I was out for a walk in my new Santa Fe neighborhood recently and saw a vacant house for sale. I do what most of us do and peeked in the window! I quickly realized that this homeowner had a serious problem on their hands. There was a foot of water in the house! I found the number for the Santa Fe real estate agent and called to let them know what was going on. The next day repairmen were on the site. But it was clear thousands of dollars of damage had already occurred. How much worse would it have been if I hadn’t of given in to my curiosity and peeked in the window? This has got to be one of the worst nightmares for a Santa Fe real estate agent.  Especially in today’s economic climate the market is already flooded with foreclosures so the number of vacant houses is escalating.  Think a... 04/01/2011

Tonia's Monthly Teas-Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 by Michael Umphrey on March 14, 2011 Tonia's Monthly Teas-Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501   Soon to be in gorgeous abundance in Santa Fe are the blossoms of Springtime in The Rockies.  My wife, Tonia,  is hosting the festival Hunami, the viewing the cherry blossoms.    Bento box lunches, chilled sake, cherry blossom tea and special sweets are laid out on an eye-catching crimson red carpet of felt under a snow storm of blossoms.  The petals create a delicate pink carpet everywhere and a few may catch in the strands of your hair as you enjoy your picnic.  Come and be a guest in the relaxed setting of the Tea House at Sunrise Springs Resort & Spa and savor the atmosphere and flavors of the tearoom while celebrating a spring tea gathering. Fee for ... 03/16/2011

In this new landscape of real estate, it is more important than ever to start with the right Realtor®. Land and home sellers cannot afford a lack of marketing ability, minimal internet savvy, weak negotiation skills or minimal resources to market and advertise properties. Everyone agrees the internet is an inexpensive way to market real estate today because 9 out of 10 buyers are beginning their search online. However, it is important to be able to drive future buyers to the right Realtor® - the one selling your home. Why? Not all homes on the market are not sold. Sometimes doing things now out-of-fashion like mailing a postcard can make a difference. Especially, if the postcard goes beyond being another "just listed" or "just sold" script direct mail piece. Remember when postcards use... 03/13/2011

Do you have a view of a Santa Fe dream? Most people I talk with want me to find them a home to finish their dream of having a Santa Fe lifestyle. Sometimes the dreams I find them often began as someone else's dream. And then it becomes a dream for sale.  Yet, never does anyone ask me for what dreams I have for sale. The "view" is usually the keyword in their request. Some people want to see a mountains or a range of them as in this image of the Jemez. Others want to be in the mountains and then see as far as possible. Then, some people want to get here to experience our blue skies or wonder again at a night sky of stars when they open their front door. Today, when I had another conversation with someone who wanted to finish a dream, I realized in Santa Fe, this is what I do best... buy... 03/07/2011

When the sun goes down tonight and our architecture changes into the color of sunset, Santa Feans will be on their way to dine and save as this is Santa Fe's week for the 2nd Annual Restaurant Week in New Mexico. All the restaurants participating offer you a three course dinner (appetizer, entrée and dessert) in a price range of $20 to $40 per person! This is when we can break old habits and dine somewhere new. The restaurants range from New Mexican to French Bistro to Steak and Seafood to Japanese to American Contemporary to Native American to Pizza to French Southwestern to Fusion/Eclectic to Spanish Tapas to Asian to Italian - just to name a few! Local visitors will now have eight days to experience why Santa Fean's love our diverse and exceptional dining cuisine. No tickets are req... 03/06/2011

Every now and then I see eye to eye with a bird. Especially, since this winter in Santa Fe has gone from cold to warm to artic cold to feeling almost like spring. Frankly, it is very confusing every morning to figure out just what to wear that I can wear all day. Birds do not have those thoughts. Their outerwear is unique to them. There is no shopping for spring clothes on their "to do" list.  Although it snowed yesterday for about an hour, Mother Nature came back to Santa Fe today with a new act of warm air. Fortunately, I arrived early for a listing appointment and had a moment to breathe. Then, some unexpected company flew in to my view and I discovered this bird had the same idea. Spring is on the way. Just ask a bird! 02/25/2011

