Santa Fe Downtown » Santa Fe Neighborhoods

Neighborhood Quick Sketch: Santa Fe’s Historic Eastside

Malissa Kullberg — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:41:25 +0000

Authentic old adobes on winding dirt roads, mature trees, bountiful gardens and seasonal water from the acequia or Santa Fe River: this is Santa Fe’s Eastside. A mesh of grand estates, modest adobes, condos, and galleries, the Eastside is a comparatively pastoral, tranquil slice of Santa Fe, walking distance from the cultural bounty of the city’s historic heart. The Eastside is Santa Fe’s oft depicted, photogenic ambassador. Many homes are over 100 years old, but whether historic or new, the residences weave together to create an engaging, Old World, feel.

Location and character make homes on the Eastside a perennially popular purchase. The stats below reflect the current state of the market;

Eastside Area Snapshot

Residential Listings (6/30/10)
Active: 124
Pending: 14
Sold: 53*
Average DOM: 201*
Average Listing Price: $712,840*
Average Selling Price: $668,177*
% of List Price: 94%*

*Sold (7/01/09-6/30/10)

Days on Market (DOM)
Eastside Area -- Residential Sold*

Selling Price: % of List Price
Eastside Area -- Residential Sold*

MLS Comparison, Sales Year To Date
Eastside Area -- Residential -- 2009 v. 2010
(1/1/09-6/30/09) -- (1/1/10-6/30/10)

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc1mpYUnbMw

Our listing at 645D East Palace Avenue is emblematic of the area’s offerings. Originally built in late 1800s, this home plus guesthouse was thoroughly renovated with a French Provençal flair. The double adobe main house, fully surrounded by walls and gate, has an inviting brick patio lushly landscaped with flowers, herbs and trees. The interior is comfortably luxurious. The gourmet kitchen has ample room for a 6-8 person dining room table. The cozy living room with wood-burning fireplace is well-lit from a skylight and duet of casement windows. Adjacent to the living room is a bright bonus room, lined with bookshelves, that could be configured as a library, den, office or guest bedroom. The detached 1 bedroom, 1 bath guesthouse charms with its sweet, private patio, dormer window and radiant heat. Both structures have pitched roofs. MLS# 201003505

Santa Fe Neighborhood Quick Sketch: Acequia Madre

Malissa Kullberg — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:26:07 +0000

The very phrase Acequia Madre–Mother Ditch–suggests something rough and elemental: a primordial slash in the earth from which life springs. Yet Acequia Madre is one of the priciest streets in Santa Fe. But then that’s Santa Fe, where mud homes on dirt roads are prime real estate. A few minutes’ stroll will convince you of the neighborhood’s charm. Softly curved walls, aged Mexican doors with weathered paint, cascades of wisteria and drowsy willows: this road that run along the eponymous waterway—and parallels famed Canyon Road– is iconic Eastside Santa Fe. Romantic and time bound.

Acequias have an extensive and proud history in New Mexico. Check out the website for the New Mexico Acequia Association to learn more about this cooperative tradition of water use. Area residents, and other lovers of the nationally registered historic Mother Ditch, gather each year to dredge out natural and civilization-generated debris. The New Mexican’s article, Annual Acequia Madre cleaning celebrates four centuries tells the story of the 2010 Spring clean.

The neighborhood school, Acequia Madre Elementary, has a reputation for solid academics, good teachers and strong parent involvement. Read up on Acequia Madre at GreatSchools.org. Due to Santa Fe Public School budget cuts, however, Acequia Madre is slated to be closed and its students relocated to nearby Atalaya Elementary. Read the Santa Fe New Mexican story at Board Approves Consolidation Plan; Acequia Madre Gets One Year Reprieve

While I depend on the City-Data.com websites for quality, statistic-based info on city neighborhoods, their classification of the Acequia Madre neighborhood is a head scratcher. According to City-Data, Gonzales marks the western boundary of the Acequie [sic] Madre neighborhood, Cerro Gordo, the northern, and Alameda, the southern. The eastern boundary might be Camino Pequeno, but is unclearly defined. Acequia Madre itself falls partly in the so-called Historic neighborhood , partly in Los Vecinos de Calle San Antonio

To my mind, the neighborhood runs the length of Acequia Madre from Paseo de Peralta to Camino del Monte Sol. Streets that spur off Acequia Madre are, in some cases, their own communities. More on those in another post.

