Kendra Ruminer's Two Cents of Real Estate

Take A Peek At Los Alamos, New Mexico

Month: December 2020

Saying Goodbye to 2020

December 29, 2020 /

There’s no doubt about it, 2020 has been a year to remember. Most of it NOT on the positive side. I don’t know what your usual New Year’s Eve traditions consist of, but it’s a pretty good bet that whatever they usually are, this year is going to be different.

Staying home. Social distancing. No gathering with friends or family in your house, their house, or any house. Yes. All of this makes for a strange holiday season. But perhaps its time to look on the bright side.

It’s going to be important to usher out 2020. That’s for sure. But maybe there are some new, fun ways to make this into a New Year’s Event your family will remember for years to come.

A Time For Family

This is an opportunity to make the night a family affair. A giant family lock in, sleepover, and house party all in one. Bring out the junk food! Christmas cookies, candy, sundae bar, layer cake, holiday puddings, and more. Ask each member of the family to choose a dessert and a favorite game. If you have a Nintendo Wii gathering dust, this could be the opportunity to bring out those goofball favorites like Raving Rabbids or Mario Kart. Spend the entire evening sampling scrumptious junk food and playing games until 2020 is over and done. Maybe end the night with a family movie at midnight and let the kids fall asleep in a pile like a litter of happy puppies. Have a lazy family time weekend and be kind to yourself and those you love. Yes, we’ve all had some challenges as we isolate together, but at the end of the day your family is still your family.

Couple Time

It’s a pretty sure bet there are not a lot of places to actually GO on New Year’s Eve this year. If you’re trying to make the evening special you might try having a romantic night in instead of out. Dress up anyway. Look and feel like a million bucks. Cook a nice meal or order out. Los Alamos favorite, Sirphey, is offering a Royal Feast for New Year’s Eve. Or you could check out some of their other elegant offerings if you’re looking for a special feast to ring in the new year. Buy your favorite beverages. Look for New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world online and watch fireworks and more in every time zone across the globe. There’s no reason why 2020 can’t end on a happy note. Make it happen!

Power of Positivity

Whether you are a family of one, two, or ten, there has never been a greater need for purging the negative and embracing positivity. Think of December 31, 2020 as a time to cleanse the mind and the spirit. Take some time to talk to your loved ones. Talk about the things you’ve experienced this year. Talk about your worries and your fears.

“Getting it out” doesn’t just happen in therapy. It’s something we can share with our loved ones every time we listen to one another whether you’re face to face, FaceTime, or using Zoom for a family conference call. The best thing that can happen is to not just focus on the the worry and dread that’s been dogging most of us throughout this year. Let’s talk about what’s to come! Sure, get 2020 out in the open. Don’t let it squat like a giant elephant in the corner. But don’t forget to talk about the future! Share your hopes and your dreams and your plans for 2021 and beyond. There are good things on the horizon. We just have to be ready to welcome them with an open mind and not one filled with suspicion and doubt.

Whatever and however you and your family choose to celebrate the coming of a New Year, I want to wish each and every one of you the best! Happy New Year from Kendra Ruminer Real Estate! And remember, when your plans for 2021 call for a change in venue, give me a call. I love to talk Los Alamos Real Estate!

Get Outside in Los Alamos

December 23, 2020 /

You don’t have to be in our community for long to realize that outdoor activities are one of the things we do best! Miles and miles of county maintained trails, sports complexes, and ready access to the Santa Fe National Forest provide hours and hours of good, healthy entertainment. But there are more than a few fun things to do that are on the unusual side and some of those have rather historic beginnings.

North Mesa Stables

Though the stables is listed on the Los Alamos County Parks & Recreation website as a “park”, it’s a little more complicated than that. There have always been horses on the Pajarito Plateau. In fact, the original “stables” housed horses used by the Los Alamos Sheriff’s Posse to patrol the perimeter of Los Alamos back when the town was still closed. You can read more about the Sheriff’s Posse HERE.

What you might not realize is that the stables originally occupied what is now the practice field across the street from the high school. There was a golf course in that area as well. With the expansion of Los Alamos and the building of houses in the Western Area, the stables was moved to a spot at 35th Street and Diamond Drive which is right beside… The Los Alamos County Golf Course.

