Helping newcomers feel they're at home

New Mexico Business Journal, July, 1995 by Jo Ann Hamlin

They Know About Santa Fe

Judy Carter, relocation director with the Santa Fe Agency, says her 800 relocation telephone number rings constantly with calls coming from all over the world. She doesn't have to sell the benefits of living in Santa Fe; the city is well-known. "It's not unusual to go to the plaza and hear four languages being spoken," Carter said.

The world of electronics has increased the number of people relocating to Santa Fe. Computers, E-mail and fax machines make it possible for people to be based in the unique atmosphere of Santa Fe and have daily contact with offices in California, Montana, Arizona and even New York. Proximity to the Albuquerque airport makes commuting easy.

Kenneth Jones, owner/broker of Kenneth Jones Realty Inc. in Clovis, takes care of the relocating family minute by minute until they buy a home or find a rental. Like other brokers, he gives priority service to a relocating family. Because of the numbers of Cannon Air Force Base personnel being transferred, the husband frequently precedes the wife. As Jones shows houses to the husband, he makes a video of the ones the husband likes to take back to his wife.

Physicians for the many medical facilities in Farmington are cited as the most frequent type of transferee by Gerrie McGarrh, relocation director with Mary Jo Walters Real Estate Co. in Farmington. Schools are a great concern and Gerrie takes parents by public school offices to personally meet and talk with the school superintendent.

"Executive Treatment"

David Steinborn, Steinborn Inc., in Las Cruces doesn't just help a family relocate, "they settle them." Each person is given the executive treatment. People moving to Las Cruces are tired of urban areas. Many of them are retirees looking for a better quality of life. These people want information about volunteer organizations, square dancing and retirement centers.

Patricia Barey, broker/owner of Christopher Webster Realty in Albuquerque, believes international relocation is the wave of the future. As a member of Sotheby's International Real Estate, she participates in showing houses by electronic transmission. Currently, with the click of a button on a computer screen, a person in Germany can view a house that is for sale in Albuquerque.

Relocation services are provided at no cost to the corporations or a relocating family. Keeping a staff of specialists, providing relocation packages filled with expensive brochures, and paying incredibly high telephone bills are just part of the costs of providing these services.

One principle in the real estate industry has not changed. Commissions earned from someone buying or selling real estate are still the major sources of revenue for a real estate broker.

Jo Ann Hamlin is a freelance based in Albuquerque who writes frequently about real estate.