New Beginnings In 2014

By Rey Post, Managing Editor & Associate Broker
Sotheby’s International Realty

We launch into the New Year with cautious optimism about an improving economy and real estate market. Regions of the country are seeing significant improvements in the number of home buyer and seller transactions as we move further away from the financial meltdown of 2008.

 As was reported in the Sotheby’s International Realty “Market Update” for the fourth quarter of 2013, the Santa Fe real estate market ended last year on a positive note continuing a trend set in the last two quarters of the year. According to the Santa Fe Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service, this local market ended 2013 reflecting a slight increase in both the number of units sold as well as a slight increase in average sales price.

 To be sure, an improvement in a number of general economic factors—including the national employment rate and the quality of jobs created—are essential to sustaining steady growth in our housing market. However, given the fact that there is true value in Santa Fe real estate, combined with the reality that mortgage interest rates continue to demonstrate historic low percentages, for those who are qualified to secure a home loan, there could not be a better time to explore getting your piece of the American Dream.

 2014 is also going to be a banner year for the “All Things Real Estate” (ATRE) platform of real estate news and information tools: the weekly radio show, monthly newsletter, and website (www.ATREradio.com).

 The ATRE radio show continues to provide some of the most timely and useful real estate information available to home buyers, sellers, and owners all over the nation. Each Sunday commentators from disciplines that make up every real estate transaction offer observations and counsel that speak to issues consumers ask us to address. Under our “Unique Destinations” show series, the program also offers the latest news on people, places, and events that impact our economy, culture, and real estate market. Our popular remote broadcasts of the live program will also be in full swing in 2014, as we air the show from a variety of real estate related venues and events that are attended by thousands of consumers.

The show broadcasts for two hours every Sunday (12-2pm Mountain Time) on two Santa Fe radio stations (1260 KTRC-AM and KVSF-101.5-FM) and also streams to a national audience on SantaFe.com. Whenever possible, we also stream video of our remote broadcasts, turning them into “mini-TV broadcasts,” highlighting the venues and events that serve as the locations for the shows. The ATRE show is also gaining an ever-increasing following of fans on Facebook (facebook.com/ATREradio), as well as via Twitter (twitter.com/realtyradio).

The ATRE newsletter has also entered 2014 in a new blog format, allowing us to communicate with a much wider universe of people interested in the latest news, trends, and information about every facet of real estate (go to the blog posts of all ATRE articles: https://santafesir.com/category/all-things-real-estate).

 Besides being a source of commentary for the ATRE radio show, our family of corporate supporters also serves as the backbone for articles contained in the ATRE newsletter/blog. These professionals represent some of the most knowledgeable and experienced people who practice in the field of real estate. For more information about the companies who play a regular role in offering the best in real estate news and information, please go to the homepage of the ATRE website: www.ATREradio.com.

 And speaking of the ATRE website, as the New Year progresses, we will be making some changes to this popular destination, making it more interactive with consumers and broadening the range of useful material offered. Whether it’s via the website, the radio show, or newsletter, we want to continue to provide our Sotheby’s International Realty broker colleagues with a unique avenue for sharing information about property options. Via our “Featured, Distinctive and Homes With History” categories, ATRE offers some of the finest in real estate listings available to home buyers.

In June 2009, ATRE was introduced to consumers. Since that occasion, the weekly radio show has expanded from one to two hours of commentary and now broadcasts nationally on SantaFe.com. The monthly newsletter has grown into a popular source of information and is now presented in a blog format, read by thousands of people all over the country. The website, which is linked from a variety of sites and via social media, has become a “go-to” destination for timely real estate information and news.

Of course, it truly does “take a village” to organize, format, and present all of the material that ATRE offers to the public and besides the strong support that the Hutton Broadcasting/SantaFe.com team offers to the radio show side of the equation, we need to thank the highly professional marketing staff of the Santa Fe brokerage of Sotheby’s International Realty for the vital role they play in making ATRE a success. Most significantly, this newsletter and other moving parts of the ATRE platform are made possible via efforts of Adrienne DeGuere, our Editor (who is also a Sotheby’s International Realty Office Administrator), as well as Mike Root, whose title as IT Support at Sotheby’s International Realty hardly describes the range of assistance he offers across multiple elements of ATRE.

For me, personally, I am very proud of how ATRE has matured and as we mark our five-year anniversary this June, I know quite a few people join me in pledging that we will make 2014 a year for greatly enhancing what we offer to consumers. Real estate transactions have become more complex than ever and every home buyer, seller, and owner deserves every opportunity to be fully educated about the process. We want to make sure that ATRE brings value to achieving this goal.

So, for now—and until next month—I wish you good luck and fortune in “All Things Real Estate.”