Victoria Murphy ~ Santa Fe, NM

Well I am back from my few days visiting my father's side of the family in Clear Lake, Iowa. Growing up we would spend every summer there fishing and swimming the spring fed lake. What a peaceful resort town it still reminds me of the play "Our Town". You can ride your bike downtown, park it and don't worry about locking it. Clear Lake was put on the map following the airplane crash which killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper. They had played their last concert at the Surf Ballroom (which my uncle then bought and I worked there every summer while gowing up). The housing market is great in Clear Lake being it is a resort town. Wonderful homes and cabins are on the market and very reasonably priced. Hard to describe so here are some of my photos.

Turquoise Trail

The Turquoise Trail (NM Hwy 14) is quite a wonderful day trip from Santa Fe or a wonderful way to head to or from Albuquerque.

The road follows the route used by the Spaniards on the route from Mexico to Santa Fe. The trail is filled with old mines, incredible rock formations and somewhat new - western movie sets.

One of the most fasinating mines is the Tiffany Turquoise mine. These mines are all on private lands and are vey rarely open to the public. However parts of the Tiffany mine are visible from the Bonanza Creek Road off of Hwy 14. The best time to look at the mine from the road is late evening after a rain storm. The hillside glisten with bits of turuqoise. It is truely a magical site.

Back to Hwy 14 head towards Albuquerque. You will pass through the charming villages of Cerrillos, Madrid and Golden. Both were once thriving mining towns and now each hold their own special charm.

As you contuinue your journey you will find yourself behind the Sandia mountains. As the road curves you will pass through Tijeras and Cedar Crest, and then boom. You are back to freeways and traffic.

I Love Sign Calls. It shows me there are buyers out there. I shows me that their are buyers interested enough in my listing to stop and take down my information or pick a brochure out of the box. It tells me that very soon I may sell this listing.

But do I really love sign calls? Sign calls are potentially dangerous especially if the home is vacant as mine is. We have to remember to play is safely

• Have the person meet you in your office and make a copy of their drivers license. Put the persons cell number on it and hand it someone in your office.
• Have someone in your office phone you shortly after the appointment time to check in on you.
• If you do meet them at the home. First call them back to verify the phone number is actually theirs.
• Give their name and number to an associate and have them call you.
• All remember to play is safe and have an escape route planned.

Most of all enjoy your business - play it safe - and sell those listings.

Do you or your clients need that little bit of information and aren't sure where to go? Well here are some wonderful websites for local and real estate information:

The Santa Fe New Mexican www.santafenewmexican.com

Santa Fe Visitor's Bureau www.santafe.org

Santa Fe Reporter www.sfreporter.com

Santa Fe Online www.santafe.com

Trend Magazine www.santafetrend.com

Journal North www.journalnorth.com

The Wall Street Journal www.online.wsj.com/public/page/news-real-estate-homes.html

Luxist - aol luxury blog www.luxist.com

CNN Money www.money.cnn.com/real_estate

.... and

Santa Fe Properties www.SantaFeProperties.com

and for me www.VictoriaSantaFe.com

I just had the most stimulating meeting at our local Christie's Great Estates office. Wonderful information pointing out what a terriffic company I am with and everything they can do for my clients, and to help me grow my business. Today we discussed the international market, the top selling homes including some very fine ones here in the United States.

Our company - SANTA FE PROPERTIES - has some truely incredible properties listed (including mine of course) but here is a link to a stunning property

http://www.christiesgreatestates.com/properties/video/mason.htm

You will be very thrilled you visited the site - believe me.