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Philip Balcombe
505-983-6383
505-466-2982
pbalcombe@santafeagency.com
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I've been selling real estate since 1979 and am still intrigued by houses and the ways people live in them. Helping someone find a house that meets their requirements is a very satisfying experience for me.
I was born in India to an American mother and an English father. My childhood home in Calcutta was a stucco mansion within a walled compound. It took ten servants to operate. Most of the second decade of my life was spent in an English boarding school. It typified the worst and the best of such institutions.
In 1967 I suffered significant, but ultimately salubrious, culture shock when I came to study at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
I dropped out of college my junior year. Life outside school in the late 60s was far more engaging. I lived with friends in a communal, turn-of-the-century shingle house in a diverse neighborhood called Windsor Hills. Years later, Windsor Hills achieved federal historic district status due to its pioneering efforts in racial integration.
In 1971 my house incorporated as an educational non-profit dedicated to fighting the social ills of the time. I earned my living as a writer, baker, typesetter, house painter, proofreader and research administrator until I became licensed as a real estate agent in 1979.
By the mid 80s, I had earned my GRI and the Maryland equivalent of a qualifying broker's license. I was selling a million dollars worth of real estate a year, even more impressive considering that the average sales price was in the $50,000-price range.
As I entered my fifth decade the late effects of polio began taking their toll. Baltimore's row houses and my long, irregular hours work hours prompted me to make a change. I worked for a few years with Saint Ambrose Housing Aid Society, a non-profit agency that helped low income folk find housing. When their funding retracted, I went back to college for a B.A. in history and teaching certificate.
I first visited Santa Fe in 1976, the highlight of a three month trip on back roads around the country. I never forgot it: the old town with houses that had simple, earthy contours and everything I liked about city life without big city drawbacks. And it was all set in a spectacular natural landscape. When my former wife and I decided to leave Baltimore, Santa Fe was where I wanted to be. In April 2003, with the help of fabulous Jerry West, I built a northern New Mexican farmhouse-style, pitched roof in Eldorado.
There I have been active as a member of the Architectural Committee and on the Board of Directors. In town I've been active with the Friends Meeting on Canyon Road and as part of the peace community - I'm one of the Elevator Nine.
I accommodate my disability by limiting my service in any given period to a small number of clients, whose requirements receive my focused attention. I'm happy to work with all kinds of people, but, naturally, have a particular sensitivity for those whose housing requirements involve accessibility issues.
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