There has always been some contention between the residents of the town and this idea that the stables are a bit of an eyesore or a waste of land that could be used for building houses. For that reason, the stables moved to land that is now occupied by Hawk’s Landing, then across North Mesa to what is now Broadview, and finally in 1952 to their current location between the ball fields and the Kwage Mesa Trailhead.

Several of the buildings at the North Mesa Stables date back to the beginning of Los Alamos.

This land was eventually given to Los Alamos County in 1972 by way of a quit claim deed from the Atomic Energy Commission. What locals might not realize is that this deed from the AEC designates that this land be used for it’s current purpose. Horse Stables. The process of removing the stables would actually be quite complicated. Beyond that, it would remove a really unique part of Los Alamos History from the community landscape.

How it Works

Let’s unravel the mystery of how a Los Alamos resident becomes a resident of North Mesa Stables. First, you DO have to be a county resident. The land is held by the county and licensed on a yearly basis to a stable owner for a fee based on the size of the lot. The licensee is the owner of any improvements on the lot, (barns, fences, structures). The stable owner is entirely responsible for the purchase, maintenance, and cost of keeping any livestock on the premises. If a resident would like to inquire about purchasing the improvements on a stable lot and entering into a license agreement with the county for that lot, then the easiest way to do this is to contact the Parks & Rec office.

Visitors

If you’re not into the idea of heading out to North Mesa to care for your livestock multiple times per day in all weather, that’s okay. You can still enjoy the stables. Visitors are welcome to walk through and take a peek at the wide variety of animals. Everything from horses to peacocks and so much in between! In spring you can even see brand new lambs and kids and perhaps a few new baby horses as well.

Looking to enhance your garden? The manure in the disposal bins is FREE to the public. If you’re looking for something organic to add to that garden, then look no further. Take your pickup truck or your garden tubs up to the stables and find a pile that looks appealing to your botanical tastes. The county uses the manure for compost so they do ask that when you’re strolling the stables, you don’t place your dog poop bags or any other waste into those bins. And if the stable owners seem particularly concerned about this rule, it’s because the county passes the cost of filtering out that non compostable material to them.

Ettiquette

As you’re taking your stroll through the stables, enjoy more than a few historic buildings sprinkled throughout the barns. There are two original homesteader cabins and several former LASL buildings as well. Feel free to observe the goings on from a polite distance. However, please keep in mind that the alleyways between the barns are off limits to the general public. Sometimes the stable owners intentionally keep an animal at the back of their lot because that critter isn’t safe to be in the public spotlight. If you see a sign asking you not to pet the horses, it’s probably because they do bite. These are privately owned animals and they come with their own bad habits. In a way, walking up to someone’s stable lot and petting their horse is a bit like trying to pet a neighborhood dog behind the fence.

If you’re dying to get a little more interaction with the animals than a simple stroll down the gravel road, there are several organizations you might try contacting for a more close up experience. The Gifted Horse Therapeutic Riding, Los Alamos Pony Club, 4-H, and Lemonade Living all have stable lots and support outreach programs for animal lovers of all ages. Get out and volunteer or join a club and you just might find a way to satisfy the horse crazy kid in your life.

In non Covid years, there are several Stable Community Outreach programs too. Stroll the Stables is an educational walk through during Fair & Rodeo Week and the Luminaria Walk is a fun twilight tour at Christmastime. During these events, participating stable owners open their doors and welcome visitors and questions so look for the signs next year and get out and enjoy!

As the conclusion of the holiday season approaches and we prepare to say farewell to Year 2020, get outside and enjoy the sunshine and blue sky. Take a breath of fresh air and enjoy this beautiful community we call home. And if you’re ready to move from renting to home ownership, I’d love to share my hometown with you and help you find a place to call home here in Los Alamos County!

Happy Holidays!

Loving Life Here in Los Alamos

December 18, 2020 /

If you didn’t grow up in the Secret City, or even if you did and you lived elsewhere for any period of time, you might have lived in a land of subdivided neighborhoods, streets laid out in straight lines, and homes with spacious floor plans that include things like “bonus rooms”. That organized feel probably continued into towns full of strip malls, restaurants, and expressways crowded with cars.

You might have noticed already, but in case you hadn’t:

Los Alamos isn’t really like that.

Here’s the thing. A large part of the character of Los Alamos is in the curving streets, houses set at weird angles to the road, and even in the bizarre and seemingly unimaginative naming of the neighborhoods and housing styles.

