Encanto is a longer drive to get to any stores or restaurants. Homes are few there. Beautiful beaches for miles and few people. Possible no full timers live there. Don't know about electricity there but the lines are coming into those areas on the East beaches. Road in is unpaved and may get flooded when it rains heavy. Long haul for emergency services. Pay more for water delivery and propane. If you want and will tolerate splendid isolation you might like it.
Las Conchas runs about 5 miles along the coast just on the edge of developed Penasco so all the amenities of town are very close by. Check both areas out on Google maps. Some 600 homes total well spread apart, lots of open space. There is an active HOA. There are no stores or restaurants in the community but stores and restaurants are a few minutes away. There is trash pickup, electricity and a community wide water system which in general serves well. 24 hour guard gate staffed and patrols throughout the community. Roads are very well maintained although unpaved but bladed and watered regularly. . Beautiful beaches. Busier than Encanto but still a quiet community except on big weekends. Even then it is not crazy busy. There is a small core of 12 month full timers, maybe 50 or less. Many are full time October to July then off to cooler places. Most homes are unoccupied most of the time. Weekend and holiday use only.
There are a few homes used as weekend rentals but not many. Most are private residences. Middle of the week the beaches are deserted that's why I call it UNconscious.
If you really seek isolation and can tolerate the inconvenience Encanto is for you. If you seek quiet living closer to town with some amenities Las Conchas is for you. Home prices are prolly similar but there is a much wider choice in Las Conchas. You can still find a very nice home for close to $200k USD in Las Conchas.
You can go solar but you have to factor in the cost of purchasing a system plus the maintenance to know if you are saving any money. You might save $100 a month with solar as contrasted to careful management, but how many months will it take to just break even? Figure a 5 or 6 K system?? Charges are based on use with the lowest level quite modest and the upper level quite high. If you use a lot of juice the rates go way up. Most use is for AC in the hot summer and you really need it because of the humidity . The street water is warm enough so I do not use a boiler half the year to heat water. There are days in the winter you will want heat but a properly sited home will collect significant solar gain. If you are careful in your usage it's ok.
Of course ya gotta visit.
Guys, Wendell was only kidding! Of the 200 residences in Encanto, most are basically falling down. The electricity is there and works....sometimes. Security we have....except they sleep a LOT. Trash is everywhere 2-3 times per week...flies, rats rattlesnakes
