When you're done watching the balloons this weekend in Albuquerque, come on over to the Grecian Festival for some great food and entertainment!

Live traditional music and dance provide the background for your enjoyment of such great Greek delicacies as gyros, souvlaki, and baklava. And, by way of liquid libations, check out the Greek ouzo!

The Grecian Festival will be running today from 11:00 a.m. to 10 p.m., and will continue tomorrow, Saturday the 3rd, also from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and wind up on Sunday, Oct. 4th with hours from noon to 4:00 p.m. Location? Right downtown, at St. George's Greek Orthodox Curch at 308 High Street. Admission is $4, and there is a park-and-ride service available from the parking lot at Lomas and University.

At last month's Village Council meeting in Corrales, NM, councillors voted unanimously to adopt a new ordinance regarding sales tax impositions on real estate sales and construction and home improvements, despite vociferous opposition from many well-known local real estate brokers.

According to an article in the Corrales Comment, the measure imposes a gross receipts tax reporting requirement meant to insure that the Village of Corrales receives sales tax revenues on homes and imporvements made in the village, rather than having such sales tax revenues be inadvertently misdirected to Albuquerque or Rio Rancho, where real estate brokers and contractors often have their offices.

The new measure calls for Village permit signs to be posted on home sales, home construction, and remodeling projects so that all sub-contractors and other parties doing business at the site will be notified that the gross receipts taxes they charge on their invoices need to be coded correctly on their CRS forms (from the Taxation and Revenue Department), so that the village receives the revenues. The permit fee will cost $35. On the motion of councillor Gerar Gagliano, the measure was amended to provide that real estate brokers offering a home for sale did not have to pay for the permit at the time of listing, but rather would have to pay the fee at the time the property actually sold. This was in recognition of the fact that, particularly in the current market, brokers might otherwise have to pay the fee only to have the home fail to sell during the course of the listing. The council refused the suggestion from local broker Peter Parnegg that that the $35 permit fee be collected by the title company at closing. Although real estate brokers turned out in force to oppose the measure, indicating their feeling that this was not what was needed now, with the state of the economy, the council heeded few of their objections or suggestions, and voted 6-0 to approve the measure.

A similar measure was enacted in recent years in the village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, and it was reported that the measure resulted in an additional $400,000 in revenue for that village. The village staff indicated that their research showed that Corrales had probably lost $150,000 in revenues over the past five years due to misdirected gross receipts tax on home sales, leading the council to consider the measure appropriate.

Interested in more information about Corrales? Take a virtual tour of Corrales here:

Copyright Laura Warden, Choices Real Estate. Albuquerque Horse Property Specialist.

You wouldn't think of an urban downtown as a likely location to meet a bunch of farmers, but 'tain't so in Albuquerque!

Every Saturday morning, from a bright-and-early 7:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m., Robinson Park right in Downtown Albuquerque is the site of the Albuquerque Downtown Growers' Market. (OK, I know that's mighty early to be up on a Saturday morning, but hey, if you want to meet real live farmers you'll need to get up with the chickens!)

This weekly, open-air market features 100% locally grown New Mexico produce-- to qualify, fruits and vegetables must have been grown within 60 miles of downtown Albuquerque, so you know you're getting really fresh, really local produce. In my experience, much of it is organically grown, as well.

In addition to the fresh fruits and vegetables, there are booths that sell such products as local honey, locally made goat cheese, and home-made pastries, tamales, and artisan breads. You can also find local plants and flowers for sale.

Think of the benefits, and come on out:

1. It's green and eco-friendly to buy local
2. Local produce is fresher, better tasting, and often healthier than the stuff that's trucked in from thousands of miles away
3. It's an investment in our local community and local economy, supporting our local farmers,

So blink the sleep out of your eyes a little extra early next Saturday, and meet some of the Albuquerque area's rural residents-- and improve the quality of your own table for the week! Here's a map to help you find the place:

I'm looking forward to more of these "Name that Photo" entires... They're lots of fun! In the mean time, can you ID this subject of this photo?

Once again, it was taken here in New Mexico...

See what you think.

If you know anyone relocating to the Albuquerque area, keep me in mind!

Laura Warden, Choices Real Estate, (505)239-4796

Real estate statistics for Edgewood, NM for the month of June, 2009 are a mixed bag. There are reasons for both optimism and pessimism about the Edgewood real estate market. Here's why:

The average sales price of single family residential homes that closed last June was actually UP from the figures for the same month last last, and up very considerably over the figures for June of 2007!

That's great news, and rather surprising given everything we're hearing about real estate prices falling nationwide.

It's not all good news, though. Only half as many houses closed last June as in June of 2008, with only 5 closings of single family detached homes closing last month, compared to 11 closing in June of 2008, and 23 of 2007. So far fewer homes are actually closing.

Edgewood, New Mexico is a great little town 20 minutes east of Albuquerque, that is full of affordable rural homes and horse properties. Edgewood is also growing quite rapidly, with new commercial activity such as the new Wal-mart that recently opened, and offers resident local shopping, dining a business opportunities without having to drive into Albuquerque.

For more information about Edgweood and its real estate market, contact me any time at (505)239-4796, or visit my Albuquerque Horse Properties website.

An additional piece of bad news was that the average time on the market doubled! In June of 2007 and June 2008, the average "Days on the Market," or DOM, were 56 and 55 days, respectively. But in June 2009, the homes that closed had been on the market an average of 136 days, so it is taking far longer for the homes that do sell to close.

So, the good news is price are up.

The bad news is fewer homes are selling, and they are taking longer to sell.