Eco Friendly Real Estate Blog

Forever Footpath

… on a certain day

as, on foot, I make my way
along the ever-present stream

that runs, blood-red,

toward the mountains,

on a certain path

hard-hewn

over hundreds of years

by thousands of travelers

man, and beast,

and wood-creatures
seldom-seen,

as I trod  a  byway

almost obscure,

yet so deep pounded into the clay

as to be carved secure
in granite,

and, as if a million chisel-steps

had planned it,

a certain history

of Cherokee

and those who went before

(or who then chose to follow)

 unfolds.

And I wonder

about their lives

in these places,

… uncertain.

© jN- Wind-in-the-Feather Asheville, NC 2012

Oh Those Influential Home and Land Buying Women
Asheville Real Estate Journal- Influential Women Buyer 

As we mentioned in Parts 1 and 2 of this series, women actively control the money in a majority of affluent households, even among a generation of women who left this to their husbands in the past... today, 80% of affluent boomer women control their family's day-to-day finances.” Here are some more interesting numbers:

BY THE NUMBERS…

• 80% of Americansrely on the Internet as their primary source of communication, research, and entertainment.
• NAR reports in the  Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 90 % of Buyers use the Internet in their search for a home, and 36 % found the actual home that they purchased online.

• 75+ % of Internet users believe that an organic result [PR] is significantly  more relevant than paid advertising  which they automatically distrust (pay per click)

• The National Sales Executive Association recently reported the following: 2% of sales are made on the 1st contact - 3% of sales are made on the 2nd contact -5% of sales are made on the 3rd contact -10% of sales are made on the 4th contact

• Women control most of the spending in the household - about 80% and women make 80+ % of the buying decisions.

• Women control 51.3 percent of the private wealth in the United States.

Personally, I love working with Influential Women...especially those who are ready to walk the absolutely beautiful Asheville area Land with me...as they imagine sculpting their HealthyBuilt home into a green landscape....as you will see in the slideshow that follows   I've entitled:

“The Ladies Are Out on the LAND Today!” (Asheville Style)

Horse-Loving clients, (they are relocating Baby Boomers)  have a list of requests for their new Asheville Home.

enough pasture for their  two (2) horses

less than 3,000 square feet

eco-friendly and energy efficient features

solar gain

universal design elements,

No-Step, handicap access

That’s may sound like a tall order,

 but being a horse farm and farmlands lover myself,   I just happen to know ten (10) such Asheville gems they may choose to consider…and they are all within 20  minutes from downtown Asheville!

Price Range : $286,000 to $1.3M

SQ FT: 920 to 3,061

NOT in Subdivision: 8

Acreage: 5 to 50

No wonder Asheville NC is on so many Top Ten Lists!

Asheville Farms and Land Series:

Home And Land- Asheville Yesterday and Today- (1)

Renewable Energy for Asheville Area Farms

American Chestnut and Asheville’s Family Farms (Series)

Asheville’s Sustainable Farms Though the Generations

Long-Lasting Asheville Family Farms & The American Chestnut Tree

Asheville Farms, Homes on the Land For Sale

Sustainable Farming -Asheville Home and Land Through the Generations (2)

xo

I am excited about the prospects for Asheville real estate clients, a retired airline pilot and his wife  who refer to themselves as quintessential Baby Boomers, and their relocation to beautiful Western North Carolina— getting settled in a new home here in Asheville. 

But they have some special requests:

They are serious about downsizing from their current 5,000 square foot equestrian estate to a home of less than 3,000 square feet— they really want a  sunny gardening area, a green-friendly, energy efficient home— and they want to stay living in this home until they are in their 100s.

OH! And they need to have enough room to pasture their horses- two Tennessee Walkers.

That’s a Tall Order! A Baby Boomers’ “Top-Rated” Asheville Gem

1. less than 3,000 square feet
2. eco-friendly and energy efficient features
3. enough space for two horses
4. solar gain
5. universal design elements, No-Step, handicap access 

But, Wait A minute!  I, just happen to know a special gem that checks out for all their Must Haves—  and it is a just 20  minutes from downtown Asheville!

 WHAT'S in YOUR Banana?

