Steve Furman

I think the most important quality to look for in an agent is their level of expertise. 

In Malcolm Gladwell’s best-selling book Outliers, the author defines expertise as someone having 10,000 hours practicing something. If Gladwell is correct, then I am definitely an expert in real estate. 

My career in real estate started when I was 10 years old. That’s when I watched a custom home my parents designed being built. I can remember the walls going up and how exciting it was to finally see this amazing house actually taking shape. 

15 years later, I bought my first house. The house was built in 1775 and was located in a Historic District of a small waterfront town located on the Chesapeake Bay called St. Michaels. It's a beautiful part of the country which has now become the Hamptons of the Mid-At...

I think the most important quality to look for in an agent is their level of expertise. 

In Malcolm Gladwell’s best-selling book Outliers, the author defines expertise as someone having 10,000 hours practicing something. If Gladwell is correct, then I am definitely an expert in real estate. 

My career in real estate started when I was 10 years old. That’s when I watched a custom home my parents designed being built. I can remember the walls going up and how exciting it was to finally see this amazing house actually taking shape. 

15 years later, I bought my first house. The house was built in 1775 and was located in a Historic District of a small waterfront town located on the Chesapeake Bay called St. Michaels. It's a beautiful part of the country which has now become the Hamptons of the Mid-Atlantic. 

From 1985 to 2005, I bought, renovated, and sold residential and commercial real estate in the Historic District of St. Michaels. I served as the youngest member of the Historic Area Commission, developed a reputation for doing high-end renovations, and owned and operated my own real estate brokerage company. I also managed to get married and have a child. 

After spending most of my adult life living on the water, when my daughter left for college, I decided to make a move and head west. Looking for a ski town to call home, I visited many mountain towns, such as Telluride, Bend, and Jackson Hole. None of those places excited me the way Santa Fe did. I visited Santa Fe on a family vacation and have been familiar with the people and culture of Santa Fe since childhood. My father collected Edward Curtis photographs as well as other indigenous art. He had become friends with Elaine Horwitz, and whenever possible, he would visit Santa Fe. 

What I discovered traveling around the West looking for a new place to live was that I wanted more than just a great place to go skiing. I wanted a place with a great culture, architecture, and history. That’s what drew me to Santa Fe.

I have been told that I am very good at real estate. I think one of the reasons why people say that is because I make it a point to surround myself with the best people in the real estate profession. It’s a pretty simple philosophy that produces great results for my clients.