Monthly Archives: October 2014

September 2014 Home Sales

Real Estate by the Numbers

By Abigail Davidson CRS, ABR, SRES, CLHMS, CNE, Broker Associate, Sotheby’s International Realt

graphThe following information has been compiled to provide you with updated information on sales in Santa Fe and its surrounding areas for September, 2014. These statistics are for all Santa Fe residential home sales including single-family homes, condos, and townhomes.

There were a total of 167 home sales in September up from August, which was a total of 157.  Prices ranged from $44,000 to $2,270,000.  Total sales volume for September was $73,413,575, up from August which was $66,606,180.  The average sold to list price held steady at 96.8 percent. 66 percent of the sales were cash transactions. These transactions accounted for 44 percent of the total sales volume.

The average sales price in September was $439,602, up from August, which was $424,243.  The median sales price for September was $ 337,500, down very slightly from August’s median of $338,000.   The average number of days on the market in September was 161 and August’s was 154.

Here is how number of sales per price-band reported in September 2014:

  • 86 homes sold for under $350,000
  • 31 homes sold from $350,001 to $500,000
  • 39 homes sold from $500,001 to $1,000,000
  • 11 homes sold from $1,000,001 to $2,270,000

The biggest increases were in the $500,000 to 1 million range and the over $1,000,000 range.

 

 

Homes with History – The Lesnett House

147 Gonzales Road Lincoln, NM

By Adrienne DeGuere, Editor and Office Administrator, Sotheby’s International Realty

lesnit1In Lincoln, a small, historic village nestled in the Rio Bonito river valley of southeastern New Mexico, discover The Lesnett House, a territorial home built in 1878 that stood during the tumultuous Lincoln County War of 1878-1881. Sherriff Pat Garrett, famed for killing Billy the Kid, once owned a portion of the property and Billy the Kid himself is rumored to have hidden in a flour barrel while being pursued by soldiers from Fort Stanton.  Listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and designated as one of three historic Lincoln homes remaining in private ownership, the 4,500 square foot home and studio offers 22” thick adobe walls, 12’ coved ceilings with vigas, white plaster walls, and wood and Saltillo tile flooring.  Zoned for residential and commercial use, the property includes 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a kiva fireplace on .84 of an acre.

Exclusively represented by MARY JOY FORD
505.577.0177 maryjoy.ford@sothebyshomes.com

Condominium Owners: Research Your Insuring Requirements!

By Vincent Marciano
Residential & Commercial Condominium & Homeowner Association Specialist
ADV Insurance Agency

Condominium insurance is a special insurance designed to fit the specific needs of condo owners. Condo owners need to take into consideration additional coverage for the building based on their condominium association’s master policy and coverage.

Condominium Association Master Policy

Your condominium association will insure the building and its common elements based on one of three approaches: 1) bare walls, 2) single entity (original specifications), or 3) all-in.

• “Bare walls” means that the association will insure only the building including walls, the roof, floors, elevators, etc. The association is not responsible for insuring anything inside your unit such as appliances, cabinets, carpeting, wallpaper, interior partitions, plumbing, wiring, and bathroom fixtures, among others.

• “Single entity” coverage means the association is responsible for all real property, but only the cost necessary to return the building and units to their original condition using materials of like kind and quality.

• “All-in” statutes differ from original specifications in one major respect. The association is not only responsible for all real property, but it is also charged with insuring unit owner-installed upgrades.

Determining How Much Coverage You Need

As you’re evaluating how much insurance you need for your unit and possessions, keep the following questions in mind:

• What is the association responsible for insuring? What am I responsible for insuring?

• How much coverage do I need for loss assessment?

• How much coverage do I need for my possessions?

• Do I have replacement cost or actual cash value coverage for my possessions?

• What does the liability coverage include?

• Do I need earthquake or flood coverage?

Finally, make sure you understand exactly what your policy covers. Review it at least once a year to make sure you stay adequately covered.

 

How Planet Forward Helps the Real Estate Community

Rod Gesten, Co-Founder & CEO
Planet Forward, LLC

planet-forward-your-moveAs some of you may be aware, Rey Post’s All Things Real Estate Program on KTRC 1260 AM in Santa Fe was co-hosted by me, Rod Gesten, of Planet Forward LLC for the first hour. The theme of the show was centered on how businesses in the local community assist owners, buyers, and sellers in the real estate community. Obviously it is not easy to serve any community as a business, as opposed to doing volunteer work, unless you are given the opportunity or create opportunity for which your company is needed. Let’s discuss.

To our way of thinking, whether you offer a product or service in any community, you must do what you say you’re going to do, show up, and complete delivery on time. It has become a ritual among many companies to ask consumers to accept four-hour windows in which products and services may be delivered. This is unacceptable to us and disrespectful to clients whose time is also valuable. It is just as bad to show up two hours late with excuses or not at all. This is what telephones are for.

Another annoying practice is to tack on additional costs to the original quotation. Charges such as delivery, travel, or extra time needed to perform a task should be thought about and discussed up front. With minimally 60 percent of our clientele coming from the real estate community and many of those being repeat customers, we cannot afford to ‘surprise’ people in that way and dismantle their trust in us.

A community of owners, buyers, and sellers of homes and buildings has common concerns and needs when it comes to their real estate. For example, things break and need repair. Other items cost owners a lot of money each month in the form of recurring bills.  Sometimes people want to plan an improvement but have no idea what the cost can range.

Let’s take the first situation. People buy and sell houses as a matter of course. Situations change, people want to downsize, whatever the reason. If you’re a buyer, you want to be sure that you aren’t falling in love with a flawed product; have items corrected or have room to negotiate a common ground before the purchase. If you’re a seller of a property, you are not motivated to improve your home or building to perfection before the sale. This is why it is so important to have somebody evaluate the symptoms listed in, say, an inspection report, find the causes, and produce alternative value solutions that everybody can agree to.

In another case, let’s say an owner wanted to save money by being his own contractor for services out-of-pocket. He’s got a cousin or an uncle that is skilled in a few things and is willing and able to do a lot of the grunt work himself. He gets to a certain point in the process and finds that he is out of money and there are finishes to complete and top-outs on electrical and plumbing fixtures yet to go. His wife is frustrated and wants the project, which is 6 months later than promised, completed so she can move in with the kids. The owner doesn’t have the skill sets it takes and not being familiar with local codes, has no idea what it is going to take to gain a Certificate of Occupancy from the local governing body. At this point, it would be handy, to say the least, to know of a licensed contractor who can speak to local authorities about code issues, develop a cost of completion estimate for lenders, and complete tasks as intended in a professional manner.

With respect to monthly costs, wouldn’t it be handy to know a local company that does free online assessment of energy usage in your home, using utility data from your own bills in order to compare your home’s performance to a neighbor’s? Further, what if this company were able to examine your home and explain the best value alternatives for lowering your bills instead of throwing money away on ineffectively small return fixes?

These are just a few of the activities that Planet Forward performs for its clients. It’s allowed for great relationships with other vendors, lenders, and brokers as well. In today’s world, things have become so specialized that no one entity can be everything to everybody. That is why professional relationships are so important in order to successfully serve all players in the real estate community.