The largest cluster of amenities near the neighborhood are found in the small complex of businesses at the intersection of Garcia, Acequia Madre and Arroyo Tenorio. Downtown Subscription the local coffee hangout, sits between the excellent Photo-Eye Bookstore and Gallery and the intelligently stocked independent bookstore, Garcia Street Books. We have found incredible treasures browsing their shelves and tables of these two bastions of local culture. Read the Garcia Street Books Newsletter for word on booksignings and benefit events. Visit the Photo-Eye website for info on new arrivals, auctions, gallery shows and more.

Years ago, I traded my plant knowledge and landscaping labor for voice lessons from a woman who coached opera singers and hopefuls and whose husband had been Dean and a tutor at St. John’s College. That experiential cluster of garden, song and education remains for me a fair poetic representation of the spirit of the Acequia Madre neighborhood.

Santa Fe Neighborhood Quick Sketch: South Capitol

Malissa Kullberg — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:14:27 +0000

Rail traffic and an expanding middle class fueled the development of South Capitol in the early twentieth century. A rich and appealing collection of single family homes, condos, and small compounds, South Capitol charms with its architectural diversity. Craftsman bungalows intermingle with Pueblo Revivals, Victorians and Territorials. Construction materials run the Santa Fe gamut: adobe, brick, Pen-tile (a term for hollow bricks formerly made at the State Penitentiary) and framed stucco. Mature trees abound thanks, in part, to the WPA. Yards range in size from postage stamp patios to 1 acre spreads.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPaIDQ0TdAA

The district takes its name from its dominant landmark: the State Capitol AKA The Roundhouse, on Paseo de Peralta east of Don Gaspar. Roughly bounded by Paseo de Peralta on the North, Old Santa Fe Trail on the East, and Cordova on the South, South Capitol’s western edge is less clearly defined. Don Diego is the main artery yet the neighborhood breaks its line to include pockets of streets just west of Don Diego.

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation and Temple Beth Shalom are both within the neighborhood’s confines. Nearby, on Old Pecos Trail, are the Santa Fe Children’s Museum, The Center for Contemporary Arts, and The Armory for the Arts. The elementary school that serves much of the area is Wood Gormley; Capshaw Middle School and Santa Fe High School serve the upper grades.

Great amenities abound in easy walking distance. What’s available depends on where you’re located. The Santa Fe Railyard is an intersection of galleries, shops, housing and public spaces. Kaune’s Neighborhood Market and O’horis Coffee, on Old Santa Fe Trail, are an easy walk from the neighborhood’s eastern end. Cordova offers a superabundance of restaurants and shopping including several of our favorite dining spots: The Pyramid Cafe, Saigon Cafe, Backstreet Bistro, and Maria’s. For groceries, head to Trader Joe’s and Wild Oats. The neighborhood’s Northern end is just blocks from the Plaza with its trove of dining, coffee houses and shopping. Walkability is high for Santa Fe. Check out the Walk Score of our listings at 111 East Santa Fe Ave., The Bella Donna. Unit #4 is one of five contemporary restorations.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPlDs3iuSac

For a deeper look at issues of interest to homebuyers, check out the following resources. CrimeReports.com is self explanatory. Usually, I turn to city-data.com for its fascinating compilation of demographic data and statistics. However, city-data.com does not recognize South Capitol as a neighborhood. Instead, it creates a statistical profile for what it terms the Don Gaspar Neighborhood which covers the bulk, but not the entirety, of this historic district.

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SOUTH CAPITOL UPDATE

Below are market stats for the South Capitol Neighborhood reflecting the state of the real estate market on July 16th, 2010.

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South Capitol Area, Looking Up in YTD Residential Sales.

