the Cozy Bear Cabins? We've stayed there a couple of years now and you can walk everywhere from there. Have fun!!
I *know* one week isn't going to be long enough! But we'll make do. We actually have been focusing on the Ruidoso and Capitan areas. Alto and Nogal were on our original list (and may make a reappearnce) but I think we can get what we need and stay a bit closer to town. We're looking for 5-10 acres where we can keep a horse or three.
I'm really excited. The only thing I didn't think about is: will there be any place for us to EAT on Thanksgiving day? Hopefully at least the Casino will be open (they don't close for anything, do they?). We did a package air/hotel/car and ended up at the Days Inn at Ruidoso Downs.
Hi Swansdown,
Yup, I had a suspicion you were looking for much the same as we were. OK, first, I assume you're doing your homework on the internet. This is the property search tool we used:
This seems to work pretty good, but we didn't use them as an agent. Rather, we used another Ruidoso firm, and I can give you Pam's contact info if you'd like. OK, ow the rest is what we did. I'm probably telling you more than you want to know, and you probably have a better system already underway, and if so, just skip the rest of this message! But for what's it's worth, here's what we did.
We first met with our realtor to show what listings we had in mind, and she gave us a bunch more. We started out keen on Ranches of Sentosa, which is a great area, but quickly found out it won't work, not if you really want more than 10 acres. And you'll have a lot of non-horse neighbors who probably don't like flies and manure. But what a pretty area! Anyway, I diverse. We took to the road and did the drive-bys of both bare land and properties that had some housing on there. My wife has her heart set on a Santa Fe style home, which we knew we couldn't afford right now anyway. But the thinking was if we can find a place with a decent well, electric, etc and a cheap single wide, we could go for it now and build the dream home later. In the end, we decided to put the money into the land and work on improvements over the next few years, since we won't be in a position to move there until then anyway.
So still with us? After trucking around on our own for a day, we eliminated a bunch of places and then took 2 days with the realtor to visit I think 8 places. After that, we settled on 2 places, and drove to 'Zozo to visit the county assessors office, title company, and lawyer. As it turns out, there was an easement issue with our property (and an old lien) and I'm sure glad we got that taken care of. Then the next day we talked to well people, the power company, building inspector, surveying firm, phone company, etc to make sure we knew what we were getting into.
Finally, we wrote up an offer and as we were driving back to El Paso to fly out, we negotiated a settlement! We closed within 45 days.
So that was probably more than you wanted to hear. But if not, and you have any specific questions, drop me a note. It will be fun to hear from you and how things go! And yes, the casino and hotels will have their dining rooms open on Thanksgiving, so you won't starve. And if you do, there is always Alsups!
Sorry, Ranches of Sonterra. Sentosa is the island outside of Singapore (where I just came back from.) Blame it on jet lag-but you have to keep your day job to pay for hay, right?!
We first met with our realtor to show what listings we had in mind, and she gave us a bunch more. We started out keen on Ranches of Sentosa, which is a great area, but quickly found out it won't work, not if you really want more than 10 acres.
If your realtor did not show you Vista Rio Bonito, then shame on her! They opened for sale a year ago in the early summer. It is just across the Bonito (north) from Sonterra and the minimum lot is 10 acres. It is north of Airport Road about 10 miles from Ruidoso. Paved roads all the way. It also borders the Fort Stanton BLM plot, so the opportunities for riding are very good. Wells at the lower elevations are ~200ft so water prospects are also good.
We bought a lot their last year... seemed like the best deal in the area. Looks like there are many lots left. Ruidoso Properties
The pictures on that site are not very good, BTW... don't really do it justice. If you are interested I'd be happy to give you my impression of any particular lot. Also, I'm sure they will deal on the prices.
RRuff,
You are in a great area! The Vista Rio Bonito area is really a neat setting, and we took a hard look there. You made a great decision to locate there, and you'll see your property value increase over time for sure. That's one thing that really attracted us to the area, there are so many great areas of such variety in a relatively small area. There is so much diversity between your area, and developments like Montaraz, Val De Sol, and Vera Cruz Mountain you can really get what you want, each with it's own micro climate and unique features. Now we just have to figure out a way to handle the financial aspects of living in the area! That's the price of such a beautiful area, for sure.
BTW, you aren't too far from us! We're at mile 4 off 37, about a mile from the "castle" on 37 coming out of Alto. We were told that property is the most expensive in Southern NM-even more than Jackie Spencer's new mansion, if that would have been completed. Anyone know if that's true? We did hear they are now talking about putting up a $1m equestian center on that property. Wow, that will be something if that comes to pass.
BTW, you aren't too far from us! We're at mile 4 off 37, about a mile from the "castle" on 37 coming out of Alto.
You are even closer to where we currently live... top of Angus Hill off 48.
I like your neighborhood a lot! It fact it is my favorite. Good mix of pines, right next to the forest and Bonito Lake is close. We looked over there too, but the prices seemed higher and/or the access roads not as good, or too close to the highway. It would have been nice if we could have afforded it...
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Coming to visit Ruidoso area
