Rush Hour in Placitas

This is rush hour in Placitas, NM. The morning commute means driving slow to see one of the wild horse herds that also call Placitas home.

Jennise Phillips, Associate Broker

Fall Colors in Your Placitas Backyard

To see lovely fall colors in your own backyard, just take a drive down Highway 165 to catch the beautiful golden colors of the cottonwoods that are in the spring-fed arroyos around the village of Placitas! Beautifufl!

Gail McGough-Maduena, Associate Broker

The Spider Web Maker

Look closely; you will see one of the Orb Spiders that make beautiful and huge orb-shaped spider webs at the corners of my portal.  This guy is about as big as a nickel. It will run away the moment it senses your presence. These webs are a site to behold when the early morning dew is sparkling on them.

Gail McGough-Maduena, Associate Broker

Sailing on Cochiti Lake

Sailing on Cochiti lake this week was wonderful.  We over knighted on our friends big sail boat.  The night skies were beautiful and the morning was cool and calm.  This lake is 30 minutes from our house in Placitas.

Gail McGough-Maduena, Associate Broker

Young Buck Still in Velvet

Thanks to Tom Ashe for these extraordinary photos taken at his house in Ranchos de Placitas -- with his iPhone!  WOW!!

Pepi Strahl, Associate Broker

Air Quality -- Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Placitas

The annual “State of the Air” report published by MSNBC this week on the best and worst places to live in terms of air quality, stated that both Santa Fe and Albuquerque were among the top 25 cleanest U.S.  cities for long-term particle pollution.  In fact, Santa Fe was second best in the nation and Albuquerque placed 17^th.  Since Placitas is in between and a bit higher in elevation than Albuquerque, we don’t get the pollution they get when there is an air inversion.  And according to the American Lung Association, Sandoval County, which includes Placitas got an A rating for air quality.  So I surmise from all this that Placitas is among the top communities in America with excellent air quality, which makes it a terrific place to live.  We who are here already knew that but it’s wonderful to be verified nationally!

Sandy Poling, Associate Broker

The Yucca - New Mexico's State Flower

This Yucca is now blooming in our front yard; the birds love to nest in this yucca. The yucca was adopted as the State Flower of New Mexico on March 14, 1927. The yucca is a member of the lily family and a symbol of sturdiness as well as beauty. In the early summer, pale ivory flowers bloom at the tips of its long, fibrous stalks. At the base of the plant are broad, sharp-edged leaves that look like stilettos. The yucca sometimes grows to the height of a small tree.

Randall Phillips, Associate Broker

Good News About Placitas Home Sales

We have some Good News! Home sales in Placitas in February were up 300% from the previous year. Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors chief economist, said we’re seeing the continuation of an uneven but higher sales pattern. “The spring home buying season looks bright because of an elevated level of contract offers so far this year,” he said. “If activity is sustained near present levels, existing-home sales will see their best performance in five years. Based on all of the factors in the current market, that’s what we’re expecting with sales rising 7 to 10 percent in 2012.” Good News Indeed!

Sandy Poling, Associate Broker

I am truly blessed to live and work here in Placitas Each time I walk out of my work place I marvel at my beautiful view of the Sandias. Sometimes I just go out to see what pleasure awaits me.

Gail McGough-Maduena, Associate Broker

You know it is spring when the bees are bringing several different shades of pollen. I tried to get a picture of them coming back to the hive showing their pollen sacks filled but they don't stop and pose for me. I will have to work on that. The colors range from white to almost a chartreuse green and it is a combination of the elm trees, juniper and wild mustard, I am sure there are other things opening too but these are the ones I know. There are lots of fruit trees that will be opening soon and they will be getting the pollen from those too. That old saying "busy as a bee" is really true!

Julie Denison, Associate Broker

Great Skiing in New Mexico Close to Placitas

Wow, what a great winter it has been! Snow in the mountains means great Southwest skiing -warm, mild sunny days, and Rocky Mountain powder. From Placitas, skiing is abundant! Sandia Peak, 30 minutes to the tram and a glorious ride to the top - Santa Fe Ski Basin, just over an hour - Taos and Angel Fire, 2.5 hours. Not to mention Red River, Pajarito and Sipapu ski areas. Here's a great website for additional info: http://www.skinewmexico.com/ .

Load up on sun screen, head to the slopes and no snow to shovel at home!