You may have caught my recent series on Asheville Land and Farms. (see below)  

It seems to go on and on...just like me when I think of all the benefits we enjoy from our Asheville  area produce growers. So when I read about The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s new Center for Local Food Research that " aims to transform theories about the nonprofit’s success into valuable — and exportable — evidence, " I thought it was the perfect addition to the series.  According to Charlie Jackson, Executive Director of ASAP,   

the Center for Local Food Research  will examine the social, economic and environmental impacts of localizing food systems. "Having a research center like this is unique ... we need to have solid, scholarly research that’s designed to be applied,” Jackson said.

I have covered some of ASAPs exciting leading edge programs in my blog:  Local Food Guide and Growing Minds Farm to School Program. “In the last decade or so, we’ve seen a lot of research in local food,” said Leah Mathews, professor of economics at UNC Asheville. UNCA is one of ASAP’s research partners. “We are on the early edge of things,” she noted. “[ASAP] is known nationally for raising awareness for local food movements, and their position is really well-respected. They will be a powerful force in the up-and-coming research in the local food arena.”  One of the advantages of ASAP’s decade of advocacy is its “ incredible network of farmer partners,” Mathews said. “We can hit the ground running because of that.”

P.S. Now that over 80% of all processed foods in the US are genetically modified, 

you may want to do some sleuthing before you purchase produce.

So here is a clue courtesy of GREG HOTTINGER...one of our all-time favorite authors and consultants for The Biggest Loser...whose book I recently reviewed entitled " Coach Yourself Thin"... Greg suggests///\\\

Go to www.NonGMOShoppingGuide.com and peruse the long lists of non-GMO and GMO brands by category. Download a two-page version, order the pocket guide, or even equip your iPhone with the new app "ShopNoGMO".
I'll be happy to send you a PDF of this document if you email me.

By the way, thirty (30) countries have banned, or propose to ban GMOs, including:

France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Austria and Luxembourg, Switzerland, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Portugal, Egypt,  Peru ,Venezuela

 In the U.S., Gerber and Heinz baby foods, Frito-Lay, IAMS Pet Foods, Trader Joe's and even McDonald's and Burger King are now refusing GMO corn, potatoes, and other ingredients.

.and in the USA

Colorado’s Boulder County http://naturalsociety.com/gmo-crops-continually-banned-around-world-health-freedom/ “was the latest health freedom hotspot to stand up against Monsanto and genetically modified produce, with Boulder County advisory committees announcing plans to phase out GMO crops on open space in pursuit of sustainable and ethical farming practices. The county joins a long list of other political bodies that have banned, condemned, and even uprooted GMO crops across the globe.”

Asheville Farms and Land Series:

Home And Land- Asheville Yesterday and Today- (1)

Renewable Energy for Asheville Area Farms

American Chestnut and Asheville’s Family Farms (Series)

Asheville’s Sustainable Farms Though the Generations

Long-Lasting Asheville Family Farms & The American Chestnut Tree

Asheville Farms, Homes on the Land For Sale

Sustainable Farming -Asheville Home and Land Through the Generations (2)

Home on the Land- Asheville Real Estate Journal - Land & Sustainability Series

The Asheville homes on the land series included the  idea of  sustainability—preserving  farmlands and mountain landscapes— creating a way of life that could include orchards and vegetable gardens  and possibly even working to restore the American Chestnut Tree. I included a  farm tour slideshow  of land and barns I photographed . I included lots of photos of beautiful, beautiful acreages. But just now it occurred to me that you might like to take a closer look at farms and farms/lands you actually can visit whether you already live in the Asheville area, or are relocating here.  

So, courtesy of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project,  here is a link that will take you to over 200 farms you can visit in the Asheville area. Let me know what you think. Which are your favorites? And which inspire you?  

ASHEVILLE AREA FARMS YOU CAN VISIT :http://buyappalachian.org/search/farms_to_visit 

©The Eco-Steward Asheville 2011. Asheville NC  Farms and  Land  For Sale –

Asheville Authors You May Know: SARA GRUEN, Water for Elephants and A  Must See Video on Sara's research for her latest book. 

Rich in literary tradition, Asheville and the Western North Carolina mountains continue to attract and inspire today's celebrated authors. Yesterday, you might have met  Thomas Wolfe, (Look Homeward Angel) as you passed by his cabin here. Or you may have run into F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby) on the grand porches of the Grove Park Inn. Carl Sandburg, one of my personal all-time favorite authors also lived near Asheville.

Together with the others, Sandburg helped establish a literary tradition that continues to this very day. And one of the most celebrated authors residing here in Asheville is best-selling author, SARA GRUEN.

Sara Gruen’s books are just wonderful reads. They are page-turners, for sure. And, in each, her love of and concern for the well-being of animals is evident.

