Purchasing a new home or condo is a very important decision. Studies show there are many factors which influence buyers when making a home or condo purchase.

Most buyers begin their search with where they want to live. More and more people are choosing to move away from big cities, if they can telecommute or if they're retired. The Taos and Angel Fire areas seem to be areas that are attracting much interest these days.

The National Association of Realtors has provided an insightful survey of home buyers who purchased between 2010 and 2012. Below are some interesting results of their survey.

1) The typically recently purchased home, according to the National Association of Realtors, was 1800 square feet, built in 1996. Of course home buyers with large families tended to purchase larger homes. First-time buyers and single women tended to buy older homes. And, three bedrooms and two bathrooms was the norm. A bit over half of home purchases were single-story homes.

2) More than half of buyers bought a home with a garage.

3) Buyers in the south bought newer homes, and typically bought larger homes.

4) Buyers 55 and older bought mostly one-story homes.

5) Great kitchen appliances also rated high on the list of criteria.

6) Central air conditioning was the most important factor to folks. But of course, here in lovely northern New Mexico, air conditioning is not needed.

7) Big closets, especially a walk-in in the master suite were high on the list.

8) 63 percent of buyers who did not buy a home with a separate laundry room said they were willing to pay an extra $1590 for a laundry. And for those buyers who didn't get a separate den or study said they would've paid another $1920 for this room.

9) Most homeowners were satisfied with their purchase (97 percent), but said they wish they still had larger closets and more storage space, and almost half preferred a larger kitchen.

Regardless of your needs when initiating a search for your perfect home or condo, let your real estate agent help you. As I've said before it's great to look on the many websites for listings. But until you actually contact a professional, you're basically flying blind.

To that point, just this morning a client I've been corresponding via email with accidentally made a pocket call to me. I called her back and she said, although the call wasn't intended, she was really happy to talk to me and get my gut feel for the areas and homes she had seen online. Professional agents can tell a prospective home buyer about not only the homes the buyer is finding interesting, but can comment about the neighborhoods, the views, the resale values in these various areas, the home builders, the condo developers, etc.

We may not know everything, but we can give valuable input to this major life decision.

Hope all you condo, home and land buyers use the spring to find out what your most important needs are in finding your perfect place in the Taos/Angel Fire paradise and visit us soon.

All best,

Katheryn Pate, Associate Broker, New Mexico Mountain Properties: 575-770-5023