As our new landscape of real estate becomes more solidly online, the opportunities for scam artists appear to increase by the minute. This morning I received an email from a buyer who wanted to purchase a $300,000 to $600,000 home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At first glance, it sounded normal until after my lst cup of coffee when I noticed several of these flags - cash, swimming pool, attorney in Canada. Then, I remembered the name from a Trulia inquiry last year. Mr. Horai Noraiki had surfaced again and this time at the end of the Santa Fe Trail landing in my email. A quick Google search of his name in quotation marks revealed his electronic trail of scams and damage. Better to search then be sorry! He appears to attempt to convince a willing Seller and/or NON-Alert Realtor to accept his... 02/22/2011

Now if this image were a billboard in the sky, perhaps more Realtors® would stop and pay more attention to where real estate buyers are online and what they are doing there. Today, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), more than nine out of ten home buyers use the internet as the search tool of choice at the start of their home buying process. In 1995, it was only 5 percent or 5 out of 100! Today, some Realtors® get it and have jumped into the online pond with websites, blogs and email. Others are still looking at the stop sign with some form of denial or anger and choosing not answer their phone, respond to email in the now timely expected fashion of quickly or sadly criticize their peers for talking about a customer they met online. Fortunately, more and more are ... 02/19/2011

If anyone is looking for a really great place to have a 2nd home in Santa Fe -- you don't want to miss this opportunity. This is a For Sale by Owner (FSBO) in the highly desirable north Santa Fe area. The home is priced under market value at $489,000.   Features 1,750 sq feet, corner unit. (2) Kiva Fireplaces Private walled patio Toto toilets New water heater New Kitchen CLICK HERE for the VPiX Virtual Tour and more details 02/19/2011

Santa Fe Homes Experts Offer Arts and Cultural Events In New Mexico Santa Fe is a mecca for booming arts, cultural events and even the film industry. With recent demonstrations in Santa Fe about the New Mexico's film industry, Santa Fe is getting known for much more than a desert oasis. This week Santa Fe hosted the New Mexico Film Industry festival showcasing new talent, searching for more talent and offering workshops on make up, editing, directing and acting. Many showed up not only to participate in the workshops but to hopefully be seen or noticed as well. Recently the Governor of New Mexico lowered the incentive on films in New Mexico from 25% to only 15% and this may not be enough to keep the film industry from coming to New Mexico. With so many participants and those actively in... 02/18/2011

Once again Uncle Kodak is challenging me to save trees and move into a paper-less world. This challenge has got my virtual assistant lizards back to work coming up with some new ideas to change how I practice real estate in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The problem as they see it is I keep buying paper! We all know it is not that simple given our real estate's addiction to paper. Here is what I do now to reduce paper and some new strategies for the future. My brokerage office desk is fairly paperless now given all the supportive technology and tools available. All documents are scanned, saved and backed up (now) on my office computer drive and sent to my Google email for transport to my home office and 24/7 access in client and/or property email folders. The problem if when I get to my home of... 02/18/2011

Real estate in Santa Fe, New Mexico changed again today with Sotheby's International Realty's adoption of VOICEPAD, Inc technology. This mobile unique search solution allows the yard sign to talk back to the buyer, empowers the buyer and benefits the seller. This unique interactive marketing tool gives home seekers immediate access to complete property information instantly on their phone. At the same time, it gives home sellers a marketing edge in the marketplace, especially when they are competing with foreclosures and short sales. Accurate and quick information is always the key to a future sale. Now, it is possible to search any home from any phone. The reality of real estate today is when prospective buyers are NOT searching online, they are driving by property. VOICEPAD allows buy... 02/07/2011

After three and a half brutal years the Santa Fe real estate market finally experienced an upturn in volume in the fourth quarter of 2010, and market activity is continuing at a good pace in 2011.  It's a great time to buy in Santa Fe with the lowest prices in over a decade.  Quality properties are sellling at prices we thought we'd never see again.  Please vist our web site www.SantaFeBeautifulHomes.com   02/05/2011

