Maybe we’re not buying a house?

After 2 years of trying, it looks like John and I may not be buying a house soon after all. Not in Placitas, or North Valley, or Corrales, or Santa Fe.

Back in late 2016, when we returned to New Mexico, we had been thinking we’d be here for awhile. We planned to work a few more years until retirement, and then stay in New Mexico for a couple of more years past that, while we took our time to travel around a bit and decide where to retire.

Then you know the long and difficult story since 2016. We just could not figure out where to live in New Mexico. First we were going to remodel the existing house in Placitas. Then we got under contract for a different house in Placitas (down off the hill and out of the wind). Then we had second thoughts about Placitas altogether.

We tried to buy in Santa Fe when I got the job up there, but we couldn’t find anything affordable, and ended up getting just a small townhome that we figured would end up as a rental once I moved out of it. We then seriously considered a house in Corrales (down close the the river & trees) and were also looking in the North Valley for the same reason (river & trees).

Then we tried again to buy a house in Santa Fe recently and got outbid.

It was just too discouraging. Somehow this is just not coming together!

We did manage to buy 3 rentals in Albuquerque in 2017, which was very stressful but so far has worked out fine. And we’re quite happy with the rental we bought near my job in Santa Fe that I’m still occupying.

But as far as our own house together – to replace our home in California – we’ve just been striking out. And I can’t believe it’s been two and a half years since we moved out of California.

We still plan to put the Placitas house on the market on May 1, because it’s become clear that it’s not what we’re looking for in the long run. But it’s anybody’s guess where we’re going to be living next. Possibly occupying one of our rentals in Albuquerque – which seems like the simplest option.

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