“Sheridan developed Los Alamos’s first master plan between February and June 1946. His long-range goal was to completely rebuild the town by removing wartime housing and replacing it with modern neighborhoods. Incorporating the latest ideas in city planning, Sheridan drew detailed plans for the town’s first new housing area. the houses were varied in style, size, and placement on the lots. “Naturally curving streets” fit the contours of the land. Crescents and cul-de-sacs branched from a horseshoe-shaped arterial road, which offered limited access to the neighborhood. The curves increased privacy and eliminated the unattractive straight rows of houses found in other parts of town, as well as decreasing the speed of traffic through the residential areas.” from Craig Martin’s book Quads, Shoeboxes and Sunken Living Rooms.

Whenever you’re tempted to get frustrated with the narrow, curving streets, the seemingly inconceivable numbering system of houses, or even the lack of updated housing to purchase, consider the following.

This town was supposed to be difficult to navigate. Hello? Secret City. Los Alamos was chosen because it was remote and isolated. Feel nauseated by your efforts to navigate that U-haul up the mountain? Don’t forget that the original contractors were trying to drag prefabricated houses by truck over barely developed roads from the nearest railway station (which was in Lamy). The first construction crews had to build the road before they could even start the project!

This is an old town. Not old in the sense of being around since the American Colonial period. (By the way, that’s why Boston is so difficult to navigate in a car. The positioning of the buildings predates automobiles.) Los Alamos is old in the sense of a place that has been constantly occupied by a growing population that has always exceeded the town’s ability to sustain it. The town itself has gone through numerous reorganizations and several natural disasters. It has been stretched, pinched, razed, burned, and in some cases moved (the original wartime era building of The Christian Church was sold and moved off the hill in the 80’s). The “town planning” has been done and redone as trends come and go. And yet what was, and sometimes still is, considered a “company town” is still alive and kicking.

Our neighborhoods, North Community, Western Area, Eastern Area, etc. were named by the Atomic Energy Commission. The uniqueness lays in the fact that everything here was once government owned and government built. You think finding a house is difficult now? Back in the day, houses were assigned by a points system and regulated by a housing commission not unlike military housing. Your address was determined by the number of people in your family, your salary, your tenure, and sometimes by how important you were to the laboratory.

Which brings me to the secret language of housing here in Los Alamos County. “Is that a Group 11 or a Group 13?” The funny thing is that it seems strange to identify a home based upon its floor plan or the order in which it was built and yet those subdivided neighborhoods do the same thing. “Is this a Mallory or a Hilary? Are you in Aberdeen Platt One or Aberdeen Villas?” Floor plans and elevations are often given names to make them more attractive or easier to remember for consumers.

If you head to White Rock and take a look around you’ll find that those home designs originally had names like Valle Grande and neighborhoods were called things like La Vista and Mountain Meadows. It was simply more sensible for the Atomic Energy Commission to continue where the Army left off. Hence Group 11 and so on until we reach the end of the government’s involvement in Los Alamos housing around the Group 17 A and B timeframe.

As much as the homes in the Los Alamos County housing market might not look as posh and modern as those you find in a subdivision in Rio Rancho, remember that our homes are a snapshot of history. They are laden with the character that is the backbone of this community. Sure. They’re often “weird”. They can lack some of the modern amenities. And sometimes you’re going to get a glimpse of decades worth of someone else’s DIY can-do ingenuity.

But that’s part of the charm.

If you really want to understand the housing market and the culture of housing here in Los Alamos County, check out the Los Alamos Historical Society’s page. You can find a copy of Craig Martin’s book about housing in Los Alamos. It might be just the ticket to give you a whole new appreciation for being part of this wonderful place. And when you’re ready to shop for the perfect Group 13, an Original Western, or even that Valle Grande model in White Rock, give me a call. I’d love to talk Los Alamos housing with you!

What’s With White Rock?

December 10, 2020 /
View into the Rio Grande Valley near Hell’s Hole in White Rock.

