Mark Banham - Barker Realty

My husband and I have been visiting Santa Fe for many years. After deciding it may be a place for a second home, we looked up realtors in the area. Mark popped up immediately when we inquired about “Gay realtors” on the internet. He was very helpful in finding our home on our first visit. After listening to our specific needs, he showed us only appropriate properties. We purchased remotely from Florida. Mark handled everything from inspections to the closing. Excellent service! Since then he has welcomed us to the community with open arms.

We moved to Santa Fe from Chicago in 2014 and could not have been more pleased with Mark. His knowledge of the area is second to none. When we were looking for homes Mark had detailed packets made up of each hoe and a comparison of the homes we were viewing. After purchasing our home Mark has been extremely helpful with finding contractors with whom to work. I would highly recommend Mark for your real estate needs.

My partner and I decided to retire to Santa Fe. After making two trips there to develop a feel for the City Different, we began to search for a realtor. We wanted to work with a gay realtor, if one was available. We were fortunate to find Mark, who has lived in Santa Fe for, I believe, 17 or more years. In addition to having a strong background in real estate, Mark is very involved in the community, and seems to know virtually everyone in town and everything that is going on. Working with Mark, we arranged to view 10 homes in one day when we were going to be in town from California for a few days. He set up our schedule, and the day went off without a hitch. The last property we viewed fit our criteria the best, and we decided to write an offer. It was a more complicated transaction than normal, in that we would agree to lease the property back to the builder for two years, then move in when I retired. In addition, we needed to do a 1031 exchange using a rental property we owned in California that we had not yet put on the market, so the purchase offer was a contingent offer. Mark handled all of this in stride, and the next day, we were in contract. Mark's continued assistance during the sale was invaluable, as we had returned to California, and he was our local contact for everything that was needed, including introducing us to local financing options, and of course, title and insurance matters. Everything closed on time and per the original details. During the next two years, before we moved to Santa Fe, Mark was always available to answer questions and help us get connected to other services that we would need upon moving to town. Beyond his real estate professionalism, we really appreciated that he went out of his way to make sure that we got introduced around town, to help us make Santa Fe our new home. We were so impressed with his work, that when a short term rental unit, just off the Plaza, came to our attention, we worked long distance on Mark to make that purchase happen as well. We have been in Santa Fe for two years now, making it four years since we originally met Mark, and he has become a good friend, as well as our Go To real estate agent. We would recommend Mark to anyone, gay or straight, as THE local expert to help you find and purchase your perfect Santa Fe home or rental property (or both!). You could not be in better hands.