Who lives in New Mexico or West Texas?

[TexCountryWoman]

Hi! I usually talk on the goat forum.

Although we live in a rural area, too many people are moving in. it is just not secluded enough anymore and I feel hemmed in. Others see it as living "way out in the Boonies", but i have neighbors too close for comfort.

Also, there is talk of a plant nearby going NUCLEAR!

So, we are casually tossing the idea around of finding some wide open spaces in West texas or New Mexico even...hate to leave Texas, but New Mexico is not bad. We have family in Houston....but hey, they can hop a plane if they need to see us.

So my question is...are there some good leads you can give me on how to start a search for acreage, cheap land, no good for farming or cattle raising (that is what we would be leaving behind). We just want seclusion, privacy and pristine nature of any kind.

Alaska may be too cold for us Texans!

[fordy]

Originally Posted by TexCountryWoman

Hi! I usually talk on the goat forum.

Although we live in a rural area, too many people are moving in. it is just not secluded enough anymore and I feel hemmed in. Others see it as living "way out in the Boonies", but i have neighbors too close for comfort.

Also, there is talk of a plant nearby going NUCLEAR!

So, we are casually tossing the idea around of finding some wide open spaces in West texas or New Mexico even...hate to leave Texas, but New Mexico is not bad. We have family in Houston....but hey, they can hop a plane if they need to see us.

So my question is...are there some good leads you can give me on how to start a search for acreage, cheap land, no good for farming or cattle raising (that is what we would be leaving behind). We just want seclusion, privacy and pristine nature of any kind.

Alaska may be too cold for us Texans!

.................http://www.jwcarpenter.com/
.................he is situated in Alpine but he also sells properties in Marathon and Ft.Davis . Don't thiMk they'd be building any NUKleaR(GW Bush) plants down there as no source of water , UNless they decide to Pump the Acquifer Dry . The further west you go the less likely it becomes , although there is Red Bluff reservoir due west of Odessa out by Orla . May your Newtrons and Protrons taste good in your Fig Newtons . fordy...

[TexCountryWoman]

Thanks for the link, fordy! Hate to leave our ancestral land.....but sure hate being able to see my neighbors and I sure hate my neighbors being able to see me!

[fordy]

Originally Posted by TexCountryWoman

Thanks for the link, fordy! Hate to leave our ancestral land.....but sure hate being able to see my neighbors and I sure hate my neighbors being able to see me!

.........I grewup in Midland and finished HS at Midland Lee . West texas was , and Always will be my home although I've been gone since 1971 . Good luck with your search . N.M. is beautiful especially Ruidoso , but I've heard that property is getting kinda pricey . fordy...

[mberryrfd]

I am in the center of NM any particular part you are looking at?In this area there are a lot of cattle.When you start to go east of say the Sandias and Manzano mts. There is a lot of nothing and cows.So basically from the center of the state eastRuidoso is going sky high especally with the new casino and golf course.Lots of Texans buying retire places.We just bought out here last year I stll have a lot of links.But around here prices have dropped a bit since then 55 acres recently sold for 48k raw land.

[ninny]

I don't know how far you are willing to move but the land in Oklahoma is very reasonably priced from what I've seen. My son and I have been looking for some land around San Antonio and all that we've seen is just ridiculous in price. We started looking on the internet and found some places in Ok. that are great. I was born and raised and have spent most of my life in Tx., but it looks like I may have to move elsewhere to get a decent piece of land at a decent price. We have found land up in Ok. that would be selling at 3 to 4 times the amount here in Tx.

Might be worth looking into if you're willing to move out of state.

[Cyngbaeld]

Originally Posted by TexCountryWoman

Also, there is talk of a plant nearby going NUCLEAR!

??????????????

[lvshrs]

Hi!

You might try this site....

www.texasrealestatemagazine.com

They have lots of listings by different realtors in Tx and their websites. Hope this helps!

