Pet-Friendly Beats Location According to Vacation Rental Guests

Here's something that surprises a lot of rental owners. When travelers pick a vacation rental, whether the dog can come matters more than where the house actually sits. That's straight from VRBO's data on drive-to markets like Red River. People decide the dog is coming first, then they figure out where they're staying.

Pet-Friendly Ranks Above Location

Think about what that means for your listing. If your Red River rental says no pets, you're getting filtered out before a guest ever sees the view, the hot tub, or the walk to Main Street. The location you're so proud of never even gets a look.

The "No Pets" Fear Is Probably Overblown

I know exactly why owners hang the no-pets sign. You're picturing chewed furniture and stained carpet. Here's the truth after more than a decade of managing properties in the Enchanted Circle: yes, I've had a few pet issues, and not one was a big deal. Every one got fixed with little trouble.

Their Dog Is Family

To a lot of travelers, the dog isn't a pet. It's family. And families book where everyone can stay together. Say no to the dog and you're saying no to the whole reservation.

What That Sign Is Costing You

Higher occupancy and more revenue are sitting on the other side of that no-pets sign. If you own a rental in Red River or Angel Fire and you've been turning pet owners away, it's worth reconsidering. According to the data, that one policy change will increase your revenue. 

You Might Also Find These Helpful

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Have questions or want to learn more? Give us a call at 575-613-4243. We're happy to help.

Rob Swan | Qualifying Broker | Swan Realty Inc.

Will an LLC Transfer Kill Your Title Insurance?

Putting your property into an LLC is one of the most common asset protection moves out there. What nobody tells you is that it can quietly wipe out your title insurance coverage. I wanted a straight answer, so I took the question directly to the title company's attorney. Here's what I learned.

The One Detail That Decides Everything

Moving your property into an LLC after closing can invalidate your title insurance, but only under one circumstance. If you close in your own personal name, then transfer the property into the LLC, your coverage holds. There's a catch, though.

Same Members, Same Coverage

Your coverage stays intact only if the members of the LLC are the exact same people who held the title. Keep the ownership identical and you're fine. Add a member or drop one, and you'll most likely lose your coverage.

Think about what that means. Title insurance protects one of your biggest assets, and it can vanish over paperwork you didn't know mattered.

Check Before You Move

People place their properties into LLCs for good reasons, and there's real value in the strategy. Just don't assume your title coverage automatically comes along for the ride. This isn't legal or insurance advice. It's what I found by doing some research, so check with your title company first before you make any move.

A quick phone call before you transfer the deed can save you from a costly surprise later. Know the rule, keep your members consistent, and confirm it with your title company before anything gets recorded.

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Have questions or want to learn more? Give us a call at 575-613-4243. We're happy to help.

Rob Swan | Qualifying Broker | Swan Realty Inc.

How well share agreements work

If you're looking at a property in the Enchanted Circle that gets its water from a shared well, you've probably run into the term "well share agreement." They're more common than you'd think, and they're nothing to be scared of. You just need to know what you're signing up for.

What a Well Share Agreement Actually Is

A well share agreement is exactly what it sounds like. Two or more owners share a single well. The well sits on one owner's parcel, and it provides water to every home that's part of the agreement. Everybody draws from the same source, and the agreement spells out how that works.

What a Good Agreement Covers

A solid agreement handles the stuff that matters before it becomes a problem. Who pays for pump repairs or a full replacement. Who covers the electricity to run the pump. And what the access easement to the well looks like, so the owners who don't sit on that parcel can still get to it. Nail those three things down and you've avoided most of the headaches.

It Runs With the Land

Here's the part that gives buyers peace of mind. These agreements get filed with the county, so they run with the land, not the person who currently owns the property. When you sell, the next owner is covered under the same terms. You're not leaving them to sort it out on their own.

Review It Before You Buy

If you're buying a property with a well share already in place, read the agreement before you commit. It's a quick review, and it tells you exactly what you're on the hook for. This is the kind of thing I check on right alongside water and utility questions.

Well share agreements aren't complicated once you know what to look for. Get the agreement in hand, understand who pays for what, and you'll know exactly where you stand.

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Have questions or want to learn more? Give us a call at 575-613-4243. We're happy to help.

Rob Swan | Qualifying Broker | Swan Realty Inc.

How To Lose $18,000 on your vacation rental

Here's a scenario that costs vacation rental owners real money every year, and most of them never see it coming. It comes down to one thing: whether you can handle back-to-back reservations.

What Back-to-Back Reservations Are

A back-to-back means one guest checks out and another checks in on the same day. No empty night in between. It sounds simple, but if you or your property manager can't turn a property around that fast, you leave a gap between every stay. Those gaps add up fast.

The Math That Should Scare You

Let's run the numbers. A decent occupancy rate for a vacation rental is around 50%, which works out to about 182 nights rented per year. Say your average stay is 3 nights. That's roughly 61 reservations a year.

