It's great to be able to report that the positive market trends we've been seeing all year in the Albuquerque area real estate market appear to be continuing deep into the fall.The latest statistics, for October, recently released by Greater Albuquerque Association of REALTORS® (GAAR) are perhaps most notable for the lack of change they represent.In other words, as predicted we're seeing another strong end of year market building up, just as we witnessed in 2015.As ever, we'll concentrate our monthly review of the latest stats on the single-family detached market and there are many signs that sellers in this key sector can be enthused about.Although actual closed sales declined by 5.1% in a year-on-year comparison, they are now up by 6.8% on a year-to-date basis.Even more encouraging fo... 11/19/2016

In retrospect, it was perhaps inevitable that financial markets would react to the election result last week, regardless of who won.After an immediate downward reaction to the result, stock markets quickly rallied, which caused bonds, a safe-haven investment when stocks are unattractive, to suddenly become less appealing.A side-effect has been for mortgage rates, which are closely linked to the demand for bonds, to rise in the past few days.Of course we cannot, and should not, pretend that this is anything but unwelcome news if you're currently buying a home. However, it is perhaps a good time for us all to pause, ignore some of the more exaggerated news headlines, and take a slightly longer term view as to what might be happening here.As we've been saying in this blog throughout 2016, ... 11/15/2016

Every few months, we like to review and contextualize the latest Greater Albuquerque Association of REALTORS® quarterly statistics for you, especially as they provide a wider perspective of market trends than month-to-month reports.Once again, it's very pleasing to be able to tell you that the recently published third quarter figures reaffirm the general positivity we've been seeing all year.A key highlight is that, in July, August and September, single-family detached home sales showed a year-on-year increase of 6.34%.The average sale price of those homes rose by 3.32%, compared with the third quarter of 2015, to $228,271. Indeed, if we look back to 2014, we can see that average prices have risen by just under $10k in that time frame. This is good news for homeowners, in terms of growi... 11/11/2016

Many homeowners will remember the pain caused by The Great Recession years, not least the dramatic effect it often had on the home equity they had built-up.How great, then, to be able to report that home equity has been making a stunning comeback over the past few years of recovery.According to a recent national study by Corelogic, home equity more than doubled between June 2011 and June of this year.Measuring home values against mortgage debt, total home equity across the nation stood at $6.1 trillion in June of 2011. By the same month this year, it had risen to $12.7 trillion.What a fantastic turnaround in five years! Indeed the current level of home equity is not too far at all off the peaks we saw pre-recession, although we should take into account that mortgage debt has grown compa... 10/28/2016

If your home isn't selling, there could of course be a wide range of reasons for this. But in such a buoyant market as the one we're currently enjoying, it's a good bet that your lack of success could well be because your asking price is too high.One of the key skills of a top performing real estate agent is the knowledge and experience to be able to suggest an asking price that will simultaneously appeal to buyers and also maximize the return for the seller.Needless to say, this is a delicate balancing act.Unfortunately, some sellers will be disappointed/annoyed to discover that their home isn't being priced by the agent at what the generic pricing websites say it is worth.Perhaps even more unfortunately, there are agents out there who will perpetuate the delusion and simply list the h... 09/30/2016

Last weekend marked a significant moment in mortgage finance history as the new, so-called "trended" credit data was launched.We initially looked at trended credit data back in May. However, its planned introduction date of June 25th was postponed until last weekend, so we can now finally look forward to seeing the anticipated positive effect it will have on the mortgage market.To re-cap, trended credit data is a new, more in-depth, method of compiling credit reports on home loan applicants.It has been introduced by Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored, leading source of financing for mortgage lenders.The key difference in trended credit data is the new ability for lenders to dig deeper into an applicant's credit history than was previously possible.This has significant benefits in that... 09/28/2016

Thursday will be the first official day of Fall, so we thought now would be a great time to offer some useful tips to help you prepare your home for the changing weather conditions and temperatures we'll be seeing in the coming weeks.Roofs - A pair of binoculars is invaluable when it comes to making an inspection of the general condition of your roof. You should look for obvious signs of missing shingles/tiles, cracks or other damage, as well as the integrity of flashings around vents, chimneys etc. Remember that even very, very minor leakages or damage can be utterly catastrophic when the really bad weather arrives, so don't hesitate to seek professional guidance if you have any doubts over the condition of the roof.Gutters/downpipes - It's vital to make an annual inspection of your gu... 09/27/2016

