Here is the Albuquerque, New Mexico 3rd Quarter appreciation graph - showing a good, steady progress towards appreciation in our market . When looking historically, we came through a really challenging time! Still a great time to sell or buy a home ! For all real estate listings, updated daily - please feel free to use my property search , no registration required!

My message today is to all Albuquerque home sellers . The message is simple. Contact your broker today and insist that they put into the private "broker to broker" remarks the following: "Home to be shown to prequalified buyers only." Simple. Why? Many Realtors don't have the buyers prequalified before they put them in their car or meet them at your home. This is the single most effective screening process that there is. Don't you want to know that the person that is viewing your home has been properly screened to make sure they aren't just casing your home for a future problem? Don't you want to know that the person has had their financial background examined and has a relationship with a loan officer who has taken the time to find out if the homes they are looking at, they are qualified to purchase? You might think that we are screening buyers before we meet them. Not all of us are. I do. But let's make it simple - just re...

So, you want to buy a house! I can't imagine a more fun and frightening adventure all at the same time. Here's our plan and why I'm a Realtor: Leave the frightening up to me. Step One: Finding the house is super easy, really it is. You can use Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, My Site for Albuquerque Home Searches You will find a house! I guarantee it. With the occasional "hip pocket and it's our secret together" listing, all the houses that are for sale in the MLS are all OVER the internet. Even For Sale By Owners (not to be confused with brokerages which carry the same name and are Realtors), which are real live unrepresented sellers - you can find a house. Step Two: Deciding what to offer. Well, okay that's where I slip in and give you some advice, but it's still clearly up to you. You are holding the oars in the water, you see how fast you want to paddle. Offer low, might slow the boat down. Might stop the boat. Offer strong and yo...

What does Dog Poo have to do with Zillow? It has everything to do with Zillow and Zillow's insistence that it can give the consumer a 'value' for their home by the click of an address. Click, and you will see 'values' around your home, and thus you will know the value of yours. All things being equal, right? Dog Poo. Automated market values - we as brokers are all using them, analyzing them and sharing with the public. Zillow prides themselves on "Zestimates" - don't call a real estate professional, just ask Zillow! Let me share a story with you about how much price per square foot matters when determining the value of a home. I use the word value because 'value' is not only what a buyer finds to be the value to them, but the value that a seller puts into their home in terms of quality, care and love. How much does value mean to a home? While coming back from my Sunday walk today I passed by a home in my own neighborhood that wa...

Ever want to know what homes are like in the Foothills area of Albuquerque? Search for homes in the Sandia Foothills, near the Sandia Tramway, hiking and biking trails, and all sorts of VIEWS VIEWS VIEWS! CLICK HERE TO FIND HOMES IN THE FOOTHILLS - HIGH DESERT, SANDIA HEIGHTS AND NORTH ALBUQUERQUE ACRES

Good morning Albuquerque -  Make it a great day!

View foothills sales 2014 in a full screen map It's busy in the Foothills!

Often I see buyer brokers who can't find their clients a new dream home, and when I inquire as to what they are looking for, their search is so narrow it's no wonder! I hate to say it, but sometimes we really get in the way of what our clients' goals are. Let me explain. A buyer will tell us specifically what they want - size, bedrooms, function, features ....and then they tell us the price. It's often impossible. I said one day "Let's put a palm tree in the front yard and it might even become more difficult!" I was being facetious. First, start by telling your broker what the features are that you require, do not put in an area or price . Give your broker the square footage, the number of bedrooms, the features....and then let's take a look at those results. If you see a pattern in the price results, you might be on to something. Is everything above your wished for price range? Do you see a pattern in the locations, too? Some locati...

How Buyers Can Irk Sellers I loved this article about how good behavior, or bad, can affect your real estate purchase! 1)  Keep your kids quiet, show up on time, don't rearrange the furniture and stay out of the bathroom.  The stories I have heard and experienced.....I had one colleague who had a family attend a showing (vacant house) and someone apparently used the bathroom and the water had been turned off.  She spent the next hour borrowing buckets of water from the neighbors in order to flush the toilets...that's all I'm going to say about that one. 2)  Don't remind the sellers how much you don't like the house, in the offer.   Yes, giving them a list of defects and problems doesn't exactly paint the picture of you being a willing buyer.  Submitting a 'love letter' for the house is much better!  In fact, a love letter can cushion the pain of a lower offer if you can explain, in plain language, why you really love the house (despite the defec...

There is often much discussion and even more resistance by buyers to be prequalified and ready to write an offer before seeing homes... Why is it so important? Many changes have occurred to our contracts and one of them is Paragraph 5a of the Purchase Agreement. This paragraph refers to what MUST be in place before a seller can move forward with your offer. Buyer agrees to provide Seller with a Pre-Qualification Letter from a lender no later than _____ days after the Date of Acceptance. Pre-Qualification Letter must stipulate that: (1) a written loan application has been made; (2) a credit report has been obtained and reviewed by a lender; (3) a preliminary loan commitment has been secured from the same lender; (4) financing equal to the loan amount provided in Paragraph 2(B) of this agreement is available to complete the transaction as per the Settlement Date stated herein subject to contingencies provided for in this Agreement and subject to underwriting approval. If Buye...

