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- All parcels within the Rio Grande Estates subdivison have legal access, as roads and easements were allowed for in the original Plats of the area. Additionally, because this region boasts a largely arid climate, few of the roads have become impassable because of overgrown brush or washed out from rain, meaning that with rare exception, most all of the roads can be driven by any vehcile type. As is to be expected, some areas - particualrly those closer to Highway 60 - are easier to get to than others, and some roads are easier to drive on than others.
- Power can be found running the length of Highway 60 and servicing some of the roads and homesites closest to that area. The further north and south you go within the subdivision, the less of a presence those utilities will have, though you will encounter the ocassional homesite being serviced by a power pole and utility box. Because city utilities have not yet been extended into the further parts of the subdivision, solar energy may be a necessary but affordable solution for those electing to live outside the range of local utilities. When the day comes that power lines are extended throughout this area, however, the value of this land will increase immeasurably making this an even better investment.
- Socorro County has no formal zoning ordinance, and per their own government website "does not restrict the use of real property" within the county boundaries.
- Rio Grande Estates sits just east of the I-25 corridor. From this subdivision, Belen is only ten miles north and Albuquerque only forty miles. The Rio Metro has stops in Belen as well as nearby Los Lunas which may help with commutes back and forth to nearby Albuquerque and as far north as Santa Fe.
- Elephant Butte Lake, the largest body of water in the state, is located only ninty miles south of Rio Grande Estates along the I-25. This region boasts excellent recreation opportunities such as fishing, boating, jet skiing, camping and RV'ing and may provide excellent weekend getaways for you and the family.
- The nearest Walmarts can be found in Belen, Los Lunas and Socorro and the nearest Home Depot in Los Lunas.
- Our one acre lots are priced at $1,500 and our two acre lots are priced between $2,500 and $3,000. Based on all available comps both on the MLS and the internet, these are the lowest priced and most affordable lots within this area. Owner financing with affordable down payments and easy monthly payments are also offered on most of our Rio Grande Estates inventory.
- The Hemingway Land Company has recently acquired a number of parcels within this subdivision and plans to acquire more in the interest of recombining adjacent acreage, and hence, create more value for our buyers. Linked below is a list of the properties we own in this subdivision as broken down by Legal Description of Unit/Block/Lot. This list will be updated as time goes on to reflect which lots have been sold, and what properties are Under Contract or Coming Soon. Should you already own land in this area and are looking to expand your property boundaries, we encourage you to review this list or call our offices to see if the land you're looking for is one we may be listing in the weeks ahead.
- DISCLAIMER: Because Socorro County is one of the few counties in the country that does not interface with our software, the GPS coordinates given on each of the listing pages and in the spreadsheet linked below come directly from the county GIS office and NOT from our typical software. Because of this, we will not be able to supply buyers with corner points for the individual lots. As with all the properties we sell, buyers are encouraged to hire a surveyor to tell them exactly where the lot begins and ends, particularly if they intend to build on the property.
RIO GRANDE ESTATES
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Do you have any 5 or 10 acre lots? Or anything bigger than 1 acre?
No. This entire area was subdivided over fifty years ago into mostly one acre lots. There is nothing larger, and the only way to get something larger is to purchase adjacent lots.
Are any of your lots adjacent?
Only where listed. If we have two 1 acre lots that are adjacent and could equal 2 acres, we will sell them that way. The same goes for three or four adjacent 1 acre lots.
If you look at the spreadsheet we have linked on this page you’ll see the Legal Descriptions of the properties. These are written logically. Unit 1, Block 1, Lot 1 would be adjacent to Unit 1, Block 1, Lot 2. So on and so forth. If you’re looking at two properties wondering if they’re adjacent, simply review the legal descriptions.
Do these lots have “legal access?”
Yes.
How are the roads in this area?
The lots closest to the Highway (the 60) have the best road conditions because they’ve been traveled the most. That being said, because of the largely flat land and arid climate in this region, none of the roads are particularly difficult to drive and with rare exception, most can be navigated in any vehicle type.
Are there any gates in this area?
No.
Which lots are closest to the highway?
Anything in Units 1, 2, 14, 15, 16 and 31.
Which lots are furthest from the highway?
Anything in Units 9, 10, 11, 32 and 33.
Are there any covenants or restrictions for this subdivision?
No.
You advertise these properties as “free of planning & zoning restrictions.” What exactly do you mean by that?
Socorro County has no Planning & Zoning Department and they have no county wide zoning ordinance dictating what can and can not be done with or parked on land in their county. In fact, on the one county government website that addresses this topic, they specifically say “Socorro County does not have a zoning or permitting ordinance. At this time there are no County regulations or restrictions on the use of real property…”. Additionally, counties like Socorro tend to defer to whatever covenants and restrictions exist within a subdivision, and this subdivision has none. Because of this, it means that land owners in this region do not have to deal with the typical zoning and permitting hurdles or requirements for minimum square footage or time limits for RV usage common in most all other parts of the state. Additionally, there is no HOA monitoring how you use the land or forcing you to conform to some arbitrary architectural aesthetic nor charging you dues every twelve months for the privilege of owning land or living there. In short, Rio Grande Estates is one of the few regions in New Mexico that offers land owners the opportunity to build what they like and live in whatever fashion they so desire.
Does this mean there are absolutely no rules at all?
Well, keep in mind, there’s federal law, state law, environmental law and New Mexico building codes and if your plans for the land violate any or all of these, you can expect to hear about it from someone, we’re sure. As always, we encourage our customers to do the necessary due diligence PRIOR to purchasing.
