Your Own Ground Near Albuquerque, No HOA in Sight

Room to Build, Close to the City, and No HOA to Answer To

If you have spent a few years watching prices near Albuquerque climb out of reach, or you are just tired of a rulebook telling you what you can do on your own lot, this flat stretch of high-plains ground outside Moriarty is worth a slow look. Four and a third acres, open in every direction, big sky overhead, and close enough to the city that you are not trading your job or your grocery run to get it.

This is a place to put down something of your own. Set a home, give the kids and the dog room to run, and still be a short drive from work and a real airport. First-time land owner, manufactured-home family, off-grid-curious builder, or the guy who is just done asking a board for permission to hang a gate? This one fits. When you want the mountains, the Manzanos and their pine trails are within a day’s reach, and old Route 66 runs right through town for a slow afternoon.

You have got options here. The county allows a site-built home, a manufactured home, or a mobile home as long as it is 1976 or newer and up to HUD standards. There is no HOA out here running your business, and while you get set up you can keep an RV on the lot with a county permit. Animals are welcome with a few sensible limits.

Moriarty sits about 45 miles east of Albuquerque, with Santa Fe roughly an hour north when you want a day of it. The town took its name from Michael Timothy Moriarty, its first permanent settler, and it grew up right along Route 66 (the neon is mostly gone, but the road still runs). Down the way, the Salinas Pueblo Missions stand as a quiet reminder of how far back people have been making a life on this high ground.

Here is what to know before you get out the truck. There are no utilities running to the lot yet, so you would put in a well or haul water to a holding tank and set a septic, with power close by to tie into. The ground is flat and open, which makes it easy to lay out and build, though you will want to plan your own shade (the sun does not miss much up here). It is a platted residential neighborhood, not a hunting tract, so it fits a family building a place better than a weekend camp. Legal access runs in off Pegasus and Belgian Street, and the Land Specialists can walk you through the particulars.

The high plains do not ask much of you out here, and a piece of them with your name on it is the kind of thing a family holds onto long after they have forgotten what the rent used to be.

• About 45 miles east of Albuquerque, roughly a 45-minute drive for work, shopping, and a real airport
• About an hour north to Santa Fe (52 miles) when you want a day of it
• Big-box shopping in Albuquerque (Target, Home Depot, and the rest)
• Flat, open, and level, about 4.3 acres that are easy to lay out
• Zoning allows a site-built, manufactured, or mobile home, 1976 or newer
• No HOA, and low annual taxes
• Power runs nearby; plan on a well or hauled water and a septic
• The Manzano Mountains and their pine trails are within a day’s reach
• Old Route 66 runs right through Moriarty
• Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument is a short drive for a look at early New Mexico