Now imagine you can't do back-to-backs and you burn one empty night between every stay. That's 61 lost nights. At an average rate of $300 a night, you just left more than $18,000 on the table.

Yes, I simplified this to make a point. But the point is, if you can't accommodate back-to-back reservations, you are losing money, it's that simple. 

Why It Comes Down to Management

This is where solid property management earns its keep. Fast, reliable turnovers are the difference between a rental that pays and one that leaks income. If you want your place to make real money, the ability to turn it over in a day is non-negotiable.

Take a hard look at how your property gets managed. If empty nights are stacking up between guests, that's your revenue walking out the door.

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Have questions or want to learn more? Give us a call at 575-613-4243. We're happy to help.

Rob Swan | Qualifying Broker | Swan Realty Inc.

What Really Happens When a Survey Uncovers an Encroachment?

You order a survey, it comes back, and there it is: an encroachment. Before you panic, take a breath. This happens more often than you'd think, and it's rarely the disaster the word makes it sound like.

What Counts as an Encroachment?

An encroachment is just something crossing a property line where it shouldn't be. Maybe a fence sits a foot over the boundary. Maybe the corner of your neighbor's shed clips onto your land. Maybe a driveway spills onto the lot next door. Minor stuff like this is common, and a good property survey is exactly what brings it to light.

What Actually Happens Next?

Here's the real sequence. The buyer gets made aware of it. The title company flags the encroachment as an exception to the policy. And then, in most cases, they still go ahead and insure the property. They just won't insure that one specific encroachment. That's the whole story.

Is It a Deal Killer?

Almost never. People hear "encroachment" and jump straight to the worst case. In reality, a minor one is more like a footnote that all parties acknowledge and move past. It doesn't stop the sale.

Knowing how surveys and title work ahead of time keeps a small finding from feeling like a big problem. If you're buying or selling in the Enchanted Circle and something turns up on a survey, it's usually far less scary than it sounds.

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Have questions or want to learn more? Give us a call at 575-613-4243. We're happy to help.

Rob Swan | Qualifying Broker | Swan Realty Inc.

Is There A Criminal In Your Vacation Rental?

Right now, someone you have never met could be walking through your vacation rental. 

Most owners never think to ask who that person is. That's worth fixing before it turns into a problem.

Who Has a Key to Your House?

Cleaning crews come and go all season long in a busy Red River rental. They have access to your home and all the items in your home. If you can't say who is allowed to hold a key, you're trusting a stranger by default.

Don't Assume Someone Ran a Background Check

Here's the assumption I hear most often: the cleaners work for the management company, so somebody must have checked them out. Not necessarily. Every company operates differently, and plenty of them aren't running background checks at all. Nobody is going to volunteer that information unless you ask for it.

The Question to Ask Before You Sign

Ask any property management company you're considering whether every person who enters your home has cleared a background check. At Red River Nightly Rentals, every single person who cleans your home has been through one.

When you shop management companies on price alone, you're not comparing apples to apples. You're comparing apples to oranges, and this one question shows you the difference fast.

Your rental is an investment and it's also your house. Knowing exactly who walks through the door is basic protection, and it costs you nothing but one question.

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Have questions or want to learn more? Give us a call at 575-613-4243. We're happy to help.

Rob Swan | Qualifying Broker | Swan Realty Inc.

Blocking New Mexico River Access Led To Felony Charges. Update on New Mexico vs Erik Briones

If you own land with water running through it in New Mexico, what you do at the river's edge matters more than you might think. A fence and a sign were enough to put one landowner in front of a judge.

The Background

Back on May 15 I posted a video about the 10th Circuit affirming the public's right to fish every river in New Mexico. In it I mentioned a case where the state had filed charges against a landowner who tried to keep people from using the river. Here's the follow up, and it doubles as a warning.

The Charges

Erik Briones was charged with five felony counts, most of them tied to threatening people with a gun. He was also charged with public nuisance, a misdemeanor, and that's the charge I find most interesting.

Why the Public Nuisance Charge Matters

In New Mexico, part of the definition of public nuisance covers interfering with the public's right to use public property. Briones put a fence across the river and posted a no trespassing sign. Under state law, either one of those can be construed as a violation if it's being used to obstruct a lawful public right of access.

What This Means for Landowners

You don't have to hang a welcome sign. But I'd suggest not doing anything that deters people from exercising their legal rights, especially when it comes to public land or water. All it takes is one person filing a police report to open an investigation or get a citation issued.

If you own or are shopping for land along the water in Red River or anywhere in the Enchanted Circle or New Mexico, find out exactly where your boundaries stop and the public's rights start before you build anything. Defense attorneys are not cheap. 

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Have questions or want to learn more? Give us a call at 575-613-4243. We're happy to help.

Rob Swan | Qualifying Broker | Swan Realty Inc.