Santa Fe Market Report
Featuring South Capitol Area
Presented by Prudential Santa Fe

Active SFAR Listings
All Santa Fe Listings (7/16/10)
Residential: 2805
Residential Land: 1546
Farm & Ranch: 134
Commercial Buildings: 199
Commercial Land: 77
Live/Work: 21
Multi Family: 36

South Capitol Area Snapshot
Residential Listings (7/16/10)
Active: 86
Pending: 4
Sold: 54*
Average DOM: 218*
Average Listing Price: $591,081*
Average Listing Price Per Sq.ft: $277*
Average Selling Price: $543,175*
Average Selling Price Per Sq.ft.: $255*
% of List Price: 92%*

*Sold (7/17/09-7/16/10)

Days on Market (DOM)
South Capitol Area -- Residential Sold*

Selling Price: % of List Price
South Capitol Area -- Residential Sold*

MLS Comparison, Sales Year To Date
South Capitol Area -- Residential -- 2009 v. 2010
(1/1/09-7/7/09) -- (1/1/10-7/7/10)

What It Takes to Sell a Home in Santa Fe

Malissa Kullberg — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:36:11 +0000

Ready to get radical?

You think you’ve done it all: decluttered, staged, priced and marketed your property appropriately, and it’s still not selling. What now?

Through open houses, in-house broker tours, MLS tours and showings, your agent has had opportunities to gather feedback as to what people do and do not like about your home. In some cases, you simply can’t provide what is desired. Buyers are looking for a pool, a different location, a bigger yard--something you don’t have. On the other hand, there are often gems to be scavenged from the feedback. Question is: are you willing to act on what you learn?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE7q-Y8ByLI

In the case of our listing at 133 Sombrio, we kept hearing disappointed noises about the kitchen and baseboards. Everyone loved the vigas and refinished red oak floors. They admired the wood-framed double paned windows, the covered portal, kiva fireplace, extra garage space and laundry room. But the kitchen? Nyeh. So we, the real estate agents and the owner, who flew back from California, took three days to replace tile, paint cabinets, change out hardware, upgrade light fixtures, patch and paint walls. Two days after we finished, we received multiple offers.

If you want or need to put your home on the market soon, forearm yourself with somebody else’s hindsight. Start by taking everything up a notch. Declutter as if you’re a hoarder. If your furnishings don’t show the house to best advantage, consider a stager. Think you can’t afford it? There are stagers who consult by the hour and use your own furnishings. And if your home is empty, there are professional housesitter/stagers who will bring their eye-enticing furniture to your place and keep it looking warm and lovely while deftly accommodating showings. Curb appeal is often as easy to remedy with muscle as cash. Some landscape and nursery professionals will offer on site, low cost consultation to help you spend your DIY energy and money in the improvements.

What about a pre-inspection? Typically, buyers will schedule and pay for home inspections after the home is under contract. Having a certified inspection report in hand for a buyer avoids potentially deal-killing surprises deep into the transaction. Do you know the five most preventable problems that can scuttle a sale?

Did you work with your agent to price your home at the market rate--not what you think you need or want to have in order to buy the next house. Don’t gamble on an inflated price. Pricing your home to sell out of the gate will bring you the highest ultimate return.

If you have some money to spend, Top 10 Must-Have Features in Today’s New Homes and Remodeling Magazine’s 2009 Cost vs. Value Report will give you ideas about what trends are attracting buyers. In the words of Kris Berg, FrontDoor.com, “Yesterday’s avocado green shag carpeting is today’s granite countertop.” Would you have this perspective? Your home is your nest, but when it comes time to sell, you’re serving someone else’s taste.

Selling Your Home in A Buyer’s Market can be a success, but now more than ever, success favors the exceptionally prepared. We have lists of reliable and flexible professionals and an arsenal of articles like the ones above. We also have muscles and out-of-the-box marketing we’re not afraid to use. If you’re serious about selling your home, give us a call.