My newest listing in Ventana Ranch West is 7619 Jamestown Rd NW, a beautiful Pulte home with 2,150 square feet. 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a 2.5 car garage and and large, oversize corner lot (.22 acres).The popular Scottsdale floorplan features an open floorplan with spacious kitchen with master bedroom down. The master bedroom has a large master bath with separate tub and shower plus a large walk in closet. There's also a office or optional 4th bedroom downstairs. Upstairs you'll find bedrooms two and three, a full bath and a large loft area. 7916 Jamestown Rd NW features extended tile areas downstairs, wood floors in the office/fourth bedroom, an extra half garage bay for either a storage area or perhaps parking for motorcycles as well as a very private feeling backyard with no neighbors ... 09/21/2016

I brought the buyer to a great home in NW Albuquerque's Ventana Ranch!I love to list NW Albuquerque homes for sale, but I also love to show them to home buyers. I love helping them find the best homes, or the best deals, and sometimes both - depending on exactly what they're looking for.That's why I knew that 9700 Canelo Ct NW was the right home for my buyer clients! I've said this many times - a great house starts with a great lot. This house has a great lot. It also has a three car garage (that's pretty rare in Ventana Ranch), radiant floor heating, extended tile areas and an extra large living room.Sorry if the photo isn't great, this wasn't my listing! Here's the story on this one. Buyer's came to town determined to buy a new construction home from the largest home builder in town. ... 09/20/2016

If, as a prospective house buyer, you were to ask us what's the single best piece of advice we could give you right now, we'd not hesitate to say: "get pre-approved for your mortgage".In fact, with low inventory of available homes for sale this has become an even more important pre-requisite.To explain why we say this, imagine for a moment that you are selling a home in the Albuquerque area right now. You're in a great position, because there are many buyers chasing a slimming number of available homes. Indeed it's quite possible that you'll receive multiple offers for your home, maybe even above your asking price.So let's now picture you in the fortunate position of sitting down to consider the offers you've received and let's say you're having to decide between three fairly equal offe... 09/16/2016

It's good to be able to report that recently released Greater Albuquerque Association of REALTORS® statistics for August point towards a very lively end to the summer in the area.Apart from continuing concerns over the level of inventory of available homes for sale, which we'll return to later, there were positive indicators right across the most important statistical categories for detached homes.In line with trends we've been seeing all year, median detached home prices were up by 1.6% ($190,000) on the same period last year, while average prices rose by exactly the same amount ($226,422).A detached home took just 51 days to sell in August - an 8.9% year-on-year improvement. There was also a 9.1% increase in the number of detached homes sold, compared with August 2015.There were also ... 09/14/2016

Low inventory of available homes for sale continues to be a major factor in the Albuquerque area. Despite a couple of slightly encouraging signs during this year to date, in general the trend has been getting worse.The truth is, of course, that a shortage of homes is a mixture of good and bad news, depending on which end of the real estate kaleidoscope your looking through.For buyers, it does mean less choice at any given price point and, quite possibly, some difficulty in finding exactly the right specification of home. That said, however, buyer sentiment continues to be amazing, with a keen awareness that the current very low mortgage rates may not last and compromises may need to be made to lock-in a great deal on a home loan before anything changes.If you're selling, in general the ... 09/12/2016

First of all we hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.Now we're on the other side of the Labor Day break, thoughts are increasingly turning to the fall, which is officially just over two weeks ahead of us now (September 22nd).Rather than wait for it to arrive, we thought we'd set the scene for those considering selling in the next few weeks.Our message is very simple - don't let the end of summer put you off listing. It is a complete myth that homes stop selling when the peak summer season ends.If you adopt the right mindset, you'll be in excellent shape to take advantage of the opportunities that the coming weeks will present to you.People have to move throughout the year and very often, and usually for employment reasons, have very little say in when that move is going to be.Inde... 09/06/2016

The Labor Day weekend is, of course, something of a watershed in the annual calendar.Leading into the weekend, it still feels very much like summer and then, with college football getting under way this weekend and all the other traditions of this much anticipated holiday, we'll suddenly wake up on Tuesday morning with thoughts of the fall, the holidays and year end somehow much closer.If you're undecided about whether or not to sell your home right now, it would be reasonable to assume that, with a bit more time on your hands in the coming days, you'll quite possibly be making up your mind if you want to sell this year or sit it out and wait until 2017.Obviously there are so many circumstances that will factor into your decision process. Here, however, are five great reasons why you mi... 09/04/2016