Make Me Want To Book Your RED RIVER Vacation Rental

Red River and Angel Fire have around 1,700 vacation rentals between them. That is a lot of competition. So when a guest is scrolling through listings, why should they pick yours? Because yours is special. And if it is not special, you need to make it special. 

What Guests Are Really After

Start with the things people actually want on vacation. Pet friendly is a big one, according to VRBO pet friendly ranks number 4. A lot of people consider their pets family and they want the whole family to be together. A fireplace or wood stove sets the mood on a cold Red River night. Comfortable beds matter, and bigger is better. Outdoor living space gives guests somewhere to relax, since they came here to unwind. A full, well equipped kitchen and maybe a game room keep everyone happy and entertained. And do not forget parking. Our guests love their side by sides, so they need room for the extra trailers and toys.

You Do Not Need Every Single Box Checked

You will not always be able to offer all of it, and that is okay. Get as many of these features as you reasonably can. Every one you add is another reason a guest chooses your place over the one down the street.

The goal is to stand out. The more reasons you give someone to book, the more nights you fill and the more you put real money in your bank account. Look at your rental through a guest's eyes, then see what you can do to acommodate them.

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Have questions or want to learn more? Give us a call at 575-613-4243. We're happy to help.

Rob Swan | Qualifying Broker | Swan Realty Inc.

KITEC Plumbing Found In RED RIVER Home. This Is A Problem, Here's Why.

A recent home inspection turned up Kitec piping in a home I had listed. If you have never heard of Kitec, here is why it matters and what you should do if you run into it while shopping for a house.

What Kitec Is and Why It Fails

Kitec was used back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and it showed up in some local homes here in Red River. The trouble is a high failure rate. The connections were usually the weak point, and they literally started to disintegrate over time. There was also an issue if while during the installation, the pipe was bent at a sever angel, it could rupture the interior lining of the pipe and cause an inline failure. The problem with Kitec was widespread enough that a class action lawsuit ran through about 2020 to help reimburse affected homeowners.

How to Spot Kitec Before You Buy

If you are buying a house, keep an eye out for it. Most Kitec is orange, but it was also made in blue, and it will usually say Kitec or Ipex right on the pipe. A thorough home inspection is where this kind of thing gets caught, so make sure yours does not cut corners.

Found Kitec? Don't Panic

Here is the good news. Finding Kitec does not have to be a deal breaker. It can be dealt with and plenty of homes with it have changed hands just fine. The key is knowing it is there so you can plan for it and factor it into your decision.

Kitec is not the end of a deal. It is just one more thing to know about before you sign. Get a solid inspection and ask questions.

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Have questions or want to learn more? Give us a call at 575-613-4243. We're happy to help.

Rob Swan | Qualifying Broker | Swan Realty Inc.

What Happens When A Septic System Fails Inspection

In New Mexico, a septic inspection is not optional. Every septic system has to be inspected before a property changes hands. So the big question I hear is simple: what happens if that inspection fails?

A Failed Inspection Does Not Kill the Deal

Most people assume a failed septic inspection ends the sale. It does not. The system just needs to be repaired. Under New Mexico's septic rules, the owner of record 180 days from the failed inspection is the one responsible for the repair.

Why Septic Systems Fail

Sometimes the fix is small. Sometimes the whole system gets replaced. The usual reasons for a failure are no existing permit, no risers, a leach field too close to water, or a leaking tank. Every one of these can be fixed.

Who Pays Is Negotiable

Who covers the cost of the repair is up for negotiation between buyer and seller. The important part is that both sides know about it and reach an agreement before closing. When it is handled that way, a failed septic inspection is not the end of the world. It is just one more thing to deal with on the way to the closing table.

Whether you are buying or selling, a failed septic test is manageable when you know what to expect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I really have to get the septic system inspected before I sell?

Yes. In New Mexico a septic inspection is required before a property changes hands. It is not optional, so plan on it as part of any sale.

Will a failed septic inspection cancel my sale?

No. A failed inspection does not automatically kill the deal. The system needs to be repaired, and the sale can move forward once both sides agree on how that gets handled.

Who is responsible for the repair if the septic system fails inspection?

The owner of record 180 days from the failed inspection is responsible for the repair. Who actually pays for it, though, is negotiable between the buyer and seller.

What makes a septic system fail an inspection?

The common culprits are no existing permit, no risers, a leach field too close to water, or a leaking tank. All of these are fixable.

Does the whole system have to be replaced if it fails inspection?

Not always. Sometimes it is a small repair and sometimes the entire system gets replaced. It depends on what the inspection turns up.

You Might Also Find These Helpful

• New Mexico Septic Regulations Are a Big Deal

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Have questions or want to learn more? Give us a call at 575-613-4243. We're happy to help.

Rob Swan | Qualifying Broker | Swan Realty Inc.