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Selling Your Santa Fe Home in a Buyer’s Market

Malissa Kullberg — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:48:13 +0000

Abundant inventory is described as a buyer’s market: great if you’re a buyer, but what if you’re a seller? The tough news is that the value and appeal of your home will be measured against a greater number of homes than in a neutral or seller’s market. You’ve got competition and potentially lots of it. Your mission? Don’t be a “comp.”

When agents set out to determine the price of your home, either because they are interested in listing it for sale, or because they have buyer’s interested in making an offer, they will do what is called a “CMA, “ or Comparative Market Analysis. In a CMA, your home is stacked up against active, pending, sold and expired listings that have COMParable features and locations: “comps.” Homes with extras, such as a kiva fireplace, will command more money; homes without such extras, less. Because no home is exactly like another home–even tract homes may have slightly different lot sizes, orientations and upgrades–a CMA is both an art and a science.

Despite its limitations, a CMA is a fact based tool. If you don’t like the results, don’t get emotional. Mine it for info you can turn to your advantage. People tend to focus on the active listings, the price for which someone in the neighborhood is trying to sell their home. But the market value of an active is unknown until someone makes an offer. Pay close attention to the comps that have sold. Pay even closer attention to the listings that expired. Buyers voted in favor of the sold home. The expired home was kicked out of office.

Once you’ve looked at what sells and what doesn’t, use that measure against your own home. Understand that not having a fireplace might hurt you with some buyers, and accept the price cut. Now, turn your attention to your home’s assets. Barabara Corcoran addresses this brilliantly in her book If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails: “What matters is that you identify and play up what you’ve got.”

Look at your home as if it were a theatrical stage set or work of art. Presenting is more than just decluttering and removing personal items. “The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak, ” said abstract painter Hans Hofmann. Let the beauty of your home speak by taking away the visual noise that prevents its charms from being heard. Try these 30 Can’t Miss Staging Tips from HGTV’s Lisa LaPorta.

If you can afford to invest a little money, Remodeling Magazine’s 2009 Cost vs. Value Report offers tips on how to get the best return on your investment. Do you have nice wood floors that are in shabby shape? Have them refinished or DIY –if you can do professional quality work. Ensure you have dynamite curb appeal: weed, trim trees and bushes, repair, remove or replace a fence, add color. (We removed a chain link fence in front of our listing, a Casa Solana Stamm located at 133 Sombrio in downtown Santa Fe. Visitor feedback confirmed what a huge impact this small gesture had on the home’s streetside presentation.)

Showings are job interviews for your home. Make sure they are dressed-to-impress.

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Real estate agents Malissa Kullberg and Joshua Maes, AKA Changing Gallery, use their listings, where appropriate, to showcase the art, photography, sculpture and other creations of emerging and independent talents. Artists receive 100% of the proceeds from any sale. Currently displaying work by Mark Frossard, Laird Hovland, Jonathan Tercero at 133 Sombrio in Casa Solana, downtown Santa Fe. To schedule an appointment, call: 231.7598. For up-to-date market info and full access to the MLS, visit: Santa Fe Real Estate Downtown.

Barrio La Canada, Santa Fe: more neighborhood details

Malissa Kullberg — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:44:38 +0000

More nuts and bolts on the Barrio la Canada neighborhood in downtown Santa Fe:

The local elementary school is the once struggling Larragoite STEMM, now a magnet school, which has partnered with the University of New Mexico, Highlands University, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, to reinvent itself. Through “rigorous and relevant instruction in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics”, it aims to focus on “real-world problem solving centered on themes of community, caring, and wellness.”

Barrio La Canada’s middle school is DeVargas; its high school is Capitol. The International Baccalaureate School, Desert Academy, is across the street.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP9eMw469qI

Agua Fria, which runs parallel to neighborhood’s southern expanse, provides easy access to area shopping and dining. Two good nearby restaurants are The Tune Up Cafe and Counter Culture. Payne’s Nurseries north store is just 1/2 block south of the entrance to Barrio La Canada, on Camino Alire.

