Archive for June, 2010


Video: Progress in Green2V Solar Plant Construction

Written by Mark T Fiedler - The Mark and Sheila Team
June 27th, 2010


We’ve been keeping an eye on the construction site for the new Green2V Solar factory, which was announced about 8 weeks ago.  A construction office trailer, storage container, and a generator have been sitting on the large, cleared site for many weeks. Construction was projected to begin “June 1, 2010 or soon after” on the 125,000 sq ft 1st phase of the project, which could eventually hire 1500 local employees. Rio Rancho administrators have been waiting for the company to produce funding before the city completes the $6.9 Million land purchase for the factory.

This week there was some activity at the site – the generator was on, running the A/C for the building. Later, telephone equipment was being installed in the trailer, so it appears that the construction management company (Reid and Associates, it appears) is moving ahead with preparations to start work soon. We’ll keep you informed as further developments occur.

Another Successful Neighborhood Yard Sale!

Written by Mark T Fiedler - The Mark and Sheila Team
June 26th, 2010

Well, another of Mark and Sheila’s Neighborhood Yard Sales in Rio Rancho came to a successful conclusion today… The weather cooperated, with warm, but not hot temperatures, slightly elevated humidity,  a light breeze, and it didn’t start to rain until an hour after the sale ended. Phew!

90 households (Yes – 90!) held sales in their own driveways in the Broadmoor, Ridges and Cascades areas – all within a few blocks of each other.  If you haven’t experienced this before, to have this many yard sales in one place at the same time is truly a unique shopping experience.  The fact is, if you started at 8:00 am and attempted to visit every sale site before they ended at 1:00 pm, (and spent just 30 seconds getting from site to site) you would only be able to spend 3 minutes going though the goodies at each location. Since we know that a number of people actually do make it all the way through the whole thing, it’s interesting to study their technique – evaluating the goods via drive-by, negotiating prices while their husband is already putting purchases in the car and Grandpa keeps it idling at the curb and maps the shortest route to the next sale site. It’s really intense!

Since by the morning of the sale most of our work of organizing things has already been completed, our job on sale day is to feed the Sellers and the Shoppers breakfast and snacks, to give out bottles of cold water to keep everybody hydrated, to arbitrate the occasional minor issue, and to keep the Shoppers shopping! 

At the end of today’s sale we filled about 3/4 of our moving truck with donations of leftover sale goods. The books and tapes went to Friends of the Libray of Rio Rancho, and the household items went to support Big Brothers, Big Sisters. 

The video shows just a few scenes from today’s activities. For a more complete view of what Mark and Sheila’s Neighborhood Yard Sale Series is about, plus dates and locations of our future sales, follow this link to our main Yard Sale web page.

1000 New Mexicans Walk for Their Men

Written by Mark T Fiedler - The Mark and Sheila Team
June 20th, 2010

On June 12, 2010 around 1000 participants converged on Balloon Fiesta Park in Albuquerque for the 1st Annual Prostate Cancer Awareness Walk, dubbed the “Walk For Your Man”. Although 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetimes, a lot of  men avoid going to the doctor for a simple test for the disease. The event name refers to the fact that often wives and partners are the ones that get educated and push their men to go have a PSA test or other screening.  

The Prostate Cancer Support Association of New Mexico is a local non-profit that provides education, support, and encouragement to men and their families throughout the state in making informed decisions for the detection and management of prostate cancer. With state funding for their activities drying up, the organizers are hoping that this annual event will provide funding for their continued operations.

Joe DiazChief Meteorologist Joe Diaz on KOAT TV was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009 — a disease that killed his father years ago. Joe, KOAT, and a number of other corporate sponsors pledged and delivered funds, supplies and marketing for this worthwhile event.  Joe has shared publicly how he dealt with the news, went through surgery, and how it all changed his – and his family’s – lives. Joe emceed the day and the station gave lots of air time to cover the event.

Joe’s wife Diane Diaz, who is a Senior Buyer Representative with the Mark & Sheila Real Estate Team at Coldwell Banker Legacy, raised hundreds of dollars in donations from Coldwell Banker Associates, staff and affiliates, including Legacy Mortgage. However, perhaps more importantly, the combined effort of all involved raised the awareness of the disease (and the need to get screened) of tens of thousands in the Albuquerque Metro area.

Rio Rancho, NM Home Prices Drop – Best Time to Sell?

Written by Mark T Fiedler - The Mark and Sheila Team
June 14th, 2010

June 2009 - May 2010 Home Prices

The chart above shows the trend of list prices of homes in Rio Rancho for a year (ending May 31, 2010). As you can see, the Southern half of the city (87124) was slightly worse off than the Northern half (87144), with the average price being down about 10% year over year.  My guess for the reason that prices in 87144 did not drop as much, is that they had already dropped a lot more in the previous couple years due to a much higher inventory, and they are nearer to hitting bottom than the Southern half of the city.  Most home owners, when they see numbers like this would not consider this a good time to try and sell their home.  However, our analysis shows that we are probably 18 months away from hitting the bottom price-wise in Rio Rancho, or on the West side of Albuquerque. Although the exact number is hard to predict, an additional slide of 10% in market prices over the next year and a half in those areas would not surprise us.

Once we hit bottom, we believe the market will linger there for about a year. From then on, we predict modest increases in prices of 2%, 2.5% or 3% max per year for the following 4 years. If you were to graph that trend, it would look like a valley, with our current prices on top on one side, and prices just reaching the same level on the other side in 5-6 years! So, when trying to decide if it’s time to sell (or time to buy), you really have to look out several years. In many cases, the best time to Sell would be right now, vs another time in the next 5 years! It may seem counter-intuitive to sell when prices are down from their peak, but it’s still the best time we’ll see for some years to come….

Written by Mark T Fiedler - The Mark and Sheila Team
June 9th, 2010

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June 9th, 2010

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