Los Alamos County is unique. No doubt about it. There are bits and pieces of local life that are so “normal” to those of use who have lived in Los Alamos County for a long time. Those same bits and pieces make the newbies scratch their heads with wonder. No doubt one of those “bits and pieces” happens to be White Rock itself. How on earth did a town that isn’t a town spring up on a scrap of land that is so difficult to develop that modern construction methods have spent the last several years blasting the ground and missing deadlines just to put a few fairly simple houses on the acreage between the White Rock Visitor Center and the Grand Canyon/State Road 4 intersection?

Here are few things to keep in mind:

White Rock began life in 1949 as a hastily slapped together development to house construction workers. No kidding folks, there were around four hundred prefabricated houses, spaces for privately owned trailers, and some dormitories. Homes weren’t wired for phone service and one of the big bragging points was that they had a gas range for cooking!

(photo courtesy of Craig Martin)

In Craig Martin’s fascinating book, Quads Shoeboxes and Sunken Living Rooms, he relates a story about a young boy who was burned in a kitchen fire. The poor mother couldn’t call for help, couldn’t access the family car because it was with her husband at work, and waited hours for her child to get treatment. “In the Los Alamos News the next day town managers said the proper way to summon emergency help in White Rock was to pull the nearest fire alarm.”

And yet, even in this rural “overnight town”, there was a commercial section of town that included a grocery store, a beauty shop, a barber, a doctor’s office, and a jail. There was also a school and a post office. Why did the 2400 residents of 1950’s White Rock get all the good stuff? Because the construction crews didn’t have a clearance and therefore could NOT get into Los Alamos to shop on the hill.

The entire development was situated on the land between Joya Loop, Rover Blvd, and State Road 4. The single family homes were literally referred to as “shoeboxes”. Yep. That’s right. Shoeboxes. By the winter of 1957 the new construction at the National Laboratory was done and there was nothing left of White Rock but a few empty streets. The prefab houses had been sold and moved elsewhere.

By 1959 the “critical housing shortage” in Los Alamos brought the Atomic Energy Commission back to the idea of developing White Rock. This time they proposed to Washington that they sell the property to a private developer. Two hundred acres to start, a thousand acres more in the future at (this will make you cry) a whopping $25.00 per acre. Houses were supposed to be in the $15,000 range to accommodate lower income home buyers. (Talk about appreciation!)

Sounds brilliant, right? Wrong! The FHA deemed White Rock to be too rural to offer mortgage insurance to home buyers. The whole project would have been scrapped if it weren’t for a bill introduced to Congress by then NM Senator Clinton Anderson. John McCone, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, pushed hard and in November 1960 President Eisenhower signed a bill to offer FHA mortgages in remote areas to promote growth and development. By the end of the month, developers were making bids to make White Rock a reality.

Noxon’s original plans for White Rock. Those who picked up the building contracts after Noxon bowed out have kept to the same general idea except the golf course out toward the right.
(photo courtesy of Craig Martin)

By January 1961, the contract was awarded to Los Angeles based Noxon Construction and folks here locally were perusing floor plans and looking at options for exterior and interior finishes. The cost of the homes was $19,000, but an agreement from the local utility companies to pay for the installation cut the costs by $4,000. But that was only the beginning of the story. See if this doesn’t sound familiar.

Craig Martin writes, “the Noxon construction project was fraught with troubles from the start. The dense, hard basalt just under the surface proved more difficult and expensive to work with than first expected. Street and utility construction progressed slowly. Noxon soon felt that meeting the 200-house stipulation of the contract would be impossible.”

Martin goes on to talk about Noxon barely breaking even on the homes and eventually being fined by the AEC for failure to complete his promised 200 homes. Noxon gave up the contract, two other builders from Santa Fe and Roswell took up the torch in 1964, and White Rock was eventually considered a permanent development and an alternative to living in Los Alamos.

The interesting thing about the original “Master Plan” for White Rock was that it included a police station, commercial center, golf course, an elementary, junior high, and high school. These were considered the necessary amenities of a town in post-war America. For those of us living in White Rock, we would heartily agree that those things are necessary. We just can’t seem to get anything to stick around!

Those of you who haven’t been in our area for long might not realize the various amenities that have come and gone from White Rock. The shopping center is where Gordon’s began. In the late eighties kids rode their bikes up to Gordon’s for ice cream and to buy the latest cassette tapes. WaterMills offered gifts and a full selection of Jelly Belly Jellybeans.

