Living in Santa Fe Blog

How to Support the Santa Fe Community During COVID-19

At Barker Realty, our mission is to help home buyers and sellers in Santa Fe and beyond achieve their real estate goals. Nearest and dearest to our hearts is the Santa Fe community we call home. While our brokers are fully up and running serving clients, we never stop thinking about how we can support the Santa Fe community as the country enters the sixth month of COVID-19.

There’s a lot we can to help our fellow Santa Feans during this challenging time, so we wanted to share our findings. For starters . . .

Follow CDC Guidelines and Wear a Mask

One thing we can do to protect others is to wear a face mask, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This CDC resource provides a…

770 Views, 0 Comments

How COVID-19 May Shape What We Want from Our Homes

The coronavirus epidemic has touched every part of the country in the space of just four months, dominating the news and impacting our everyday lives in unprecedented ways. As we continue to serve our clients while following all safety protocols, we’ve been reading reports about how COVID-19 may shape what buyers may want from their homes.

Infectious diseases have permanently changed the way we live, even after the availability of vaccines to prevent them. Case in point: The 1918 flu epidemic brought us the powder room. University of Cincinnati professor Kelly Wright, who teaches American history, told Bloomberg’s CityLab that the addition of a half bathroom on the ground floor of a home gave delivery…

595 Views, 0 Comments

Prep Your Home for Sale Without Leaving Your House

So you want to list your Santa Fe house for sale, but you need to follow statewide practices to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. What can you do to get your house ready to list when New Mexicans are advised to stay home as much as possible?

Plenty!

First of all, we’re doing everything we can to help all our buyers and sellers while following social distancing and wearing masks. More than ever, our agents are getting creative with open houses streamed via live video and video-recorded agent walkthroughs.

Second, you can prep your home for sale without leaving your house or at least with minimal trips to the hardware store. Our top 10 home prep tips resonate whether buyers are viewing…

669 Views, 0 Comments

Turn Isolation into a Time for Growth

At Barker Realty, we believe how you shelter in place and where you shelter in place can make a big difference for your mental health. Dr. Arthur Kleinman writes in the Wall Street Journal that with a little effort we can transform our home alone time into a chain of life-enhancing rituals that allow us to find and create joy:

“These harrowing times are taking an emotional toll, even on those of us lucky enough to be hunkering down in our own homes. Our new reality—disrupted lives, fears of infection, worries about loved ones, the loneliness that can come with prolonged isolation—brings to the surface disorganizing feelings, from panic to despair, that a busy life might keep at bay. But there are ways…

600 Views, 0 Comments

2020 Q2 Market Report

We certainly have never been through such a challenging and uncertain time as we are experiencing socially, economically, and politically both locally and worldwide. We are sensitive to the pain we are witnessing and remain steadfast in our belief that we will get through the pandemic while our economy goes through its major shifts and begins to slowly recover. New Mexico continues to do a good job containing the fallout. Santa Fe residential real estate is again proving to be strong, reliable, and safe. We continue to find many opportunities in our market for buyers and sellers alike as we carefully navigate through this.

509 Views, 0 Comments

Five Ways to Explore Santa Fe Neighborhoods Online

With efforts in place across New Mexico to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus, open houses are on pause for now in the Santa Fe area. We’ve turned up the volume on virtual tours and video walkthroughs to help our clients keep their real estate goals on track.

Increasing the use of such digital tools underscored what we always knew—there are always times when it’s not possible for homebuyers to view homes in person.

Santa Fe is a huge market for second homebuyers and people who are relocating to the area. While the “new normal” has spurred our agents to get more creative than ever, house hunting from a distance has always been part of the real estate landscape. When you can’t tour a home or a…

606 Views, 0 Comments

What Is Radon?

“Radon is a radioactive gas that has been found in homes all over the United States. It comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock, and water and gets into the air you breathe. Radon typically moves up through the ground to the air above and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation.”

Read the EPA Home Buyer’s and Seller’s Guide to Radon

“Radon is a radioactive gas. You can’t see, smell, or taste radon. It comes from the decay of radium and exists in varying amounts in most soils. High radon concentrations can be found in soils and rocks containing uranium, granite, shale, phosphate, and pitchblende. Because radon is a gas, it can move through soil and into a…

591 Views, 0 Comments

Three Affordable Real Estate Marketing Ideas

We get asked if there are creative ways to help your Barker broker market your home. Every home is unique and it can be enormously insightful to understand the property from you, the person who has lived and enjoyed, improved, or expanded the home. Here are some ideas that can help make your home, and the story it has, stand out.

1. Create a Website For Your Home

Creating a website about a home or property is a great way to reach prospective buyers. If you don’t already have your own website, creating one with our marketing team is easy. Build a hub for clients and potential clients to access all the information about your property. Ask your Broker how Barker Realty Marketing can point you in a good…

494 Views, 0 Comments

Help Your Barker Broker Create the Perfect Virtual Tour

As of this spring, the coronavirus epidemic in the United States has brought dramatic changes to the way we live, work, and pursue goals—including the goal of buying or selling a home.

While real estate has been identified as an essential service under state restrictions to disrupt the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we pivoted our operations to prioritize the safety and security of our community and our clients. One way we’re doing this is by expanding the use of virtual tours, showings, and walk-throughs.

Especially for home sellers, we put together these tips and best practices you can use to prepare your home for a virtual tour.

Think of your home as the star of its own movie. Your Barker…

645 Views, 0 Comments

Santa Fe COVID-19 Resource Guide

This Resource List of Help Offered, Help Needed and Ideas for Enjoying This Time at Home is provided by Barker Realty during a time of uncertainty and health precautions. Please visit this site for regular updates and share this guide on your social media to connect others in our community.

HELP OFFERED

Child Care for Healthcare Professionals and First Responders

The United Way Early Learning Center at Kaune (Located at 1409 Monterey Dr), is now accepting offers childcare for healthcare professionals and first responders. Care is available for children ages six-weeks to ten years old, from 7:30 am until 5:30 pm, Monday through Friday. To apply please CLICK HERE to fill out the application online,…

861 Views, 0 Comments