Living in Santa Fe Blog - Barker Realty LLC

2021 Q1 Market Report

Santa Fe has long been a tiny blip on the radar screen as a place for those looking for a new home in the U.S., typically attracting an older semi-retired demographic while our youth moved elsewhere for jobs and excitement not found here. This has dramatically shifted as we see the average age of those moving here dropping. The job market here together with a high quality of life are driving this change of our in-migration and provides our community with a new set of opportunities and challenges. Local political leadership is astutely managing these with sensibility and a balanced agenda.

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The Ultimate Home Maintenance Checklist for New Santa Fe Homeowners

A year will take its toll on a home. You may not notice it from day to day, but the weather will chip away at your paint, clutter will accumulate, and appliances will wear down. As a Santa Fe homeowner, you’re going to have to run some basic maintenance on an annual basis. The good news is that you can spread out these tasks throughout the year, so there’s no reason to feel overwhelmed.

Our ultimate home maintenance checklist for Santa Fe homeowners can be adjusted to suit your needs and your schedule, but here are the essential chores to keep your home in top-notch shape.

Spring: Deep Clean and Declutter

• Check exterior paint. Look for chips and cracks in the exterior paint on…

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Santa Fe Architectural Terms You Need To Know

Santa Fe is a city with a spectacular natural setting, a vibrant arts scene, unique cuisine—and its own architectural profile.

Homebuyers may be familiar with terms like camino, but do you know the difference between a nicho and a viga?

Never fear—our handy reference will put you in the know as you look for homes for sale in Santa Fe. It’s been said that we’re better at seeing subtle differences in color if we know the name of each shade, and the same goes for architecture.

Acequia

This refers to a traditional man-made ditch used for irrigation that is found throughout the State and dates back to the Spaniards.

Adobe

Clay homes are made from adobe, a material of mud and straw. The…

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2020 Q4 Market Report

What a year we had in real estate for 2020! We’re entering 2021 with record low inventories and our December average sales price was up a whopping 25% over where we started in January of last year. Construction costs have been increasing the past several years nationally by about 5% per year but local contractors will tell you it’s certainly more than that in Santa Fe. With little inventory of resale homes, we’re finally seeing a marked increase in new construction in both housing and apartments. That’s good because we need more options for buyers. Transactions of vacant residential land sales increased 77% between the 1st and 4th Quarters while the average price was up only 5.5% to $154,000.

There will be no diminishment of out of state buyers…

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Santa Fe Is for Chocolate Lovers

There’s something about the taste and aroma of chocolate that comforts the soul and satisfies the sweetest sweet tooth. Santa Fe winters are prime time for indulging in chocolate. For one thing, the colder temperatures mean we can eat chocolate without it melting on our fingers, not that it’s ever stopped us before. For another thing, we can savor seasonal treats like drinking chocolates and chile-spiced chocolate candies.

Chocolate has been a cherished New Mexican food for about a thousand years. In 2009, University of New Mexico anthropologist Patricia L. Crown discovered the first evidence of chocolate consumption in North America from pottery vessels excavated at Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon in…

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Five Tips to Make Downsizing Easier

Downsizing is a goal many homeowners set at some point in their lives. When a house is too big for your needs, the impact can hit your wallet, your time, and even your health.

Housing is often our single biggest expense. Downsizing to a less expensive house can add to your savings and cut expenses needed for taxes, insurance, maintenance, and utility bills.

A larger home takes more time to clean, maintain, and repair. Delaying maintenance isn’t the answer. It only adds to the cost if you put off-line items like a new heating system or a new roof.

Finally, a large home with too many stairs can turn into an accident waiting to happen. According to the National Council on Aging, falls are the…

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Home Design Software Helps You Create Your Vision for Your Home

It can be a challenge for new home buyers to visualize home improvement projects of a newly purchased property. Estimating costs can also be daunting. Fortunately, there are several leading home design software solutions that can help a home buyer create a realistic vision of your new home. Home design software allows you to do things like build a floorplan, set wall colors, and even add furniture or experiment with design features.

Here are six home design software options according to a review by Kate Hornsby of Investopedia. The goal is to help you find easy options for realistic renderings of true-to-life designs of your own choosing.

Home Design Software Review by Investopedia

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You Can Still Be a Santa Fe Foodie This Fall

Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, locals treasure Santa Fe for its restaurant and cuisine scene. From 400+ restaurants, diners, and cafes to the bounty of an award-winning farmer’s market, Santa Fe’s culinary landscape is built on a foundation of tradition and innovation.

That said, we won’t pretend that the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t severely impacted Santa Fe restaurants, which shut down in the state’s effort to contain the virus. On August 29, however, the state’s emergency public health order was amended to allow many businesses and organizations to partially reopen.

Those changes included food and drink establishments, which have been allowed to reopen with indoor dining service at…

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2020 Q3 Market Report

2020 has proven to be the year of the unexpected and our real estate market is no exception. Where we feared a crash due to the pandemic, the opposite has proven true: sellers are enjoying competing offers and record-high prices, while buyers are needing to make quick decisions while also being patient. Typically the election would also play a factor by slowing the market down, but this is an atypical year and we do not expect these market conditions to change anytime soon.

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How Homebuyers Can Explore the Best of Santa Fe Online

Since March 2020 when the coronavirus disease arrived in the U.S., our brokers have been turning out virtual open houses and virtual tours to support our buyers and sellers.

Our virtual open houses and virtual tours combine top-quality photography and video with the listing broker’s commentary and description of the property. It’s one of the many ways we’re serving our clients while following all public health protocols and best practices to fight the spread of COVID-19.

And our data on our recently sold homes proves it—buying and selling Santa Fe real estate is continuing at a healthy rate.

But how can buyers explore Santa Fe when travel isn’t advised or possible?

Here’s our answer:…

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