About Santa Fe County, NM

Being behind the camera whether it is a smart phone, iPad or digital camera is often where I begin my day. My daylight savings time day began with another opportunity to see a new Santa Fe snow painting. Lately, our winter has been arriving in the dark and leaving us with snow painting surprises in the morning. This tree caught me eye because of the happy tweeting bird sounds from within her snow covered branches. And of course, the moment before I clicked the shutter, they flew off leaving this glorious snow painted pinon (the name for our Santa Fe pine trees) behind. After all some birds are shy!

Santa Fe is in the high desert of the southwest. This means we live at 7500 feet and are blessed with four seasons. Like the landscape, we are learn to adapt just to be in the truly magical place.

If you are planning a visit or want information about our local market, do not hesitate to contact either myself at 505-660-4541 or my team partner, Ulla Allyn at 505-470-2381. We are here to make a difference in not only how you see Santa Fe but in your real estate experience.

**********************************

I think snow paints when she falls. Which is why I love Santa Fe's seasons. It is March in Santa Fe and winter decided to pay us a visit in the night like a gypsy.By dark, it looked like a mini-blizzard with all kinds of warnings about winter. Now, winter has come to Santa Fe for centuries and frankly I fail to understand why anyone has to be warned. It is as if snow is an enemy or something. For our community, snow is a blessing because it is water. At the same time, when daylight arrives and the snow has settled, the landscape in my Northside Vista Encandata neighborhood is transformed into another one-of-a-kind moment. I made this image around 8:30 this morning facing east looking towards the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. It was still snowing in the mountains when I clicked the shutter as the Santa Fe Ski Basin was completely invisible.

Now, I’m warning you. Santa Fe can become addictive! If you love the beautiful way mother nature delivers winter in Santa Fe, then just imagine what happens when she delivers spring, summer and fall. This is why I relocated here from Washington DC nearly 20 years ago. The landscape changes into another beautiful surprise every day.

Give me a call if you want to see how you can be here too. Our home and land prices are the lowest in years and mortgage interest rates are no where near the high of 15.75 percent like they were 30 years ago.

*************************************

There are plenty of Santa Fe condo investment opportunities available right now and the timing is right to just take the plunge and get your hands on one now. More and more people are looking for condos to rent since there aren't enough apartments available to fill the rental need. You can supply these people with your own condo to rent and pocket a nice tidy profit by doing so.

Profits are everything

The only way you can make a Santa Fe condo investment work for you is by firmly establishing ahead of time that you will be heading towards profit. If you have never been involved in a real estate transaction before you'll need to get some help with this.

Contact your Santa Fe real estate broker and let him know that you need some expert advice. He'll let you know who to contact to do some serious number crunching. There are a lot of numbers that need to be examined before coming to a final conclusion that a profit can be made. There are formulas and other mathematical processes that can help you work out the profit ratio from any property you are looking at buying.

Location is important

When it comes to the right location and type of Santa Fe condo that would be the best investment, your broker is the person you need to turn to. He knows what parts of town have the best areas and which ones to avoid. He'll have first-hand knowledge about these things and you can trust his judgement.

He'll also let you know what kind of condo is most wanted in each area. For example, in one area 2 bedroom condos may be the rage while in another part of town 3 bedroom units may be hot. It all depends on the demographics and real estate trends in Santa Fe.

There are Santa Fe condos that would make good investments all around the city. If you want to set yourself up for a solid investment that will pay off for years, give me a shout. I’ll help you get started on the right path.

When all is said and done, all of the costs of purchasing a home in Santa Fe need to be added up for a total figure. Until you do this, you cannot really estimate how much house you can afford. It is something that a lot of people don't do until the last minute, which can result in some sad moments. You certainly don't want to end up falling in love with a home only to find out that the total cost puts it completely out of your price range.

Here are the costs that you're going to have to tally up before deciding on how much you can realistically spend for a home in Santa Fe.

1. Getting an appraisal

In most cases you will be responsible for paying for the appraisal fee. The lender will arrange for this appraisal to be done but it will be added onto the final cost.

2. Insurance costs

If you need to get a mortgage with a high ratio you may have to pay mortgage insurance. Also, since your home in Santa Fe will act as a form of security on your mortgage, your lender will expect you to get fire and vandalism insurance as well.

3. Santa Fe fees

If you have any type of credit issue or problem proving your income, you may have to work through a mortgage Santa Fe to set up a special home loan. Because there is more work involved, you'll have to pay a separate higher fee for the application processing.

4. Getting a land survey

Your lender will ask for a land survey in most cases to make sure that your neighbor’s property or assets are not encroaching on the land. A land survey establishes the boundaries of the Santa Fe property you intend to buy.

5. Legal costs

You'll need to get a lawyer to help you make the purchase legal and advise you on any of the legal implications. A title search will need to be done and the mortgage will need to be prepared and registered.

6. Taxes

Oh the dreaded taxes! These vary across the board depending on your location. Your Santa Fe real estate agent can let you know exactly what types of taxes you can expect to pay when all is said and done

Needless to say, you'll also have to factor in getting the utilities set up, the cost of the move itself and whether or not you want to have the house professionally cleaned before you move in.

Taking all of these things into account, you'll have to go through each one separately when you are purchasing a home in Santa Fe. Your agent can walk you through each one so that you can have a pretty good estimate of how much in total it will cost you to buy the house.

If you are planning on buying or selling soon you'll have to find a Santa Fe real estate broker that works from the heart. One that is ready to give it his all for you. Settling for anything less is really settling for second best.

There are a lot of Santa Fe real estate brokers out there but very few that actually put their heart and soul into making your transaction as perfect as it can possibly be. Finding an broker that will go to bat for you will get you a faster and more profitable deal every time.

You see, there are a lot of Santa Fe brokers that are simply in the game for the money. Some are just part -timers that would like to give it their all but can't because they are limited by time constraints. Some brokers are just burnt out, while others, like me, love real estate and love to help others realize their goals.

There are a lot of really good brokers in Santa Fe, don't get me wrong. You just need to weed them out from the others. There are many brokers that know all of the technical aspects of real estate and can serve you well.

In this day and age, however, getting served well falls short. You need a broker that will do everything possible and then some, to make sure that you find the house of your dreams or you sell your home in record time. You have to find one with heart.

Do I have what it takes to meet these stringent qualifications? Well... yes I do. Does it look like I am selling myself? Well I am.

I want you to know that I am willing to give it my all as far as helping you get what you want and would like to become your go-to Santa Fe real estate broker. How does that sound to you? Give me a call and let's talk.

Search Santa Fe homes at http://theverybestofsantafe.com.