Word: ranchos
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...desert plots to about 45,000 people for a total of more than $200 million. AMREP's initial investment for the parched land was about $17.8 million. To hype the value of the property, the indictment charges, the company added some showcase improvements in a development called Rio Rancho, which is in fact only a small part of AMREP's 96,000-acre Rio Rancho subdivision. Most of the outlying lots -with no water, sewers or electricity and little chance of ever getting any -are too far away to benefit from the construction of the core community...
...AMREP unload the real estate? A key tactic was to get crowds of potential buyers together for free drinks and dinner at hotel ballrooms and restaurants. There, a smooth-talking speaker would mount the podium to describe various Rio Rancho plots. As he spoke, salesmen at the tables would jump up, shouting "Hold!" as if they had just sold the lot he was talking about. Their enthusiasm would be contagious, and since the land contracts were right there on the tables, guests would impulsively sign on the dotted line. In so doing, they committed themselves to purchases ranging from...
AMREP promotions recited an enticing litany: Albuquerque was expanding in the direction of Rio Rancho; land values in surrounding Sandoval County were rising at an astonishing pace; there was a hyperactive market for resale; AMREP was letting the land go at such low prices because of its "low markup, high-volume policy"; all the lots were part of a "master-planned community"; and utilities were available to anyone who wanted to build. The indictment charges that each of these claims was criminally misleading...
Actually, Albuquerque's multiple-listing realty service discouraged Rio Rancho landowners from listing their property because there was practically no local demand for it. What is more, AMREP had been told by a consulting firm that Albuquerque was not likely to expand in the direction of Rio Rancho for the foreseeable future...
...complaints and even boast about their community. AMREP points out that if a buyer of one of the outlying plots wants to move into town, he can trade for a site in the core community-usually half the size of his original plot. The company also notes that Rio Rancho owners have always had the option to back out within six months of purchase. The catch: a purchaser could buy a Rio Rancho lot while outside of New Mexico, but had to travel to the subdivision to sell his property; the trip and other selling costs would usually amount...