Real Estate Marketing
By Ken Dettelbach, Gateway Marketing LLC

Furry’s Buick GMC helped to provide a happy ending to a story that started around five years ago. That story is as follows:

Vietnam Veterans Chapter 996 started collecting pictures of those New Mexican soldiers killed in Vietnam. The last picture was found in October 2013. With that, New Mexico became the first state to provide the Vietnam Memorial Wall Museum Education Center (to be built) 398 photos of everyone from New Mexico killed in the war.

As an acknowledgement of this great feat, Santa Fe was awarded the traveling “Wall That Heals” exhibited at the City’s Fort Marcy Ball Park recently on March 19 – 24, 2014.

“The Wall That Heals” exhibition features a ½ scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans memorial in Washington, D.C. The replica is complete with the 58,249 names of those killed or missing in action from the conflict. The names are listed alphabetically by day of casualty.

Brad and Julia Furry (Furry’s Buick GMC) stepped up to the plate again to provide the core monies necessary to publish a 12 page insert commemorating all 398 New Mexican soldiers who died in Vietnam as well as events during the “Wall” stay in Santa Fe.

“It is gratifying to know that there are people like Brad and Julia who don’t hesitate to commit to this once in a life-time event for all of New Mexico” says Arturo Canaras, “The Wall That Heals” event chairman.

“The Wall That Heals” was a great success and offered many special events throughout the 4 day period. Visit www.santafenewmexican.com/news/veterans.

Property Management Report
By Tom Simon, Managing Member, Westgate Properties, LLC

Members of a condo association or HOA have the right to examine any association documents.   There is nothing secret about the business of the association.  The foundation for this is in the New Mexico Non-Profit Corporation Act, which is one of the key documents that govern all non-profit corporations in New Mexico.  The relevant portion of the Act, 53-8-27, states that “All books and records of a corporation may be inspected by any member, or his agent or attorney, for any proper purpose at any reasonable time.”

Here is a recommended procedure for an orderly management of this process:

1. Owner or owner’s authorized representative should send the board or managing agent a request in writing specifying what records they wish to review, the date of those records, and the purpose of the request.
2. The association representative should respond to such a request within 30 days.  Of course, sooner is better.  During that time the representative will locate the correct documents and get them ready.
3. The  records should be made available for review during regular business hours at the manager’s office for 30 days after the request is processed.
4. The association may charge a reasonable fee for copies of records.

Most people use email and can receive documents electronically.  Electronic delivery should be offered as an option to make it easier for owners to obtain the desired documents.  Do not use “the process” as a means to delay delivery of records.  This does not inspire confidence and trust.

If the delivery of documents is in response to a disclosure request such as a Condominium Questionnaire or HOA Disclosure, some attorneys interpret the New Mexico Condominium Act and HOA Act to require that these documents be provided in paper form in order to comply strictly with the Act.

The association is not obligated to provide documents that infringe on the privacy of an individual such as medical or personnel records. These are not considered public records and the association is not required to make them available.  Salary information may be made available in the aggregate, but not for individuals. Some requests may also be denied if they involve ongoing legal or contractual obligations that might expose the association board or manager to liability.  If in doubt, seek legal advice.

Real Estate by the Numbers
By Abigail Davidson, CRS, ABR, SRES, CLHMS, CNE

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

There were a total of 126 home sales in February.  Prices ranged from $44,250 to $2,550,000.  Total sales volume for February was $52,626,432, up from January which was $42,409,153. Notably 35 percent of the sales were cash.

From January 1 through March 14, 2014 Sotheby’s International Realty has sold $93,938,378 of the total dollar volume. Sotheby’s International Realty’s sales are higher to date than the total first quarter volume of 2013.

The average sales price in February was $417,670, down from January which was $424,091. The median sales price for February was $327,500, up from January’s median of $310,000.  The average number of days on the market in February was 194 and January’s was 170.   Here is how number of sales per price-band reported in February 2014:

• 67 homes sold for under $350,000
• 26 homes sold from $350,001 to $500,000
• 26 homes sold from $500,001 to $1,000,000
• 7 homes sold from $1,000,001 to $2,550,000

Proportionately, the largest increase was in the $350,000 -$500,000 range.

By Madeline McCue, Principal, Servpro of Santa Fe

Mold. In Santa Fe. In the middle of a drought. As unlikely as that sounds, if you’ve had a steadily leaking faucet or a burst pipe anywhere in your house or any type of long-term drip, mold can and will grow. Fast. And it’s probably what keeps Servpro of Santa Fe busiest.

Although we also deal with fire, smoke, and soot cleanup and restoration, deodorization, carpet cleaning, stain removal, and water removal and dehumidification, probably every third or fourth call we get here at Servpro of Santa Fe has to do with mold mitigation and remediation.

Mold only needs wet or damp conditions to grow (steam in poorly ventilated bathrooms, humidifiers, roof leaks), and its most common nutritional sources include leaves, wallboard, insulation, ceiling tiles, paper products, or other organic-based materials (paints, carpet, fabric, and upholstery). So if you smell something musty or you think that black or green or gray-blue fuzzy stuff in your water heater closet or behind your kitchen cabinets or under your rugs or carpeting is what’s making you cough or wheeze, call in Servpro of Santa Fe. Especially if you have infants or elderly folks around, or anyone with allergies or asthma, as these are the people most at risk.

If it turns out you do have mold, Servpro of Santa Fe will get rid of it. Quickly and with as little disruption to your home and lives as possible. Locally owned and part of a national chain that has been around since 1964, Servpro of Santa Fe prides itself on its fast response time, its adherence to protocol (especially when it comes to mold—Servpro will not leave a mold job until the building has been tested by an outside company), and customer satisfaction.

So if you even suspect you might have mold somewhere, give us a call: 505-780-8368.