At this writing, there are just three active listings in Barrio la Canada, priced from $215K-325K. Two have three bedrooms, 2 baths, and 1090 to 1701 square feet; the third has a whopping 5 bedrooms, 3 baths and 2462 square feet. In the last four months, three other listings have expired. The two houses that sold within the past six months are fairly typical of the area: a four bedroom, two bath home with a garage conversion and minor upgrades that sold for $239,000 and a three bedroom, two bath 1172 square foot fixer upper that sold for $175,000.

If you’re interested in this neighborhood, don’t try to find listings by the name of the subdivision (since it’s called both “Barrio la Canada” and “Barrio de la Canada”.) Search by streets, or have your agent search in both areas 2 and 4N as listing agents do not consistently assign their properties to one area.

For census data and statistical information on the neighborhood, go to: City-Data.

For up-to-date information on Barrio La Canada’s real estate market, go to: Santa Fe Real Estate Downtown.

Santa Fe Neighborhood Quick Sketch: Barrio La Canada

Malissa Kullberg — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 06:07:52 +0000

Location, community, possibility–that’s my REALTOR’S gut take on Barrio La Canada: a neighborhood I can’t claim to know, but plan to discover. I sense that Barrio la Canada is a good, longterm bet for a home purchase in greater downtown Santa Fe, and here’s why: It’s quiet, but not without activity. Its park, The John F. Griego Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Park, gets good use from kids and picnickers.

I’ve heard residents describe Barrio La Canada as a typical Santa Fe melting pot: young, old, newcomers, longtimers, families, couples and singles with a range of personal interests and professions. Many homes are in original condition–an open opportunity to create equity with some sweat, savvy and cash–and some gentrified, for those who don’t have skills or stomach for remodeling. There are also a few pockets of new construction.

The Santa Fe River, which forms the neighborhood’s northern boundary, gives the community charm and definition. Homes on the north side of Paseo de la Conquistadora benefit most from the physical buffer to nearby Alameda, the beauty of the riverbed and, when the river is running, the lyrical sound of flowing water.

*~*~*~ BARRIO LA CANADA UPDATE, JULY 22, 2010 *~*~*

Click the link to get details on the renovation to Barrio la Canada’s entrance.

For up-to-date information on Barrio La Canada’s real estate market, go to: Santa Fe Real Estate Downtown.

Neighborhood Market Watch: Casa Alegre

Malissa Kullberg — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:22:20 +0000

2.5 miles from the Plaza is another desirable denizen of downtown Santa Fe, Casa Alegre. A residential oasis close to the bustling heart of Santa Fe, Casa Alegre strikes a winning balance between access to the action and serene removal. Although bounded on the south by Cerrillos, one of the city’s major commercial arteries, Casa Alegre is a relatively quiet neighborhood characterized by mature trees and solidly built, older homes. As with Casa Solana, many of the area’s homes were built by Allen Stamm (see profile in the 7/22/09 blogpost) Stamm’s classic, pueblo structures– icons of Santa Fe Style–commonly include vigas, wood floors, nichos, corbels, kiva fireplaces, and portals. Since the original homes in Casa Alegre were often under 1000 square feet, many residents have chosen to convert their garages to bring their home’s square footage more into line with modern tastes.

There are plenty of good restaurants and desirable services in the vicinity. Special mention to the restaurants India House, El Parasol, and The Pantry. The College of Santa Fe’s much loved movie theater, The Screen, is within comfortable walking distance. For more info on area amenities, go to Walkscore.com where you can check out the Casa Alegre Neighborhood’s Walkability Score (86 out of 100) as measured from our current listing at 1837 Kiva (MLS#904396).

The three public schools that serve the area are: Salazar Elementary; DeVargas Middle School and Santa Fe High School. Frenchy’s Field– a popular walking park–lies opposite the area’s northern border. Ashbaugh Park defines the eastern border and Gregory Lopez Park is tucked at the corner of San Felipe and Hano Rd.

Visit CityData.com for a detailed statistical profile of the Casa Alegre subdivision.

