As most of you know already that on my birthday my husband and I closed on 80 acres of land in New Mexico. So, let me explain exactly how this came to be. My husband is older than me and will be retiring in about 4 years. We currently live in the DC Metropolitan area, I’m originally from Silver Spring MD and he is originally from Baltimore MD. That being said we do NOT want to retire here. We have traveled and will continue to travel, around the world. We officially break ground on building the house in about 2 years. I currently work for the Federal Government and if you know anything about trying to get a new job in the Federal Government you know that it can take months even years to be able to find one and transfer. So, I’m looking for work in New Mexico now. The plan is for me to transfer over while the hubby stays here in Maryland until retirement. Then he will come to New Mexico when he retires. Of course, we will be traveling from Maryland to New Mexico to make sure we see each other. It is going to be hell because of missing each other so much but this will have to happen. So, when I find a job in New Mexico I will move and keep an apartment. When the house is built the hubby and I will keep the apartment in the downtown area. The house will be built on the 80 acres of land and will be named Jewitchery Ranch.
So, let talk about Why New Mexico. When looking at cost of living New Mexico less expensive compared to Maryland. The property tax is 0.76%. New Mexico has among the lowest property taxes of any state in the U.S. The median annual property tax paid by homeowners in New Mexico is $1,232, about $1,000 less than the national median. The state's average effective property tax rate is 0.76%, which ranks as the 13th lowest of any state. The average effective property tax rate is Baltimore is 1.65%, higher than any of Maryland's counties. However, homeowners who do not receive any tax credits may pay even higher rates than that. For the 2018 fiscal year the total listed tax rate in Baltimore is 2.248%.
When speaking of politics, it is a misconception that New Mexico is a “Red State”. Politics in Maryland and New Mexico are interesting as well. Both New Mexico and Maryland have voted red for a Governor but voted Blue for a President. So, it will not be a big change when it comes to politics. There are several LGBTQ orgs, bars and they do have pride parades as well.
The State of Maryland reported 472.0 violent crimes and 2,284.5 property crimes per 100,000 inhabitants for 2016. Maryland’s violent crime rate is 27.5 percent higher than the national median, and the property crime rate is 11.5 percent lower. Maryland has a similar proportional makeup of crimes by type to the national median. The State of New Mexico reported 702.5 violent crimes and 3,937.1 property crimes per 100,000 inhabitants for 2016. New Mexico’s violent crime rate is 89.7 percent higher than the national median, and the property crime rate is 52.5 percent higher. Larceny-theft makes up only 55 percent of all crime in New Mexico, compared to 63 percent nationally, whereas burglary, motor vehicle theft, and aggravated assault are all a larger proportion in New Mexico than nationally. Crime is more focused on in bigger cities in both Maryland and New Mexico.
Reference:
MuninetGuide (2018) U.S. State Crime Rates – Comparing Types of Crimes Across the States Report – U.S. State Crime Rates by Type for All 50 States, D.C., and Puerto Rico Retrieved from https://muninetguide.com/u-s-state-crime-rates/