[lvshrs]

Land in Alpine, TX is beautiful...as is Fort Davis....I wanted to move there but DH needs to keep working and they are lacking in the job department for autobody repair... I recently moved to Abilene, TX and I love it here although we were not able to buy property yet we are looking and we have found some areas going for as low as $700 an acre.

Oh I just remembered another website...try

www.realtor.com

go to the "more options" search to get the best results. Also try

www.forsalebyowner.com

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

Land prices around Alpine and Marfa are getting rediculous. Have heard it is going for more than 10K per acre around Marfa.

[TexCountryWoman]

Thanks yall...I will check out some of your great suggestions....i would love to take a trip for a look-see but if won't be til next february that I can get away (I have milk-goats milking and a grandbaby on the way)....So i have a goodwhile to look around and then who knows, my sis and I may hit the road and see what we can find!

It makes me sad, my cousin is selling some family land right CLOSE to ours and it is just too much for us to take on........100 acres for 350K. All woods. It HURTS!

[TexCountryWoman]

Originally Posted by Cyngbaeld

??????????????

YES! You know which one!......That is what I am hearing from little birds and what I am fearing........it has been written about for some time, fought about for a good while and it scares me to death!

[goatgirl2]

TexCountryWoman... I am a "New Texican", born in Houston, spent 40 years of my life in Big H and Austin areas, still have my roots there but I am sold on NM. I live in the last best kept secret in NM. It's not the 'pretty' NM that you see in the brochures... no ski lifts, no quaint adobe B&B's, no upscale dress shops, pink coyotes, or elk calmly roaming through town... (yet close enough to all that to go have a little fun!) but it is inexpensive and taxes are low. I am in the Estancia Valley in Torrance County, which is just north of where I think mberryrfd is talking about by about 200 miles. I am 50 miles from my job in Albuquerque. This is a very rural area of cattle ranches, pinto beans, corn and the most beautiful alfalfa you ever saw. But, it is a poor area, has seen it's boom in the 40's, and younger folks today have moved on. We have 4 true seasons, but lots of wind out here on the flats, and my elevation is about 6300 ft: high and dry prairie (a nice horizon with mountains in the distance all around). Humidity is low, rainfall is only about 11" a year, and gardening should be an olympic event. Yet, we do have lots of goat folks around here and we are beginning to build a really nice community of fiber raisers and artists (angora goats, sheep, llamas, etc).

The down side of this area is that it is SUCH a poor county, and we do get our share of meth lab busts, SWAT situations (because lots of people seem to be 'on the fringes' out here!), domestic violence, etc. Yet, every time my area makes the evening news, I think, "YES!" ...because maybe it will keep more city people from moving here! However, LIKE-MINDED people are certainly welcome!!! You, and other homesteader-types, are the kind of people we want to move here so we can keep this area in touch with its rural roots and help to bring back that sense of community again.

Everything moves at a slower pace here, and rural NM is being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the modern world. Land prices everywhere are going up. People are either flocking to the country to get away from each other and crime... or flocking BACK to the city to escape the shock of high commuting costs (gas this weekend is $2.95/gal). But this is happening everywhere. I myself am looking into working at home a few days a week but will have to do it via expensive satellite dish... we ain't got NO cable, no DSL, no hi-speed nuttin' out here on the fringes yet!!

I am in agreement with several others on this thread, that Alpine would definitely be a consideration; you might also check into Raton, Clovis, Santa Rosa, Carlsbad, Roswell, etc. along the eastern side of NM... though I've heard crime is quite high in Carlsbad & Roswell. Las Cruces is growing rapidly, but anything farmable along the Rio Grande is very, very costly... the rest is desert. In fact, anything along the Rio is usually tied up in old Spanish land grants, water rights battles, BLM, etc. Alamogordo may be worth checking in to; the Silver City area on the southwestern side is very nice, too, but again, can be costly because it is a retirement and tourist destination. Santa Fe is of course, out of the question unless you are very, very wealthy. I wish you good luck getting the hell outta Dodge, and don't blame you one bit. Let me know if I can answer any questions. NM isn't for everyone, but don't knock us out of the running completely. Debra in NM/goatgirl2.

