El Paso Texas or Chaparral New Mexico

El Paso Texas or Chaparral New Mexico

The Overview

If you want to move to the El Paso area but want a little more land, maybe a couple of acres to do a ranch, or just want to be out on the outskirts where you can do your own thing a little more, or if you simply do not want to pay El Paso property taxes, there is a place for you, and it is open for business. And there are burritos.

This channel is all about everything El Paso: eat, sleep, work, play. I am a real estate agent here in El Paso, Texas, and I created this channel to help people understand the area, get a feel for the different geographies and neighborhoods, and get an idea of the pros and cons of each.

In this episode, we are talking about Chaparral, New Mexico, an unincorporated community and census designated place in Doña Ana and Otero counties. As of 2010, it had a population of just under 15,000 people and an area of about 250 square miles, a pretty sizable area. It sits east of the Franklin Mountains and north of El Paso. From downtown El Paso, you can get on Highway 54 and cruise all the way up in about 30 minutes, so it is not far out of the El Paso city limits at all. Northeast El Paso, which we have covered before, sits just south of Chaparral, so the two are pretty close together.

Property Taxes

One of the advantages of Chaparral is that prices run a little lower there, and property taxes are significantly lower. In El Paso, property taxes typically run around 2.8 to 2.9%. On a home appraised at $100,000, that works out to about $2,800 a year. On a home appraised at $200,000, it works out to just under $6,000 a year. In New Mexico, the average property tax rate is 0.8%, so that same $100,000 home would run about $800 a year: $2,800 versus $800 a year, depending of course on the value of the home. Chaparral is a great little place.

Touring the Lots

If you want more land or more space, my wife and I spent a day looking at three or four lots in Chaparral. This was in October 2020. There is a real mix out there: raw land, land with trailers already on it, and some nice homes that people have built on bigger lots.

Four Acres, $150,000

The first lot is four acres in Chaparral, north of El Paso. Since it is in New Mexico, it comes with lower property taxes. It is priced at $150,000, though there are other lots for significantly less, which also comes down to zoning.

Ten Acres, Just Under $200,000

This 10 acre lot has been cleared pretty nicely, with views of the Franklin Mountains and New Mexico stretching out to the west. It comes with water rights and had been on the market for a long time, listed at just under $200,000, a price that would probably come down given how long it had been sitting. The area is quiet, mostly trailers rather than nicer development, but it is a lot of land for the money, with electric and water rights already at the property. It is a good option for anyone who really wants to avoid property taxes and be a little further out.

Six Acres, $60,000

Another lot in Chaparral, six acres for $60,000, comes with an outbuilding in the back. It sits next to a home with horses, and it still gets the mountain views, a little hazy that day, though it tucks in behind the neighboring property.

Three Acres, $49,900

The last lot is three acres for $49,900, with a septic tank, public water, telephone lines, and electricity already to the property, including a transformer. It looked like it had a slab on it, as if a building had been there before.

And with that, it was back across the line, into the El Paso city limits, in Texas.