At one time we had a bowling alley. In other years residents could enjoy watching a movie at The White Roxy or renting one at The Film Festival. There have been many versions of the drug store, classic supermarkets, a Pizza Hut, a McDonald’s, and dozens of restaurants that have come and gone.

So, as we all continue to ponder the future of White Rock and pine away for things like fast food chains and shopping, let’s take a moment to be glad for what we have. After all, nobody is telling you to pull the nearest fire alarm and wait for the fire crews up in Los Alamos to get here. In fact, we have a beautiful fire station, a fantastic branch of the local library, and a Visitor’s Center that sports a packed parking lot through most of the summer (in normal years of course).

Things will change. White Rock will continue to change. And our remote village will discover a new identity for all of us to enjoy. And if you happen to be looking for real estate in White Rock, give me a call. I’d love to show you around.

The view from a house in White Rock is like no other!

Proving You REALLY Want It

December 2, 2020 /

We talk about the “seller’s market” going on right now in Los Alamos County. But what does that actually mean if you’re trying to purchase a home in a seller’s market?

There’s the obvious of course. When you’re one of several buyers interested in purchasing a home, that seller isn’t going to be likely to offer much in the way of bonuses like repairs or discounts for outdated fixtures, paint, or carpet. But there are several situations you might not anticipate.

Are you ready to really prove that you want that house? One method that might be suggested by your broker is to waive the appraisal.

I know. The concept sounds a little off. After all, the appraisal establishes the value of a home so that the mortgage company – the lender – can lend an appropriate amount of money. The appraisal often affects the amount of a down payment required to purchase the house. If a house does not appraise for the entire listed price, it can be a bargaining tool to lower that asking price.

But when there happens to be a line of buyers waiting to purchase that property, things change. Offers become creative. Think of it as doing your level best as a potential buyer to make YOUR offer stand out from the other ten sitting on the table. How do you do that?

We often hear about “bidding wars”. It might make you shake your head because how on earth do you have a bidding war when at the end of the day, you can only pay as much for a house as the bank says its worth.

Actually, you CAN. Here’s how:

You can agree to waive the appraisal. The appraisal still takes place. After all, the lender needs to know what the value of that house is. But you, as the purchaser, are essentially agreeing to pay enough money up front to bridge the gap between the asking price and the appraisal value.

How does that work?

Let’s say a house is listed for $350,000. You offer $400,000 and you waive the appraisal, because there are a LOT of offers and you REALLY want this house. Your dream home then appraises for $375,000. So as the buyer, you would then have to chip in your down payment plus $25K. 

Regardless of the amount that the purchaser offers, the key is that it no longer matters what the house appraises for. The purchaser is agreeing to make up the difference between what the bank will lend based upon the appraisal value, and the sale price.

This isn’t necessarily as terrifying as it might first seem. If you’ve purchased a house here in Los Alamos recently, you might have noticed that the median home price has been steadily increasing. This means that appraisal values have also been increasing. If you’re looking at purchasing a home that had a reasonable asking price to begin with, then even if you offer more than the asking price, the appraisal might come in higher than originally anticipated anyway.

It is also possible to waive only a portion of the appraisal. The buyer can choose to specify that they would pay $X above appraisal. That way you know that you may or may not have to come up with additional capital up to a certain point. These amounts vary, but can be adjusted based on the financial capabilities and the comfort zone of the individual buyer. There are also ways to anticipate what the appraisal will be. Your broker can assist you in estimating the additional cash you might have to add to your down payment to cover your offer on the home of your dreams.

Of course, once your offer has been accepted, the waiting game begins. Then you’re likely to experience more than a little uncomfortable anticipation as you wait for the appraisal to come in. See, you are now legally obligated to come up with that cash. You made an offer. You have a contract.

The wonderful news is that you’re going to buy the house of your dreams! Your offer was chosen. You managed to get in there and get the house in spite of the other ten or fifteen offers that might have been on that table. Congratulations!

So when you’re trying to find a way to make sure your offer floats to the top of the pile and looks the most attractive, this might help you succeed. But, as I always tell my clients. Be absolutely sure. Be certain you can financially fulfill this obligation. And be sure that this is the right decision for you and your family.

When you’re ready to prove that you REALLY want that house, give me a call! I’d love to chat with you. We’re still buying and selling real estate through these pandemic times. Drop me an email today to see how we can make the process easy for you with virtual tours, online sales, and no contact showings!

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