Everytime I have a conversation with someone new in town, I find myself asking "what brought you to Santa Fe?" -- and every now and then, I get one of those extremely memorable and honestly unbelievable answers, "my horse".  You see, most people have seen our northern New Mexico high desert landscape with mountains, arroyos and endless sky in numerous Hollywood Western movies. When I think about it, the answer did make s lot of sense. Those Western movies delivered today on Netflix still sell Santa Fe and continue to create a culture and lifestyle where jeans and boots and dreams all come together. It turns out, New Mexico is made for movies and for people who love them. On a side road to Santa Fe is where I rode this beauty. Do you ever wonder what would happen next, if you hitched a ... 02/04/2011

Chinese New Year 2011, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 by Michael Umphrey on January 27, 2011 Chinese New Year 2011, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 February 3rd is Chinese New Year.  There will be celebrations in Santa Fe.   Nick, our 14 year old son, is studying 2nd year Mandarin Chinese and on Saturday,  January 29th, Desert Academy will host  a celebration of "The Year of The Rabbit" as a fundraiser event for the Spring Break trip to Taiwan.  Watch a performance of Tai-Chi (Taiji), Erhu solos, Chinese Gung Fu Tea Ceremony, traditional Chinese poetry and songs and much more. Friday night at Lulu's Chinese Restaurant you can celebrate and dine at 5:30 and 7:30 seatings for $25.00 per person for a meal that includes champagne, tea and tax.  On Saturday night, there'll be music in place of the dr... 01/28/2011

They break every rule at the end of every day or so it seems. No matter where I am or what I am doing there is some trigger that goes off in my mind to make me take notice of the sun setting over Santa Fe. On some evenings, it is as if the clouds and sky want to move west in a bright blaze of glory. On other evenings, the sun quietly sinks below the Jemez Mountain range as if going to dinner alone. On this occasion, it was a full dress formal Oscar-like event in the sky. Fortunately, I'm tethered to my camera. This image happened next followed by the sound of my two hands clapping. 01/27/2011

If you ever asked me who ruled Santa Fe, I would answer "it's the clouds, of course". We have no tall buildings for Superman to fly down from and land on the Plaza or King Kong to grab and star in another movie made in New Mexico. Frankly, I think Santa Fe is blessed by clouds simply because our cityscape is still horizontal in nature after 400 years of development. What everyone sees everyday is a new cast of character clouds. In winter, they gently drop snow. In spring, they bring wind and move ever so quickly. By summer, they bring rain with double rainbows. In the fall, they spotlight our trees change of colors. And every day they make my imagination smile. This cloudscape left me breathless one late afternoon on the North side as I was driving home from an open house. I pulled ove... 01/21/2011

Imagine that... "it snows here" said my prospective buyer when they called to tell me they cancelled "their dream" to live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Snow is a "nightmare" for us they went on to explain. I told them our winter snow is dependable as the Sangre de Cristo Mountains cradles our community. I wished them well and decided it was time to talk about snow. It is important to remember that mountains are built for snow!  We are blessed with Ski Santa Fe an hour away from our Historic Plaza. In fact, one of the Ski Santa Fe lifts brings skiers to an elevation just over 12,000 feet! Unlike, many ski destinations in the United States, there is no resort on our mountain winter paradise. Santa Fe is the ski village for locals and tourists alike. If you wondering what a this photo of a ho... 01/19/2011

One of the magical things about our cars is the rear view mirror. Unlike humans, it is always looking backwards even when we are looking ahead. At the same time, the mirror is a safety device when we want to move around on the road in the present. This image happened shortly after I missed the exit to the Santo Domingo Pueblo off the southbound lane on I-25. Fortunately, the next exit was less than 10 miles away. On the road to or from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, highway exits can be few and far between. The good news is the the landscape keeps me company along the way. A missed exit is always an opportunity in waiting. This time this happened. 01/16/2011

Contrary to the national media, homes which are not bank owned or short sales are selling in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This Pentastar subdivision townhome located at 113 Michelle Drive on the Northwest side of Santa Fe not far from DeVargas Mall and the Historic Plaza has been sold. This is one of my residential listings which sold in 62 days and closed on the 2nd to last day of 2010! The asking price was $425,000. New Mexico is a non-disclosure sate and the sale price can not be disclosed here or on Zillow. Its many features included: knock out mountain and city light views, two wood burning fireplaces, no interior steps, a higher end remodeled kitchen, A/C, 2-car garage, a spacious deck and a great room, dining room and master suite all with views.  This sale in the height of the holiday... 01/15/2011