These relocations are the leading edge of the fastest-growing labor demographic in the US - the home-based professional. Whether working for a large corporation as an employee or consultant, or running an independent business, such people can choose to live pretty much anywhere there’s a fast broadband connection. 

The oldest capital city in the US, Santa Fe recently celebrated its 400th birthday. Situated at around 7000 ft above sea level, it is blessed with clear blue skies 360 days of the year, and four wonderful seasons. It has a population of around 100,000, a mix of Native Americans whose pueblos surround the city, the descendants of the Hispanic communities that settled here when Santa Fe was the northern outpost of the Spanish Empire, and the “Anglos” who started arriving down the Santa Fe Trail just over 100 years ago. This blending of histories and experiences forms the basis for a kaleidoscope of culture, from the world famous Santa Fe Opera to incredible museums and of course Santa Fe’s art market, celebrated as the third largest in the US. We have great music venues that nurture local bands and attract touring artists year round - most especially during the summer’s Santa Fe Bandstand series.

Outdoors, as befits a town at the foot of the Rockies, the hiking, biking and rafting are magnificent, with trails starting minutes from downtown, and Pecos and Rio Grande rivers less than an hour away.

Life is more than an office, a desk and a phone. Today’s professionals are motivated to combine excellence in their job with a desire for balance, ‘authenticity’ and just plain fun. Santa Fe’s a great place to do all of that, in a uniquely rich, beautiful, welcoming and special environment.

Over at Facebook, I've recently started a new page, 365 Things to do in Santa Fe.  Go check it out - you don't have to be a member to read it - www.facebook.com/365SantaFe/    Not sure if - or even when - I'll reach 365, but it's hopefully an eclectic list of places, events and locations that give some sense of our town's variety. 

I was given a great Santa Fe home to sell a few weeks ago – here are the details, thanks for asking – and the first thing I did was to hire a professional photographer, Chris Corrie.  Why? Because I am a good realtor but an average photographer.  Chris surprised me by telling me he rarely gets hired by real estate people any more.  Brokers tell him they ‘don’t need him’ because they have perfectly good cameras of their own.  Hmmm…. 

That’s like saying to Michelangelo ‘we don’t need you on the Sistine Chapel gig because we have our own paint and brushes’.   And of course, it shows.  The MLS is full of badly lit, poorly focused pics taken by enthusiastic but also very amateur real estate people.  Doors open, toilet seats up, dinner plates in evidence – you’ve seen the pictures.

Why it frustrates me, apart from the issue of not giving the client the best possible marketing, is that we real estate professionals pitch ourselves as just that, professionals, and we rail against FSBO’s who ‘try to do it themselves’.  They don’t have the skills, don’t understand what goes into a transaction, blah blah.  Yet we’ll whip out our camera phone to save a couple of hundred dollars and deliver a sub-optimal job for our clients.  Bizarre

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I've noticed more clients asking - and more agents marketing - for properties that could be described as Compounds.  I guess it's the cocoon effect - the desire to retreat to a safe, comfortable place surrounded by familiar things and faces.  I have a wonderful Santa Fe home for sale in the Museum Hill district, which is about 10 minutes from downtown.  The home has a guesthouse, a studio and a main house - all three could be separate or integrated, and that's what people seem to like about the place.   I had one son & mother very interested in the property and their plan was for the son to live in the guesthouse, the mother in the main house and the studio for guests and a meditation space.   Another Santa Fe home for sale is in the exclusive East Side and it's really a compound too, with a main house, guesthouse, chapel (!) and a number of outbuildings.

Room for Grandma, space for the kids (both of these properties are in great santa fe school districts), space to stretch, indulge in hobbies, arts & crafts....  Is the Compound the new trend?

Impressive story about Santa Fe's MIX - an effort supported by the City's economic development people to bring younger entrepreneurs together in an informal but focused way to tap their ideas, energy and commitment.  No use complaining behind closed doors, is the theory - get out there and MIX! 

Delighted to have this new listing of a home in Santa Fe's Museum Hill district (Wood Gormley school zone). Beautifully finished property, on half-acre, that feels rural although it's minutes from Santa Fe Plaza, Trader Joes, St Vincent Hospital, Schools (public and private), Racquet Club.... Three bedrooms, including the guesthouse, which can be kept separate or easily reconnected to the main house. This is a great, comfortable, flowing home with a wonderfully lush backyard. Contact Frank O'Mahony/505.699.3985/frank@omahony.com/evolveSantaFe.com to see it now!