Is there power in this region?
Not throughout the subdivision, no, but the closer you get to the highway, the closer you’ll get to the more established areas that have power lines on every - or most every - road. And while there are few rows of power lines the further north you go into the subdivision, there are a number of people living throughout the region who have power poles and meters servicing their homes. Buying and building closer to the highway and the more established area, or even closer to the lone home sites in the less developed regions may make hooking up to the grid easier and more affordable to manage.
As PNM is the utility company that services this region, we encourage anyone with questions about getting power to their land to visit their website or contact the PNM offices at (888) 342-5766.
It should also be noted, however, that solar has become an increasingly more affordable alternative in recent years.
What is the water table depth in this region?/Can I drill a well?
Water table depth is a difficult thing for us to be precise about. That being said, there are a number of homesteads in this region, many of which have wells. This suggests to us that the water table is fairly accessible and getting a well drilled out here would not be prohibitively expensive. As always, however, we encourage our buyers to contact local vendors (people who drill wells professionally) and inquire with them as to the typical drill depth and cost.
How’s the internet/wi-fi in this area?
Our photographer always seems to have good service when he’s in this region.
Can I scout the property I’m interested in prior to purchase?
Yes. Please do. We encourage anyone who’s going to buy from us to view the land they’re interested in prior to purchase.
Can you take me on a tour of all the properties you have?
No. We’re investors, not realtors. Additionally, we have no office in New Mexico nor staff on standby waiting to give people guided tours.
How can I scout the property then?
It’s easy. Simply bring the listing page of the property you’re interested in up on your smartphone. Click the GPS coordinates (latitude longitude) displayed on the table and your smart phone should give you turn-by-turn directions out to the land.
Is the land marked – like with a ‘For Sale’ sign?
No.
Has the property been staked or surveyed?
Not recently and not by us, no.
This entire region was platted out years ago. Stakes or pins may have been used to mark property boundaries but it’s questionable whether they still exist or can be found. While they may be there, we’re not making that guarantee to our buyers.
The GPS coordinates we give you to locate the lots are fairly accurate and should get you to a location that will give you an excellent sense of precisely what chunk of land it is that you’d be buying. For a specific sense of where the lot begins and ends, it is ultimately best to hire a local surveyor.
Why don’t you get the lots surveyed?
Three reasons:
1 - For our purposes of creating listings, we have software that tells us everything we need to know about the property’s size, shape and location.
2 - We never know if our end buyer will want or require a survey.
3 - If the survey costs us $1,000 we’re simply going to goose the price of the land $2,000. Hence, it’s ultimately cheaper for the buyer to pay for the survey themselves.
All of your Iisting pages typically have five GPS coordinates - four corner points and one center point. Why do these Rio Grande Estates lots have only one and can you provide the others for me?
The GPS coordinates we typically provide for our listings are ones we get from software that pulls its data from county records. Because Socorro is one of the few counties in America that does not interface with our software, the GPS coordinates we provide here are ones gotten directly from conversations with the County GIS office.
As is to be expected, because the County GIS has other things to do with their time besides look up the approximate locations of lots in their county, they do not go out of their way to provide the same breathe and depth of information to us that we normally like to provide to our buyers. As with all the properties we sell, we encourage our buyers to get the land surveyed, particularly if they plan to construct a home or fence on the property. This is especially true of these lots, whose coordinates were gotten from a third party who does not have the same obligations for accuracy to us that we have to you. We’ve checked the coordinates off a plat map overlay on Google Earth, and have tweaked anything that seemed incorrect. Keep in mind, however, we’re eye-balling a one dimensional map on a three dimensional globe, so there’s going to be greater room for error than if these coordinates had come from our software.
Do you have a Plat Map of the region that you can provide for me?
Yes, in the gallery at the bottom of this page as well as on each of the individual listing pages there will be plat maps of the region. Please note, however, as there are thousands of lots in this subdivision - even when magnified - these are not the easiest things to read.
Do you have a Plat Map of the individual lots you can provide me?
No. For that you’ll have to inquire with the County Clerk’s office.
How can I buy one of these properties?
Simply click the ‘Buy Now’ button at the top of the individual listing page of the property that interests you most. This is the blue/turquoise square with the price and the words ‘Buy Now’ written on it.
Do you offer financing?
Yes.
One Acre Lots - $500 Down + $150/Month x 14 Months
If I finance the property, won’t I be paying more for it?
Yes, just like when you finance a home or a car.
Additionally, it should be noted that you will pay the most only if you pay it off as slowly as humanly possible.
Our contracts contain only pre-payment incentives and no pre-payment penalties.
Additionally, every contract will come with a 90-Days-Same-As-Cash clause.
To see an example of one of our generic land contracts, click here.
When will the property be deeded into my name?
If you pay us all the money at once, it will be deeded into your name immediately. If you elect to finance the land, we will not deed it into your name until such a time as all the payments have been made. Until that time, the land contract linked above will be the document that demonstrates your equitable interest in the property.
How soon can I start using the land?
As soon as you give us money, it’s yours to do with as you please.
--Created by Past Customers of Hemingway Land--
Disclaimer: While The Hemingway Land Company does extensive research on all our properties prior to listing them, there are always County-specific rules/regulations we will not be aware of. The information provided on this page is, to the best of our knowledge, correct. All prospective buyers, however, are encouraged to contact the county at the links and numbers provided in this table to confirm that whatever plans that buyer has for the property in question are in fact legal, feasible and permitted. Due diligence is the buyer’s responsibility and all sales are final.