Gorgeous homes priced from $900,000 CORRALES HOMES - $900,000 Live in luxury in this beautiful New Mexico village. More information about Corrales, New Mexico Linda DeVlieg, Associate Broker COLDWELL BANKER LEGACY 505-750-7549

Did you know that there are special requirements for this? Renting out your current property doesn't relieve you of the debt ratio involved in calculating your new loan qualification. Here is some of the requirement: You need to have 25% to 30% equity (depending if the new loan is FHA or Conventional) in the existing house in order to count any rental income for qualifying. For more information on this or other loan questions: Cathy Neuharth NEW MEXICO BANK AND TRUST NMLS ID # 470210 Office: 505-401-9012 Mobile: 505-263-3156 Fax: 505-830-6415 When you are ready to buy a new Albuquerque home, contact me today for a free consultation!

In a world of Perfect Competition, this statistical information shows "If no other homes in the area were put on the market, how long would it take to sell all of them currently on the market" - Find your neighborhood, see how many current listings and current contracts - and see how long it will take to sell all of the homes currently on the market. Interesting data for both whether you are IN the market to buy, or have your home on the market to sell. Positioning is everything!

I'm often asked about how to buy a house; believe it or not in this vast information age, people still don't know how! It is not driving around looking at homes. It is not calling each agent's sign and asking how much, how long has it been on the market, and how many bedrooms. Buying a house is an investment in a process that must be followed for a win/win result! You will see by this list that it is a step by step process that will get you across the threshold of your new home! 1. Pre-approval– Get Pre-approved for a mortgage and know in advance exactly how much house you can afford. C ompleting this step will also increase your negotiating power since you'll be viewed as a “cash buyer”. 2. Documentation– Paperwork supporting the application must also be submitted. Information commonly sought includes pay stubs, two years tax returns, and account statements verifying the source of the down payment, funds to close and reserves. 3. Choosing and Agent– Yo...

When trying to market your home for sale, you may hear that marketing doesn't matter "put it in the MLS and let it sell." When I have my consulting sessions with my Albuquerque home buyers , I will sit down at my office, in front of my TV monitor, and we go through the Multiple Listing Service directly, together - to see what is on the market. I start out with all of the homes on the market, and then we start adding in criteria that my buyers need in their home search. Their price range, their favorite locations, home features, home styles. When the home choices come up on the screen, I then open up the photo slide shows and that's where the fun really begins! We will get to some properties for sale, and see dark photos, sideways photos, photos of toilets (open), photos of a counter top - and not one photo that shows the true personality and features of the home! My clients will waive those properties off, and say "No way, if they can't get a good en...

Dave Giddens, a local Albuquerque Bankruptcy attorney - Last year, the number of bankruptcy filings in our state numbered 4,330, a 10 percent drop from the previous year when they numbered 4,810, according to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal.* So why the drop in bankruptcies when our economy hasn't fully recovered? The relationship between the number of bankruptcies and the economy is not what you may expect. In fact, statistics indicate that bankruptcies tend to decrease when the economy stalls and increase when the economy is strong. Foreclosures, on the other hand, tend to decrease when the economy is strong. In our monthly article, we take a look at how filing bankruptcy may help you if you have a foreclosure pending against you. "In a Chapter 13 filing, as the debtor, you must propose a feasible plan for repaying creditors, including the mortgage lender. Your ability to proceed with your Chapter 13 plan depends upon a variety of factors, including your...

Since 1997, Welcome Home Magazine has advertised the best homes in Albuquerque that are for sale through Coldwell Banker Legacy. For information on any one of these homes, call me or your broker, today! Linda DeVlieg, Associate Broker Previews Property Specialist Coldwell Banker Legacy 10400 Academy NE Suite 100 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87111 www.RealEstateInABQ.com 505-750-7549 Facebook I LinkedIn I Google+ Search all properties in the Albuquerque MLS, All the Time

If you are ready to buy an Albuquerque home, do not do these things while applying for and before closing on the loan. These are things that sometimes you wouldn't think about, and if you loan officer hasn't reminded you of these a hundred times over, you could delay your closing or completely mess up your loan process. Remember, it's much harder to get through the lending process now because of new regulations. It used to be as easy as getting a credit card, but not anymore! Be sure that you understand the whole enchilada! Linda DeVlieg, Associate Broker Previews Property Specialist Coldwell Banker Legacy 10400 Academy NE Suite 100 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87111 www.RealEstateInABQ.com 505-750-7549 Facebook I LinkedIn I Google+ Search all properties in the Albuquerque MLS, All the Time

Have you ever prepared your home for sale, and then been sad that the favorite mural or painted wall would have to be left behind? You can take it with you! Take some great photos of the painted area, and then have them printed onto canvas. Many frame/photo stores have this service, and you can then take the art with you to the next home. Same for old marks on the wall to measure your childrens' height, or special events that have been memorialized by crayons. Photo it, canvas it, and frame it like new! Happy home selling! For more information on selling your Albuquerque home , call me today! 505-750-7549 Linda DeVlieg, Associate Broker www.RealEstateInABQ.com Linda@RealEstateInABQ.com