  What would you say if I told you you could buy a like-new, 3,000 square foot home in NW Albuquerque's Ventana Ranch West neighborhood with brazilian Koa wood floors, granite countertops, refrigerated air and a $40,000 PV (solar) system for under $300,000? Would you think I was crazy?Well that's probably what one lucky buyer was thinking when they bought 8108 Pony Hills Pl NW. And now, while they're sitting in their nicely cooled home (with really low and sometimes non-existent PNM bills), they're laughing quietly to themselves.I'm really surprised this one made it 30 days on the market becuase of how wonderfully it showed. It just goes to show, there are still some pretty good deals on homes in Ventana Ranch West.Home Sales Are Up in Ventana Ranch WestThe homes in Ventana Ranch West w... 09/03/2016

I just sold a home in NW Albuquerque's Riverview Estates in 15 days for top of the market price! It was a beautiful Opel Jenkins home with wood floors and a remodeled kitchen that included a super beautiful hot tub and pool.  Here's a quick video of 4336 Rio Colorado Blvd NE:NW Albuquerque's Riverview EstatesEven though I've been a Realtor for 12 years, this was the first Riverview Estates home I've listed for sale. At first I felt bad about this, but then I realized that not many homes go on the market in the neighborhood! Why is that? Well, they're beautiful homes built by a great builder (Opel Jenkins), they're in a great NW Albuquerque location that's close to Paseo Del Norte to get across town, and the schools are some of the most popular in NW Albuquerque.Oh, and the sellers thoug... 09/01/2016

2016 has been a great year for the real estate market in NW Albuquerque, in fact I recently sold a home in Paradise Hills in 7 days!10336 Rempas Dr NW was lovingly maintained and updated by the owners, and was a 4 bedroom ranch located on a larger, quiet corner lot.  The home was built by Charter, one of Albuquerque's finest home builders known more for building in the popular NE heights part of town, but there are some beautiful Charter homes in NW too!NW Albuquerque's Paradise Hills Neighborhood Paradise Hills is an unincorporated area in NW Albuquerque west of the Rio Grande that's entirely surrounded by the the city of Albuquerque. Paradise Hills was developed before the rest of NW Albuquerque by about 30 years.Paradise Hills homes were built starting in the early 1960's. The origin... 09/01/2016

In last Friday's blog, we looked at new statistics that revealed that 53% of all home sales in 2016 have been to first time buyers.This is, of course, a fact that simply cannot be ignored by any seller whose home might attract those looking to get on the home ownership ladder.It might therefore be instructive to consider some of the questions that will be foremost in the first time buyer's mind, so that you can prepare your home for sale accordingly:Running costs? - Most people who have bought a home for the first time will know that it can be quite a financially stressful period, especially because you are having to populate the house with furniture and wide range of other essentials. The actual running costs of a home can therefore either be very attractive or off-putting to many firs... 09/01/2016

I recently listed and SOLD a home in NW Albuquerque's Las Marcadas neighborhood. Las Marcadas is a small neighborhood tucked away near the north end of Petroglyph National Monument. The homes in the neighborhood were built by a variety of home builders including early RayLee homes by Scott Grady, US Homes, Home by Kim Brooks and Opel Jenkins, perhaps NW Albuquerque's best home builder of the era.I often tell home buyers I meet that the area from Calle Nortena to the south and Paradise Hills Blvd to the north along Golf Course Blvd is the Sweet Spot of NW Albuquerque real estate.Las Marcadas Subdivision Las Marcadas subdivision is right in the middle of that area along with other great neighborhoods like Richland Hills, Rancho Sereno and Riverview Estates.Homes in this area of NW Albuque... 08/29/2016

I recently listed and SOLD 8140 Corn Mountain Pl NW located in NW Albuquerque's Ventana Ranch West.Ventana Ranch is a popular bedroom community known for affordable homes, beautiful parks and good schools.Ventana Ranch West is one of the newer parts of the neighborhood. Construction began in 2005 or so by Pulte Homes and DR Horton.  Popular One Story FloorplanDR Horton built this beautiful single story home in 2007. This was a super popular floor plan at the time, and it remains so today. One of the reasons was its flexibility.It can be built with 2 or 3 garages, and with 3 or 4 bedrooms. There's a lot of value in a newer 4 bedroom single story home in NW Albuquerque, especially when it has a 3 car garage and refrigerated air. However, my favorite version of this floor plan - I think it... 08/29/2016