About Albuquerque's Taylor Ranch

I spoke to an Albuquerque Buyer's Broker who showed one of my listings today and when I hung up the phone I was left shaking my head. This isn't the first time I've spoken to this gentlemen after he has showed one of my listings, but it may be one of the last because, frankly, I don't think he has a clue how to sell a house. He may be out of business soon.

When I asked him what his buyer clients thought of the property he said "I don't really know, they didn't tell me."

When I asked him about the pricing he said, "I don't really know, I haven't looked at any comps." I mean they looked at other houses that day in the same neighborhood and in the same price range, right? Those would be the comps.

To be a nice guy and to try and get some feedback to share with my seller I tried to probe him with a few more leading questions like "did they like the big living room," and "did they like the really cool hot tub room?" Finally he said "Yes, they liked the hot tub room!" I got excited, I thought I was finally getting somewhere here. We chatted for a few more minutes then I said "Do you think they will come back to see the house on another trip?" You guessed it, he said "They didn't tell me." However, he then proudly told me that he did ask them if they wanted to buy it and they said no, not today. Aaarrrgghhh!!! That's not how you're supposed to do it!!!

Ok, all you newbie Buyer's Brokers out there in Albuquerque. Here's the scoop!

You don't ask your buyer clients if they want to buy the house unless you already know that they want to buy the house! Don't be a jerk and ask then if they want to buy every house you show them! After all, nobody likes to be pressured!

How do you know if they want to buy the house? You ask them questions like "Do you like the hot tub room?" If they say "Yes!" then you make a mental note. Then you ask them, "in your opinion, is a big backyard something that is important to you?" If they say "Yes!" then you make another mental note. As you compile your mental notes into a long list you'll be helping them to prioritize the home features that are important to them. Oh yeah, and in the process you'll be learning what their needs are likes are so that when you see the house that has everything on the list you'll be able to say "Hey, I bet you really like this house, it's got everything you need!" And they'll say "Absolutely, yes it does! We want to buy it."

That's a win-win and that is how you make a sale without having to pressure you buyer clients. Wow. That was really hard, huh?

If you want to be a successful Albuquerque Buyer Broker, don't bug your clients by asking them to buy every house you show them, help your clients define what they are really looking for in a house. Not only will your clients like you better, but sales will get easier too. And if you do, maybe the next I call you for feedback on my listing you'll be able to answer my questions.

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Me and my team of buyer brokers never pressure anyone to buy a house they don't like or before they are ready. We listen, and we help them make wise decisions.

Right now there is an abundance of Affordable Homes for Sale in Albuquerque. You can find inexpensive homes starting as low as $29,900. Today, there are 348 cheap homes available for under $100,000 on the Albuquerque MLS.

Search Affordable Albuquerque Homes for Sale

There is a catch on some of these homes, however. Affordable homes priced under $50,000 almost always need extensive repair and may be available for cash purchase only. That's because they are ineligible for financing due to their condition. You won't be able to buy most of them using an FHA loan for sure.

Another catch is on condominiums. Financing can be difficult or impossible to obtain on even the nicest condos due to current lending conditions. High default rates during the recession are partly to blame for this.

If you are a cash buyer looking for an Albuquerque house, however, you are in luck. There are some deals that present great opportunity for the experienced investor.

Please use the link above and visit my website if you want to cash in on the opportunity to buy an affordable Albuquerque house.

I had a terrific experience at "The Garage" in Northwest Albuquerque. Finding a good garage and a good mechanic you can trust is something you should not take for granted, and when you find one you should tell others. Well here's my story:

About a month ago I took my car to a garage to get an estimate. My old Ford (I love this car) was overheating. The mechanic took a quick look and announced his diagnosis "There are hydrocarbons in your coolant." I must have looked like a deer in the headlights, because I had no idea what that meant. Then he said "you need a new head gasket." Now I may not be the most mechanical guy you'll ever meet, but I know bad news when I hear it. They quoted me about $1,500 for the repair, but offered to do it for $1,200 because they were "slow that day."

I decided maybe it was time to put this car out to pasture, so I drove it the very short distance home and let it sit for several weeks while I decided what to do.

You know what I love about this old car? It has a big-you know what American made engine and a sticker on it that says built in Chicago, my hometown. Oh yeah, plus I love the way it blows all the little foreign cars away as I cruise up the rather steep La Vajada on the way to Santa Fe (exceeding the posted speed limit by not more than 5 MPH of course). Ya right!

Anyway, I thought maybe I'd better get a second opinion. Boy am I glad that I did. Not only did James at the Garage tell me I did not need a new head gasket, he told me he could replace the ruptured coolant reservoir for only about $350.

My old Ford had a new lease on life!

But wait I said, please double check the coolant for hydro-carbons (pretending to be a little less ignorant this time), they found some at that other place. He said nope, it was clean.

So if you're looking for a garage in Northwest Albuquerque, I would highly recommend The Garage on Western Trail and Unser. They did right by me! And now I know why that other garage was slow...

I just got back from the second Albuquerque Wordpress Meetup. It was a cool event all about one of my favorite subjects, Wordpress.

Blogging on ActiveRain is a great idea, especially with a RainMaker account, but creating your own blog with Wordpress is a great idea too.

I've used WP to start what I call "microblogs" for some of my favorite neighborhoods, Taylor Ranch and Ventana Ranch in Northwest Albuquerque. I learned about the beauty of the hyper-local post here on ActiveRain from Bob Stewart, and decided to take it to another level.

If you want to dominate SERPS for an area of your local market you might want to consider doing the same. That way when someone Googles your neighborhood you could have posts from Active Rain, your outside blog, Localism and your neighborhood-specific microblog show up. You could eventually dominate page one of Google for your desired term.

The Albuquerque WordPress Meetup group has members with a wide range of knowledge from beginners to web developers, and everything in between. like me. It's always fun to be in a room of like-minded people (like going to Raincamp) and exploring one of your favorite topics.

Since I had such a good time I'd like to thank the organizers, Jenifer De La Garza from Administrative Support Group who provides Real Estate Virtual Assistant Services, and Karen Arnold from Karen K Design Website Solutions.

There are meetings every second Thursday of the month, here's a link to more information: Albuquerque WordPress Meetup.

Here are my Taylor Ranch Monthly Real Estate Stats for September 2010. These are the most current, comprehensive and specific market statistics available for Taylor Ranch.

Brief Summary-Year to Date Stats

• Total sales (17) were down sharply
• The average sales price ($184,735) was down sharply
• The average days on market stat (97) was down sharply
• The average price per square foot stat (106) was down

Total Sales in Taylor Ranch

• Total sales were down considerably from 39 in September 2009 to 17 in September 2010.

Average Sales Price in Taylor Ranch

• The average sales price decreased from $208,902 in September of 2009 to $184,735 in September of 2010.

Average Days on the Market in Taylor Ranch

• Average days on the market decreased from 116 days in September of 2009 to 97 days in September of 2010.

Average Price per Square Foot in Taylor Ranch

• The average price per square foot was down from $111 per square foot in September 2009 to $106 per square foot in September 2010.

Summary

The total number of Taylor Ranch Home sales is down almost 30% year to date. The homes that did sell sold for 12% less. I anticipate the market will continue to be slow for the foreseeable future.

Originally posted at TaylorRanchHomesforSale.com.

Search Taylor Ranch Homes for Sale here.