In fact, I guess the question is how different (or not) the Taos real estate market might be?  Or, are we losing buyers to other ski areas where prices are more attractive?

I recently switched to buyer brokerage, meaning that I no longer take listings.  But, I wanted to clarify that I'm also still doing real estate consulting.  This has allowed me to help FSBO (For Sale By Owner) sellers in the past to get the deal from contract through closing when they do find their own buyer.   Please call me if you're about to sell your property to a family member or a buyer you've located yourself.  I'll do the transaction work on a consulting basis.

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Recovery in Taos real estate isn't about the national trend.   Taos real estate sales will rebound in a trickle-up way.  And, it won't be quick I think.

I'll stick by my "Dow at 9500 means buyers will return" posts.  However, who knows when the stock market can get there.  What is more obvious, to me at least, at this point, is that there is already a bottom-up improvement in the Taos real estate market.  But, it's just a shadow of previous good times.

Here's an article that poses a possible "bottom in the markets."  Right now, homes at the low end of the Taos real estate pricing spectrum are moving.   There is a watching audience, and when the price drops to the right level, they're being scooped up.  Another one yesterday that I've been watching for a year, finally hit the magic number, and it's under contract.  These tend to be in the low $200k range at this point.

So, there are two major opinions discussed by those wanting to buy, sell or broker real estate in Taos, NM.

• We're in for another year, into 2010, without improvement in the Taos real estate market ... they're right.
• We're seeing improvement right now that will continue ... they're right.

What we'll see, in my opinion, is an increase in number of sales, but not much of an increase in dollar volume.  This will be brought about by an increase in pricing concessions mostly on the lower end.  And, until the rest of the economy looks brighter to those who still have a little money to buy a vacation or retirement home, price concessions in the $400k up range (a big part of our market) will have to get pretty aggressive to lure a buyer.

It is imperative for Taos real estate brokers to keep up with rapidly changing and developing online marketing trends.  There are also technology advances that are changing traditional marketing methods, like yard signs.  I'll list how Gallery Realty of Taos uses the latest in technology and the Web to market a listing below.  However, let's look quickly at the always present yard sign as an example.

We have a custom sign made for our home listings.  It doesn't push Gallery Realty.  It does what it's supposed to...market your home.  The sign will have a phone number of course, and legally must identify our brokerage, however there's where the old sign ends.  Our signs will have images of the INTERIOR of your home.  Yes, a drive-by prospect can actually see what is inside.  It isn't an inexpensive sign, but it definitely is a marketing plus to get more interest from buyers.  Let's look at the list of differences in our new real estate world marketing:

• Custom sign with interior images.
• SMS text message number that responds with price, details and link to your listing on our site...while they're in front of the home.
• Do you think your home is special?  Want to talk about it?  We'll do a video or audio interview and place it with your listing on our site.
• A domain name just for your listing on all marketing.
• Syndication to more than 70 web sites, including of course, Realtor.com.  Others are major real estate portals such as Trulia.com, Oodle.com, GoogleBase and many more.
• Video tour on multiple major video sites, with reporting to you of views.

By the way, all of these services are available in our consulting service package, saving you significant commission dollars.  Email or call me with your questions about listing in today's market.  You'll be glad that you did.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Because a commission for sale may not result, or it may be a year or so away, few if any Taos real estate brokers will discuss the lease purchase or rent-to-own option with sellers. As I am quite happy to offer real estate consulting services on a fee for service basis, I wanted to write about this method of selling a home.

Seller: Taos real estate has never been a market where homes move quickly. Even in better times, the average Days on Market for homes was almost nine months. Now that sales are even slower, sellers could find that it's difficult to move a home in under a year, and that may mean a lower price than they anticipated. Some benefits to sellers in considering a lease purchase:

• Buyer/Tenant can be required to place a non-refundable option deposit up front, applicable to the down payment if they exercise the option and purchase the home at the end of the lease period. This can be any sum, even in the thousands of dollars.
• The renter who anticipates purchasing the home will normally take better care of it, many times doing improvements at their expense.
• If, at the end of the rental period, the tenant does not exercise the option and purchase for whatever reason, the seller keeps the option deposit and puts the home back on the market.
• Some portion of rental payments can be applied to down payment, but it's a negotiable item.

Buyer/Tenant: The renter who dreams of home ownership but is short the necessary down payment, or has credit problems, can really benefit in a lease purchase situation.

• They can lock in a purchase option on the home they really want.
• The tenant buyer can live in the home, taking excellent care of it until purchase.
• Time is now available to repair credit and/or build a down payment.
• Some of down payment can be built up in lease payments.

Real Estate Broker: Well, you have to be a customer-focused broker to appreciate the lease purchase or rent-to-own deal. As a real estate consultant, I can negotiate a flat fee, hourly rate, or percentage of the option deposit with the seller as my fee. True, it's far from a sale commission, but we can also negotiate that in if the buyer tenant exercises their option and purchases at the end of the lease. If they don't, well, maybe the seller will list with me.

If you're a home seller in the Taos market, and you'd like to consider this option, I'll be happy to discuss it with you.

As the Real Estate Business Guide writer for the New York Times website at About.com, I write for the industry, including real estate and mortgage professionals and investors worldwide. For that site I wrote a series of investment calculation tutorials, as well as placed a spreadsheet for downloading. The sheet does all of the most popular calculations for rental property evaluation for investment. The sheet was mentioned in the Wall Street Journal Online as a tool for small investors.

Give the articles and the spreadsheet a look, and I hope it is of value to you in your Taos real estate investing.

This form covers subjects to include:

• Title
• Zoning
• Legal
• Available utilities
• Environmental hazards
• Access and roads
• Survey issues

Sellers should be totally honest in filling out this form, and no questions should be left unanswered. Not knowing something is OK, and should be indicated. Buyers rely on this document in their decision process, so it should be as accurate as possible.

All principals in a transaction should have fully signed copies of this property disclosure document. A real estate broker should be able to answer questions about the items on this document.

photo credit: veeliam

Listing Services

Marketing Services

Transaction Management & Troubleshooting Services

$4995

$495 Up Front &
$100/month
for 3 months

$4200 at
Closing

$5495

$795 Up Front &
$100/month
for 3 months

$4400 at
Closing

Varies by
Property

4-5%
Homes

6-10%
Land

Minimum
$4995 Pay-As-You-Go Method - As you can see, we're assuming a normal-to-somewhat difficult transaction with approximately 40 hours of our time to take it from contract through closing, and must assume that some will fall through without closing. If you'll share some of that risk by paying us the up-front fee for each type and $100/hour for our time through closing, you could save significant money. However, your risk is that it will not close, and we keep what we've been paid up to when the deal terminates. However, we help by capping the total fee in this case at the $4995 amount. You won't spend more, and might save money. <- Save More with Pay-As-You-Go Method