At this writing, there are 11 Active listings, 1 Pending on the market in Casa Alegre, ranging in price from $229,000 for a 3 bedroom, 1 Bath with 1350 sq.ft. home to $499,00 for a 3/2 with 2,220 sq. ft. Since January 1st, 7 homes have sold. Most (57.1%) were on the market for more than 120 days prior to their sale, reflecting the time of year as well as the slower state of the market over that time period. 42.9% sold within 60 days of their listing for an average of 95.85% of their asking price. Statistics are only part of the picture, but from our professional perspective, Casa Alegre has shown itself to be a strong investment and is likely to remain so.

Neighborhood Market Watch: Casa Solana

Malissa Kullberg — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:07:17 +0000

Close to the Plaza, comparatively affordable, blessed with broad streets, mature trees and an old-fashioned neighborly feel, Casa Solana is one of our top picks for a first home, trade-up or investment in downtown Santa Fe. Located about a mile west of the Plaza, Casa Solana’s streets finger northward from West Alameda toward the neighborhood’s apex at Alamo/Camino de las Crucitas. (The Frank S. Ortiz Dog Park, a popular, off-leash dog play place for pooches, sits on the neighborhood’s upper border.) To the west is “Temblon” (which means “shaky, trembling” and, by extension, “Aspen” in Spanish). On Casa Solana’s southern border, above the Santa Fe riverbed, is Alto Park with tennis and basketball courts, a playing field, pool and bike paths (The mushroom water feature in the kiddie pool is a big hit with the tots.) On the opposite side of the street, about a block in from St. Francis, is the Casa Solana shopping center: a small strip mall with a variety of useful services including La Montanita Coop (groceries), a laundromat and five distinct restaurants: Annapurna (Chai house and Ayurvedic cuisine); Xiclo (Vietnamese); Masa Sushi, La Dolce Vita (italian/pizzeria) and Home Run Pizza. Other tenants include the Solana barbershop, Undisputed Fitness (gym), a Pak, Ship and Mail outlet, Stag tobacconists, Emmanuel’s Picture Frames and Straight-shooting Technologies. During the Spring and Summer, the center hosts the Santa Fe Artists’ market. Community services include Gonzales Elementary (more info at Great Schools.Net, Gonzales Elementary) and Police Substation #4 and reserve fire station. Casa Solana community pool, located at 1125 N. Plata Circle is open to all, although the number of memberships is limited.

The subdivision itself was established around 1950 with a cache of homes by Allen Stamm, beloved local builder. From the Santa Fe Living Treasures website:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsoZBAoFlU8

“A visionary as well as a man of immense integrity, character, compassion and humanity…[Stamm] worked always to make [the homes he built] livable, durable, handsome, architecturally sensitive…. His homes featured hardwood floors, vigas, kiva fireplaces, nichos and other traditional touches, plus superlative workmanship. What they did not have was front-yard fences, for Stamm wanted the people living in his houses to know each other. He hired women consultants to design the kitchens. He made places for Christmas trees and highchairs, and built garages that were easily converted into bedrooms for growing families…. He elevated the building industry’s standards, here and throughout the state.

With home values as low as the mid two’s Casa Solana is one of the most affordable neighborhoods close to classic downtown Santa Fe. At this writing, there are just six homes on the market in this desirable neighborhood, priced from $275,000-369,500, all three bedroom/two bath single family homes from 1,105-1530 square feet. Since January 1 of 2009, ten homes in Casa Solana have sold. The average sales price was 95% of the listing price.

Visit City-data.com for a detailed statistical profile of the Casa Solana subdivision.

Point of interest: current Santa Fe Mayor, David Coss, grew up in Casa Solana.

The sincerest token of our respect and affection for the value and liveability of Casa Solana? In 2008, we bought a home here. My business partner, Joshua Maes, had previously sold two listings in Casa Solana. We walk our dogs here and regularly ride our bikes up and down its undulating streets. If you’re interested in buying or selling in Casa Solana, let us put our knowledge to work for you.

For up-to-date info on the Casa Solana neighborhood real estate market, go to: Santa Fe Real Estate Downtown.

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