Explore Santa Fe: Real Estate

For the last year or so, we have been in the midst of a perfect storm for some in the mortgage world. The 30-year rates for 2009, were at a 35-year low most of the year, hitting a 40-year low of 4.625% in early December. At the same time, for buyers at least, the softening of home prices to levels not seen since 2004 offered great opportunities for new home ownership. Low prices, linked to the First-Time Homebuyer Tax credit were a winning combination.

As Earl Nightingale once said, " We are what we think" Also many other great thinkers said the same thing. Dr Norman Vincent Peal said " Besides discovering my faith I learned that Man is what He Thinks" I wanted to add that Man and He are generic terms. There must be science behind those statements.

When Realtor Lois Sury went to buy her first home in Santa Fe some time ago, there were about five houses in her price range and she was competing against other buyers. That "hyper market," as she called it, was not good for consumers, who had few choices to consider and a heavy burden to overcome to get into a first home.

Plaster is a common wall finish in Santa Fe, but many people moving to our town from other areas find it difficult to differentiate between the options. Although there are actually many options, I will focus on three: the traditional 3-Coat gypsum base system, the gypsum veneer option and an acrylic veneer called Variance.

COUNTRY COUSINS

USDA GUARANTEED RURAL HOUSING (GRH) is a little-known loan program which was established to assist borrowers to purchase or refinance rural housing. With a dearth of alternatives to plain-vanilla Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loan programs, it is worthwhile taking a harder look at GRH, especially since much of Santa Fe County is considered "rural". Obviously, one man's farm is another man's estate, but the guidelines do provide advantages for properties located in Eldorado south as well as most of Santa Fe County, north of Tesuque. The demarcation lines are a bit fuzzy but if "it looks like a farm, smells like a farm, it might actually be a farm," and financeable under this program.