[mberryrfd]

[QUOTE=goatgirl2] I am in the Estancia Valley in Torrance County, which is just north of where I think mberryrfd is talking about by about 200 miles. I am 50 miles from my job in Albuquerque. [QUOTE]


sounds to me like we are neighbors I am in that valley and that county but up a bit higher than you


and we dont have elk running through but we do have pronghorn

a poor county is right i read the other day Torrance county has 900 and some miles of road in it and only 300 of them are paved the numbers may be off a bit but you get the drift.

whereever you decide to move to just do your research on the net first.I spent hours researching different places then went and looked at them.
Then we came to this place and we both said this is it did some more research and bam we moved in within 2 monthes.
Although you would need to learn when in NM you may not be able to get there from here.

[goatgirl2]

mberryrfd, if I had read your post a little closer I would have guessed we might be neighbors (you may have seen me in the Sept. 2005 electric coop paper, Enchantment, "The Goat Girl of McIntosh"). I glanced at your post and saw you mention Ruidoso, so jumped to the conclusion you were way south of me. Yes... antelope! Yes... no paved roads! Suits me just fine, too.

TexCountryWoman... come on out and take a look-see before you leap. Debra in NM/goatgirl2

[connie in nm]

SE NM is desert, and oil . Because of the oil boom, it is booming here - lots of jobs. Dairies are also continuing to move in from CA, etc..

However, we are becoming a toxic waste dump. WIPP (nuclear waste) underground storage is near Carlsbad and near Eunice they are putting in an
Uranium Enrichment Facility. They do provide jobs, but we may be glowing soon!

[mberryrfd]

Well i dont wanna highjsck this thread
But Yes I figured that was You before you told me
not to many fiber goats out this way
I am up near Tajique


Torrance county is a great place to live if you can deal with a few quirks
like no or make that 1 large groceryt store
dirt roads
The police officers or so busy that they can really come out for emegencyies
most of the people are nice but there are always a few buttheads
It is one of the poorest counties in the state
Lets hope they put that track in off the I 40 the tax revenues would be a big boost
But the school system that my kids go to is GREAT the teachers and the councilors seem to actually care about the kids not there just for a paycheck

[fordy]

Originally Posted by mberryrfd

Well i dont wanna highjsck this thread
But Yes I figured that was You before you told me
not to many fiber goats out this way
I am up near Tajique


Torrance county is a great place to live if you can deal with a few quirks
like no or make that 1 large groceryt store
dirt roads
The police officers or so busy that they can really come out for emegencyies
most of the people are nice but there are always a few buttheads
It is one of the poorest counties in the state
Lets hope they put that track in off the I 40 the tax revenues would be a big boost
But the school system that my kids go to is GREAT the teachers and the councilors seem to actually care about the kids not there just for a paycheck

...........Well I located Tajique on the atlas and it looks like you'll are several miles southeast of abiqq . Are small tracts of land available at a decent price ? And , lastly , is there there a big problem with theft of personal property and stolen vehicles ? I suspect that there IS so enlighten me . thanks , fordy...

[mberryrfd]

Well I can on.y comment on the road I live on
I live on a 1 mile dirt road.WIth 5 homes on it
If you are seen on this road you are stopped by one of us asking if we can help you.So theft around me is shall we say nonexistant.
But I know there was a problem south of here with theft of motorcycles and other off road vehicles.But I think they caught those peeps.
There are tracts around but they are cattle and agri.zoned They have tried to start a few developments around here but they just do not work.But up on I40 there is more going in than the area can even sustain.I think it is all together over 1000 acres of new homes planned all on 5-2 acres.

but like I said as with the theft on our road NO . Hell and heaven help the one that tries for he might just disapear out here