Real Estate Information Archive

For many people, searching for a home has some aspects of fun, adventure and creativity, but it can also be a wearying exercise. More specifically, searching online for homes can be frustrating. Sure, Google will give you ten bazillion search results, but let’s face it, these can be tough to wade through when you’re trying to find the perfect home.

When you’re combing through a mountain of search engine results, it can be hard to be confident in what you see. Is what you’re seeing complete? Is it up-do-date and unbiased? Even when you’ve found a company or website you trust, limited search options can make scrolling through listing after unwanted listing tedious. With Susan Orth’s free Multiple Listing Service (MLS) search engine, finding the perfect abode in New Mexico has never been easier.

Search options include everything from number of bedrooms to the age of the building. You can even be updated about your Santa Fe home search with daily email alerts. It searches the entire MLS for the Santa Fe area and there is absolutely no obligation to use it.

There are few things you can get for free nowadays. The peace of mind that you could have about property listings by using this free service will definitely be a boon to you and yours. You have enough to take on as a home buyer. Why shouldn’t you do everything in your power to make it easier?

You can choose, for example, to limit your search to listings that offer a fireplace if that’s what you want most. Or, you could expand your search to include a particular style of architecture as a search option. How you choose to view the listings on the market, how you want to slice and dice it, is up to you. New listings can be sent to your email daily, so that you never miss a property that meets your criteria. All this and more makes this free MLS search program a no-brainer.

Susan Orth has been a real estate professional for over 25 years. She is dedicated to providing you with an ideal experience when buying or selling a home. Her fellow agent, Isabella Luconi, is also passionate about her work and experienced in the field. There is no doubt that you are in good hands when you are browsing homes at the Santa Fe Home Store.

So give yourself a break and some peace of mind. You’ve earned it.

“The American Dream” – for most people, this traditionally means owning their own home. Similar to the effort needed to make any dream come true, being a homeowner takes a lot of work. Buying a home means committing to making any repairs that are or will be needed, along with a commitment to maintenance and landscaping chores as needed. Home ownership for some means having to worry about break-ins when you could be relaxing on vacation, or it may mean settling for living in an area that wasn’t your first choice.

If these kinds of considerations give you pause, why not consider living in a condominium instead? For some people, a condo purchase represents a stage prior to buying a traditional home; for others it is the best fit for their lives over the long term.

The condominium market in the United States is growing in popularity. In bustling, artistic, urban settings condo life is ideal. Living in the midst of a city gives you access to public transportation and puts you within walking distance of shopping and dining. In areas like Santa Fe, New Mexico, this means being in the beating heart of the city’s art, music and entertainment 24/7. Even in areas outside the center of the city, many buyers enjoy the security – matched with the elimination of maintenance and yard work – that condos offer.

The sense of community one gets from condo living attracts many buyers. Since all the residents have a vested interest in keeping the building(s) clean, safe and quiet, condos are the ideal environment for people who value an extra level of protection and camaraderie.

Here’s another advantage to condo life that might not occur to everyone. While many condos have very large square footage, condos typically have less square footage than similarly priced single family homes. For many condo buyers, this means making a commitment to wise use of space and to dealing with accumulation of “stuff.” For single family homeowners, it can be easy to fill room upon room of a house with items, including many that lack even sentimental value. Soon, you’re not even able to park your car in the garage anymore. But the compact coziness of some condos makes it imperative to budget your space. When you’re not filling up empty rooms, you are bound to live a cleaner, more organized life.

Being a homeowner is a big decision. It’s also not for everyone. If you want fewer home maintenance tasks, or if you just prefer a simpler, more organized life, perhaps condo ownership is your cup of tea.

If you are thinking about buying a home in the Santa Fe area, but are concerned about the real estate and home buying markets (and who wouldn’t be after watching the national news for the last few years?), you can study the real estate section of the newspaper and visit some open houses with renewed vigor, encouraged by the knowledge that the home buying market in Santa Fe is sliding back into a positive groove.

While the real estate industry is known for sometimes taking an overly rosy view, the data really do tell us some good things. A detailed report issued by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in June said that May’s pending home sales matched the highest mark in the last 24 months. According to NAR, yearly and monthly gains were reached in each region of the country, and the price tag for existing homes (as opposed to new construction) nationwide is predicted to jump 3 percent this year and perhaps an additional 5.7 percent in 2013.

NAR’s economist brain wizards, however, indicate that evaporating inventory is negatively impacting unit sales. They suggest that if the credit climate snapped back to normal and more inventory was available, specifically in low to middle price ranges, even more contracts would be successfully completed. In layman’s terms, supply cannot meet the demand in the housing market at this time.

The unbiased real estate website, Trulia, supplies us with some detailed information specifically focused on the Santa Fe area. Here are some pertinent numbers for you to crunch concerning the three-month stretch from January to March 2012:

• Median home sales price: $259,250, a 9% ($25,750) decrease from the same time frame last year
• The number of home sales decreased by 56.2% from the same time frame last year
• Average home listing price: $702,420 in the week of June 20, a 0.4% (about $2,630) decline from the previous week

While the real estate market certainly can’t be described as roaring, it’s good to hear good news when it happens.