Live rent-free by purchasing an income-producing property
Gary Sandler
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Homebuyers are inherently payment-conscious. Their typical mantra is “the lower the better.” To that end, some purposefully seek out homes priced at the lower end of the spectrum. Few are aware that there’s another and sometimes even better approach to achieving a low monthly payment; buy a property that generates income.
To illustrate how purchasing a two, three or four-unit income property can help buyers reduce their monthly housing obligation, I turned to statistics from the Las Cruces Association of Realtors. According to association records retrieved on June 21, a total of 53 Las Cruces area single-family homes sold for a price of $120,000 or less through the first 5-plus months of this year. The median sales price of the properties was $100,000. The median is where half sold for more and half sold for less.
Las Cruces luxury-home sales are skyrocketing
Gary Sandler
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It’s no secret that home sales are setting records across the country. The same is true for the Las Cruces area, according to a May 31 report from the Las Cruces Association of Realtors. What sets this year’s sales numbers apart from previous years, however, is the percentage of luxury homes that are changing hands.
Of the 937 closed sales of new and existing Las Cruces-area homes, townhomes and condominiums that took place between Jan. 1 and May 15 of this year, 271 were priced at $300,000 or more. For those of you who like to do math, that’s 28.9% of all sales. One year ago, the number was 18%. The year before that, just 12.5% of buyers paid $300,000 or more for their homes. Even more interesting is how the individual price ranges performed.
Now’s the time to protest property values and apply for exemptions
Gary Sandler
According to the Dona Ana County Assessor’s website at www.donaanacounty.org/assessor, the 2020 Notices of Value for real and personal property were to be mailed out April 1. Since this column was written on March 29, the notices may or may not have gone out on time. And since the Assessor’s Office is closed due to our state’s remain-at-home order, the statistical information that follows reflects the number of tax bills sent out in 2019.
If you own even one of the 120,152 pieces of taxable property located in Doña Ana County, you should have already received your 2021 Notice of Value from the county assessor’s office. The notices serve to inform property owners of the total assessed and taxable values of their properties, as well as which exemptions, if any, have been applied to the individual parcels. The final tally will be used to calculate the 2021 tax bills that will be sent to propert