Jennise Phillips, Associate Broker

Placitas Real Estate Statistics/Placitas in the Spring

Wow, it’s the end of February already. Time is flying and we’re really busy here at La Puerta. Today there are 21 homes and 3 pieces of land that are under contract in Placitas and there are 6 homes and 3 pieces of land that have closed since January 1st. As usual, La Puerta is involved in almost all of the transactions. Our brokers were responsible for 4 sides (either representing the buyer or seller) in the 6 homes sold, 5 sides in the 3 pieces of land sold, 10 sides of the 21 homes in pending and 1 side in the 3 pieces of land in pending. That is significant considering we have only 12 agents in our office! Not bad for a slow market! Spring has sprung. The Junipers are giving us sneezing fits, but Life is Good in Placitas.

Sandy Poling

Associate Broker

Placitas: No UFO's - just the beauty of wildlife and angels

Some places in New Mexico boast UFO's. We attract wild horses, bears, wildcats and angels. :)

Pepi Strahl, Associate Broker

My First Home in New Mexico

In April of 1971, as a college sophomore on spring break from Indiana University, I visited New Mexico. It was love at first sight, even though I was raised in southern Indiana on the Ohio River where it is very humid and lush. I found the dry climate, unending views and daily sunshine very liberating. Upon returning, I immediately applied to the University of New Mexico. I was accepted and the rest, as they say, is history.

By that August, I had started school, stumbled across Placitas and the cooperative community called Tawapa. It was such a unique place then with five families who had built their own houses, while trying to live self-sufficiently off the land. After going to the community dinners a few times and hanging out by the stream, swimming in the pond and enjoying the shade of the cottonwoods, I knew that little valley was for me.

I was invited to join the group and build my own place. Since I was totally inexperienced in construction, I took some friendly advice to build a dug-out house. This sounded good, not because it entailed a lot of back-breaking digging, but it required very little carpentry or masonry knowledge. With two buddies who volunteered their labor and my wonder dog, Herbie helping with the digging, we picked and shoveled a big hole in the side of a hill next to the stream.

Porter, left, one of two brothers, Bruce or

Barry Haas from Indiana, "Herbie", center front

Once the hole was dug, we made trip after trip in my VW bus to pick up free ten-foot-long `end cuts’ from the Bernalillo sawmill. These were the left-over pieces from the cut trees that had three square sides and a jagged outer edge. The plan was to construct a big wooden box outside of the hole using some donated four-by-four-inch beams, upright, with the `end cuts’ nailed on the outside and inside. This created four inches of space to back fill with the dirt from the hole. The result was a type of rammed-earth house that was energy efficient for the desert climate.

I then bought four vigas, a window, a door and some hardware and got help installing those. Then we hauled the rest of the dirt from the hole onto the roof, and `presto’ I had a completed shell. We salvaged a fifty-five gallon oil drum to make a wood stove, threw some straw on the floor and hung some lanterns. Water was from the spring, the bathroom was behind the third bush from the left and before I knew it, I had a house for under 300 bucks. Soon, friends were dropping by to play the drums and I had my first home in New Mexico!

My Dug-Out Home, Carolyn from Wisconsin (I think!)

Porter Dees, Associate Broker

La Puerta's First Decade Anniversary Open House

La Puerta was very happy to celebrate our 10 Year Anniversary. And how did La Puerta do it? By reaching out to the community and inviting the whole town! Not quite everyone showed up, but we did have a good time and look forward to 10 more years. Pictured are flowers from a new Placitas resident unable to attend, Sandy Poling with Joe and Lea Blaha, Lucy Noyes with Dave Ewing, and Donna Ewing with Julie Dennison.

Jennise Phillips, Associate Broker

Our Bees In The Winter

The bees seem to be doing well so far this winter and even with a covering of snow, as you can see from this picture, they keep themselves nice and warm. They snuggle up together, all 30,000 or so of them., The ones in the center move to the outer edge and work their way towards the center again, that way everyone stays warm even when it is really cold outside. On days when the sun is out and it is warm enough for them to go out for a bit, they are doing housework and cleaning up the hive by removing dead bees and taking them outside. The bees that have this job are the mortician bees.

Julie Denison, Associate Broker

Beautiful Mornings and Rainbows

It was a beautiful morning,
Clouds filled the sunny sky overhead,
Soft rain came down,
All was peaceful,
The clouds cleared away,
Topped off with a rainbow.

Gail McGough-Maduena, Associate Broker

Placitas Recycling Association

Our very own Placitas Recycling Association at work in our recycling yard on a beautiful sunny day in January. We take lots of items, including cardboard, newspapers, junk mail, plastics #1 and #2, and aluminum. We all have lots of fun and see our friends and feel like we are doing something to make the world a little better. Join us on Saturday mornings from 8-11 a.m.

Julie Denison, Associate Broker