Professor of the Year From UNM

Congratulations to my friend Ursula Shepherd, University of New Mexico biology professor who has been named the nation’s “professor of the year” among research universities.  This is an award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.  The award is considered the nation’s most prestigious undergraduate teaching award.  At least five out of every six students who participated in Shepherd’s National Science Foundation-sponsored biology research trips between 1998 and 2006 have gone on to complete medical school, a professional school degree or a Ph.D.  All this and Ursula and her very talented husband Bill rebuilt an older home in Tunnel Springs area of  Placitas  (right on the national forest boundary) and are great gardeners.  Keep up the good work!

The Magic of Place

I’ve only “really lived” in three places: in Connecticut on Long Island Sound; in New Hampshire in a 200-year-old farmhouse on the side of Moose mountain; and in Placitas on the high desert plain. In Connecticut I know the Sound. I still have the navigational map in my head, though I haven’t been sailing or big blue fishing in years. In New Hampshire I know the land, at least the 350 acres of it that were mine to care for. I know the old stone walls, the various pastures; the hay fields; the slopes of virgin timber; the apple orchard. I knew the creatures that I lived with, side-by-side: the bear; porcupine; hedgehog; deer; fisher-cat; birds and coyotes and their habits and hangouts. In New Mexico, at last, I know the land pretty well. I know the architecture, how buildings were built and how they are built. I know what grows here -- though not all the names. I know the creatures that live here. I even know a lot of my neighbors. I know a little history. I have a history. It feels good. Maybe feeling the magic of a place is really as simple as just feeling good where you are.

Taking The Long View (And A Mountain View at That)

Statistics for House Sales in Placitas 2005 through mid-December 2011

2005    143 houses sold         Average per square foot price $196.48

2006    99   houses sold         Average per square foot price $192.46   Average price: $522,433.

2007    92   houses sold         Average per square foot price $196.00   Average price: $510,843.

2008    78   houses sold         Average per square foot price $183.02   Average price: $514,124.

2009    57   houses sold         Average per square foot price $165.24   Average price: $463,386.

2010    66   houses sold         Average per square foot price $159.98   Average price: $434,345.

2011    62   houses sold         Average per square foot price $151.88   Average price: $445,919.

2011    7     houses  under contract, for which sales have not yet closed   Average SF price $147.49

Sanctuary for the Human Spirit

According to legend, and before time, the Pueblo Indians lived protected and confined in darkness with only an occasional ray of light. Their world changed, however, when a young woman with a restless soul, called Changing Woman, was impregnated by a ray of light. She was pushed out of the darkness and forced to climb the mesas and hills to find those that could accept her. Her lonely journey ended when she met Spider Woman on the summit of the Sandia Mountains. Spider woman became godmother to Changing Woman’s children, the Twin Warrior Gods, who were born on Sandia Mountain. She and their father the sun taught them the skills they needed to rid the outer universe of its dangers. The Warrior Gods had the rainbow as their bow and lightning was their arrows. The feats of the Twin Heroes enabled the Indians to leave their dark world for the warmth and light of the outer world. The gods continue their vigilance from the mountain tops, and Sandia Mountain remains the home of gods.

In the Beginning...

Lucy and the Terrierists

My first year of practice as a real estate broker I repeatedly asked myself why I ever considered trying to make a living in such a strange business?   Now I know that besides all the wonderful people I meet and fascinating property situations I work on, the real answer is that it is so darn weird, unpredictable, challenging, and flat out funny that I just cannot resist being involved.  Real estate is about people and their circumstances in the world.  People suffer when buying and selling something of enormous expense, and often there is some kind of life change that is precipitating the action.  It could be “just an investment,” but if it is, it’s an important one.  It could be a job change, death and estate liquidation, illness, marriage, divorce, children, old age, need to care for someone or need to be cared for.  There are the people one works with for twenty years before the real estate gets straightened out. Better be capable of delayed gratification!  There are the family feuds and neighborhood disputes.  Negotiating those labyrinthine communication minefields is indeed a challenge.  There are the problems an agent has with other agents—oh my.  And through it all is the issue of responsibility and trust.