"a little kindness towards others can go a long way". Yes it can! In all those backyards, for all those years, I can count on one hand the number of homeowners that even said hello, let alone get us a drink, or make us lunch. We usually finished their pools on time, or early. A freind of mine at the time installed alarm systems. He did one for Roger Staubach. He never saw Roger, but Mrs Staubach, made them sandwitches and lemonaid. He still tells the story and that was 30 years ago. Since we are totally off topic, I got this one second hand, but the guy that told me seems pretty straight up. A pool cleaner did Nolan Ryan's pool. He saw Mrs Ryan sometimes and Nolan maybe once in a year. He was a huge fan, but too shy to ask for a autograph. Someone told him to leave a baseball on the table by the pool and maybe he will sign it. He did just that. Next time he cleaned the pool, the ball was gone, nobody was home. The week after, still no ball. Then one afternoon he went to cleaning the pool and noticed a ball on the table. Signed by not only Nolan Ryan, but half the Texas Rangers baseball club! With a note, that read. Sorry it took so long, good job on the pool. I bet that was the cleanest pool in North Texas......lol

Big question---what does your spouse think of the idea?? If he's open to it then explore the possibilities. Consider how you could use the house. As a close by "get away" it offers a big yard, small pool, and lake access. Great things for a family with 3 boys. It wouldn't be too far away if you did have a kids ball game to attend. Owing it would allow for the option of you parents relocating and living in it, or perhaps just staying there part of the time. Or, you might find after living in it part time that you like it so much you want to move into it as is or do a sensitive addition. Or, you might find that after owning it for a while that 2 houses are a pia and decide to sell it! You could do any, or all, of those things while you owned it. But you can't if you don't own it. So should you rush to buy it? NO. Like any real estate purchase look hard before you leap. We had our 2d home inspected BEFORE we bid on it. That gave us a good idea of what was needed and how much repairs/renovation would cost (of course there were many surprise problems) and if we really wanted to pursue it. I checked county records re sales prices, taxes, easements, etc of it and surrounding homes. We talked to the neighbors. We also looked at at least 6 other places after discovering this one to make sure it was a good choice and value. We went from my husbands long declared "I'd never own a second home" to his "Honey, what would you think of buying a house on a small lake and oh, by the way I paddled by one for sale today" to buying it in less than 2 weeks. Now it has been 2 years (and lots of renovation) and every time we are out there (frequently as it's only an hour drive)I comment on how glad I am we bought it. Besides the lake, I love its bright contemporary feel as opposed to our traditional in town home. The lake house better reflects me and makes me happy so I understand your falling in love with such a neat mcm home. In summary, if after you both think it through and are interested, look carefully, come up with an estimate of repair/remodel costs (x1.5 to be realistic!), figure out how much you are willing to pay/market value considering those costs then go for it. If you can't get it for a realistic price walk away. If the condition turns out to be too deteriorated--walk away. Either you'll get another opportunity when no one else buys it or you can console yourself by thinking about all the negatives/ impracticalities/second yard to keep up/ etc. that you missed. Let us know the outcome. PS- If you don't buy it you should suggest they list it on the mcm website Lottaliving.com to help it find an appreciative owner.

Interesting question. We live where we do because originally it was where my DH found a teaching job after college. Then we stayed put because one set of grandparents was 20 minutes away and the others only 1-2 hours away (my parents got the moving bug several times in later life). It was a good place to bring up kids and we've been in this house for 38 years. Now the kids are gone. One will forever be in the DC metro area unless he gets posted overseas again, which is possible. One has followed her DH to a job in N.CA, they're expecting #2, and the last just got a job, also in the Bay Area. Will we stay? We're just doing all the things to the house and property that we've always wanted to do. A garden doesn't just spring into life overnight, you know. On the other hand, I'd like to be closer to the two that are still on the west coast. My grandson needs lots of snuggles. I could be talked into a move. I think.

"Gorgeous. Roy, NM, however, is truly in the middle of nowhere. On the outskirts of nowhere." (LOL) Jakabedy. . . my thoughts exactly! Granted, the views are breathtaking . . . but you have to get there first. And, because of the distance from any real stores, bring everything you need, food-wise, with you, because a drive to get groceries is about an hour away. That gets old very fast, let me tell you! It's a good 2-hour drive to get to any decent sized stores. Looking at this pics and reading through the realtor sheet, the main house is built well, using rastra concrete forms, which gives very good insulation. Somewhere on it, they refer to it as a "clay building". LOL! They use solar to heat their water and they have an under-the-floor heating system. We have one, too, and they're wonderful. Water from a long pipeline from Roy is good, but if they spring a leak somewhere along the way, it would be heck to find it. Electricity, too. They don't mention anything (conveniently?) about cell phone, internet and cable service, that I could find. I'll bet it's not great, to say the least. Even here where I live, which is also in a mountainous area, Verizon is the only cell phone service that's (semi) reliable. Cable goes in and out, and fast speed is not available. Out there where Dos Caballos (pronounced ca-BUY-yo-ss) is, ugh! 10,000 acres, but only 6,980 are deeded. The other 3,110 of them are leased from the state. At what cost per year? They don't mention anything about grazing or grazing rights, if it's available, or in use now. Much of terrain looks unusable except if you're into rock climbing (LOL). I know my own land, and it can be a major undertaking to walk though it without tripping, stumbling and falling. We had to carve out dirt paths to get through it by hand, but out here it's a never-ending project to keep them up. I also know what a major chore it is to keep those ranch roads plowed in Winter. They have an "equipment shed", which I imagine is very much needed to hold a plow. And, as a longtime New Mexico house owner, I can't help but think what a costly PIA it must be to get anyone out there for repairs of any kind, let alone in a timely fashion! The house design, to me, looks just ok, although the kitchen is nicely equipped. The infinity pool/spa is very nice, as is it's view. I can't help but wonder if this is Val Kilmer's ranch, as I know he has one here that's up for sale. Or was. All in all, I would love to see it in person, but would never, ever want to live there! This one pic they posted, just makes me shake my head. A gorgeous view, but probably not easy to get to . . . let alone worrying about tripping and pitching headlong down that cliff! No thank you!