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When Roberta Reinstein moved to the Bay Area roughly 30 years ago to go to law school, it felt to her like a different place than it does now.
“It was possible for a student to live there…it was filled with artists,” she says. But Reinstein, 57, watched as real-estate prices skyrocketed (in just the past decade or so, home values have nearly doubled, according to Zillow) and many artists and less wealthy people had to move out. Nowadays, “San Francisco is only for the wealthy — the super wealthy — unless you’re willing to live with five roommates,” she jokes.
As she was watching San Francisco become a hub for the rich, she had a financial setback of her own: a divorce, in which she and her spouse had to split up their assets. And the divorce necessitated she move out of the family home, so she was spending $4,000 a month on a tiny pad to share with her daughter, Eva, she says.
“When Eva was in high school I started to think, do I really need to be here? There are lots of other places I can go.” And the more she thought about it, the more she realized: “Screw this, I gotta get out of here,” Reinstein says with a laugh. “I was ready for a break from the high cost, crowds and Google-fueled insanity of the Bay Area.”
Plus, she loved to flip houses (she’d done a couple in California years ago, before the real-estate prices were so high) and knew that was out of the question for her to do in the Bay Area — so she and her new partner, Peter, considered where else they could live. “We thought for a microsecond that Arizona might be the place, but it was way too hot in the summer.”
Roberta Reinstein Roberta Reinstein and her partner, Peter.
They settled on Albuquerque for a number of reasons, including the weather, affordability of real estate, access to outdoor activities and the fact that Reinstein’s best friend had recently moved there.
Here’s what life is like in ABQ.
The area: Though it’s perhaps best known for its annual hot-air balloon festival and being the setting for AMC’s hit show “Breaking Bad”, ABQ — which has a population of roughly 550,000 — has a lot more going for it than that. “Albuquerque is a delightful, quirky hidden gem,” says Reinstein.
iStock The Albuquerque Skyline at dusk.
It’s an artsy spot — there are hundreds of galleries and art studios; monthly art crawls, and a robust performing-arts scene — and a city where outdoor enthusiasts flock to. That’s helped along by the miles of hiking and biking trails in the adjacent Sandia and Manzano Mountains, as well as the roughly 300 days of sunshine. (Though January average lows are in the mid-20s, and July highs hit the low 90s.) And Reinstein tells MarketWatch she loves that it’s a diverse city with its own unique cuisine and celebrations.
Of course, there are downsides: Overall crime is high, though Reinstein says that while there are some not-so-desirable neighborhoods, there are plenty of areas that are safe. She adds that she’s never been the victim of a crime other than someone stealing a hose from one of the homes she was flipping. And there is “a fair amount of poverty,” says Reinstein. Plus, she says, the city can feel like it has a lot of sprawl, and she misses great Asian food.
Roberta Reinstein View of the mountains from Reinstein’s yard
Here’s what MarketWatch recently wrote about Albuquerque.
The cost: Though Reinstein doesn’t keep a strict budget, she estimates that she probably spends about $3,000 a month to live in Albuquerque — despite having pricey hobbies like owning two horses — it costs her $1,250 a month to board them, which is her most significant expense. She says that most things are cheaper in Albuquerque than they were in San Francisco, including energy and gas, and estimates that she spends roughly 70% less a month than she did in the Bay Area.
Reinstein at the nearby stables.
The biggest way she saves money is by not having a mortgage on her home: She bought the four-bedroom, three-bath home that sits on an acre of land for $240,000, using a combination of savings, her divorce settlement and proceeds from homes she bought and flipped in Arizona and New Mexico, she says. And she adds that you can get a “nice house in a decent neighborhood for under $200,000” with smaller homes to be had for $100,000 or so, and can rent a nice place for $700 to $800 a month. Plus, she drives an older car — “a ratty Toyota Tundra truck” — she explains, so she doesn’t have a car loan.
Roberta Reinstein The sitting room in Reinstein’s home.
Indeed, the cost of living and property taxes in Albuquerque are slightly below average for the U.S., median homes cost under $200,000, according to Sperling’s Best Places — and you can read about New Mexico’s tax situation here.
The bottom line: Reinstein says she plans to stay. “People are super friendly,” she adds, noting that it’s easy to make friends and get involved in things here. She’s part of a ladies walking group in the neighborhood and has made friends from her barn. “I have like two people I still correspond with [from the Bay Area],” she jokes, adding that “I was so wrapped up in my own world there.” But in ABQ, she says: “I had to go back to managing my schedule because I can’t get stuff done. I have so much to do here.”