This compassion for all creatures may be the underlying them that makes me determined to read all Sara’s books. I love exploring the healing spaces between all of us that Sara unearths in her books.  

One of the most captivating of her books is Water for Elephants. And yes I do have a signed copy. Sara contacted me via Active Rain when she and her family decided to move to Asheville, and has graced me  with her note in a copy of Water for Elephants.

But her new book took me to a place I had never been before…here in this MUST SEE VIDEO she is doing the research for that  book, Ape House…that will knock your socks off!  Think about this:  We human beings dohave a very special connection with the Bonobo ape (SEEN IN THE VIDEO) with whom we are able to communicate and with whom we share  99.4% of our DNA.

Asheville Relocation.
In 2012, I’m asking my Asheville relocation clients the following “priorities essential” questions:

1.      How would you define the  community in which you would choose to live?
(Upscale, green-built homes? HealthyBuilt® Homes in an Eco Village?  
Small, sustainable farms? Progressive, artistic, creative neighborhood?)

2.      What are some of your favorite hobbies and/or interests?

3.      Would Asheville’s Center for Creative Retirement be a consideration for you?

4.      Would UNCA be a consideration for you and your Family?

5.      As you relocate from ___ ?___ are you expecting to scale down?

6.      From Asheville’s city limits, what is the maximum  driving distance acceptable for you?

7.      What value do you place on locally-grown and harvested foods?

8.      How important is it to you to have a high performance home?

9.      When it comes to homes on Land, which of these is a “must” for you?
Views? Stream? Barn? Horses allowed.

10.  After reviewing the priorities checklist (see link) could you please tell me the 5 most important factors in your decision-making process.  http://asheville1031realty.com/GoingGreenChecklist.htm

Your heart can skip a happy beat just seeing the farms and farmland for sale around Asheville. (You may have surmised when reading my series on Asheville’s sustainable farms.) Now, Mountain Valleys Resource Conservation and Development, (MVRCD)  a non-profit that has managed resource conservation and economic development projects in western North Carolina since 1976, has “heart-warming" news.

MVRCD has announced that it is accepting applications for its Green Energy Program. Western North Carolina farmers interested in generating renewable energy on their farms can apply. 

This could be of special value given what Green Energy Grants could represent for the community and for  those who supply locally-grown and harvested food here in the Asheville and  WNC  area!   The benefits go beyond the 40 percent cost-share funding for their approved projects. According to Maggie Cramer over at ASAP,  " The maximum grant amount is $8,000.

The goal is to reduce energy expenses and increases farm income by selling generated power to the electric grid, preserving farms, reducing carbon emissions, stimulating economic development, and conserving natural resources….Twenty-one systems have already been installed through the ‘Renewable Energy for Farms’ project. Most systems are photovoltaic (solar), but wind and micro-hydroelectric projects are also accepted."

 More information and application is available at:

http://www.mountainvalleysrcd.org/7.html

More WNC Projects:  Stream Restoration, Wind for Schools Program, Forest Products Grant
http://www.mountainvalleysrcd.org/3.html

News from the Land Lady at Asheville 1031- The Eco-Steward Firm. Asheville, NC 2012 ©Renewable Energy for Asheville Area Farms.

Creston Community & A Sweet Building Site

Black Mountain, ( minutes form Asheville) NC.

HIKING and Nature trails will be right at your door when you build your dream home at this beautiful site at Creston Preserve. ( Creston Community is about half an hour or so easy drive from Asheville, and just 15 minutes from Black Mountain, NC.)  Think of my hand-drawn blue lines on the "Trail Map" below as treasure map. If you are a nature-lover, this Creston Community building site is the center piece.

You can hear the distant Allison Falls from the “Nestled In”  building site. Imagine walking the Allison Falls Trail along the border of the Pisgah Range adjacent to this building site. The sound of Allison Falls may beckon you. But here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1. For part of the trail, be sure to amble and enjoy the scenery.

2. Stop to soak in the views.

3. Take a blanket and picnic.

4. Wear layers as time disappears and the temperature may vary.

5. Be certain to take your camera! 

Soon the snow will arrive. That’s when a special kind of energy is in the air…Here (just below) is a slide show. See for yourself!   I’ve included a poster of
ECO-SMART homes you could build here …on a small footprint… nestled in…and cozy… a larger trail map that covers Creston Community …

___    ___ xo  ___  ___