Eco Friendly Real Estate Blog

green real estate Asheville: Last week I took a client to see an emerging Eco-Community about 25 minutes from downtown Asheville, NC. it is located in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains.

 I consider it a gem amidst the sparkling Hickory Nut Gorge. Out your back door, you can hike for miles. You can move into the serenity of nature. You can be surrounded by "forever-wild" mountain forests, soaring cliffs and pristine, cascading streams. 

In thiseco-friendly community land conservation, green-built homes, organic gardening and renewable energyfrom wind, water, sun, and geothermal sources, you can  expect eco-innovation in real time.  An heirloom apple orchard and old vineyard is part of the conservation land adjacent to the conservation development. 

Of course, this impressed my client who is very much in to the green real estate scene. Perhaps more than this, however, was the notion that here, you even can be part of designing a "net zero energy homes community," that creates more renewable energy than we use.

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(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............ the green real estate Asheville: GOING GREEN: Mountain homes and land legacies, socially conscious investing, rolling into a sustainable  world. Create it today for tomorrow. Find eco-friendly LAND. Build a green home. GREEN Real Estate, Retrofits and Relocation: ECO HOMES AND LAND. Serving Asheville's Eco-Friendly-Home, Relocation LAND Clients. The Eco-Steward Firm, ALL Eco-Certified® Real Estate Consultants!  Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved the green real estate Asheville journal

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green real estate asheville- Asheville Green Built Homes 2009 Report  
Real Estate Market 2009
It's STEADY GREEN December, 2009

Sales of Asheville GREEN homes is a hot topic. If you're like me, an avid real estate market watcher, statistics in GREEN land and home sales grab my attention, especially nowadays, and especially when it comes to GOING GREEN and observing the trends in the eco-friendly market.

You may have heard forecasts that cloudy days in much of the market will prevail.

However, sunny days (see photo) are still to be had. And, as I reviewed the happenings in the GREEN HOME SALES real estate market here in the Greater Asheville area, I recognized bright trends and forecasts.

Yes,  we have felt the effects of credit tightening and the sub-prime mortgage crisis, but popularity of green built homeshas held steady, and here in Asheville, it seems to me that this-helps drive our market in a positive way.  Take for example:

• Asheville is #1 Best Place to Live/Relocate...according to on RELOCATE-AMERICA.com

and you will see how vibrant our market is. This is encouraging news for buyers, sellers and investors.

THE GREEN HOMES AND LAND Asheville REAL ESTATE SALES TRENDS 2007-2009

I've compiled data below for "GREEN-Built" Homes in the Greater Asheville area and compared this 2007-2008 . You can see we are holding steady in the eco-friendly Real Estate Market -the GREEN BUILTMarket Niche in Buncombe County & The Greater Asheville, North Carolina Area

GREEN-Built Homes and/or Energy Star
Closed in 2007: 30                                                                                
Closed in 2008: 56
Closed in 2009: 45

I would like to know how your eco-friendly market looks. Please comment below.

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(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............ GOING GREEN: socially conscious investing keeps on rolling into a sustainable  world you can create today and tomorrow with eco-friendly land where you can build a green house and then help the environment by recycling. GREEN Real Estateand Relocation: OBJECTIVE FIDUCIARY COUNSEL  ECO HOMES AND LAND. Serving Asheville's Eco-Friendly-Home, Relocation LAND Clients.. .   The Eco-Steward Firm, ALL Eco-Certified® Real Estate Consultants!  Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved

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I am looking forward to the 2009  Carolina Farm Stewardship Association 24th Annual Conference.

Possibly most exciting to me is having the opportunity to touch bases with and learn from respected organic educators who will be at the Conference.  The good luck that the Conference will be held just a hop-skip-and-jump from Asheville is a real bonus.  The event provides educational workshops for beginning gardeners, advanced organic farmers and folks interested in sustainable living. 

 This year, the gathering will be at the Blue Ridge Assembly, a retreat center on 1200 acres of Appalachian mountains and home to hiking trails, mountain streams, historic buildings, and also offers a crafts center for the kids. 

Often conferences offer food that makes me want to bring my own. But the Carolina Farm Stewardship Conference features local and organic farm food, including breakfast both days. Hope to see you there.

Photo shows one of my favorite farm stewards surveying his farmland near Asheville, NC on a summer day.

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__~o
 -\_<,                                       
(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............ GOING GREEN: socially conscious investing keeps on rolling into a sustainable  world you can create today and tomorrow with eco-friendly land where you can build a green house and then help the environment by recycling.

GREEN Real Estate and Relocation: OBJECTIVE FIDUCIARY COUNSEL  ECO HOMES AND LAND LEARNING TOURS. Serving Asheville's Eco-Friendly-Home, Relocation LAND Clients..

  The Eco-Steward Firm, ALL Eco-Certified® Real Estate Consultants!  Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved

 Neighborhood Infusions 

These are my favorite neighborhoods,       
the out-of-the way bits
guarded by ancient oaks,
and here and there, distinguished with
a friendly fence someone recently painted-
not white, but with an infusion of color: lavender
to grace the red-to-orange geraniums
in terra-cotta pots
that hang out on the other side. 

I like the histories: The foot trail wide
and so well-worn
that runs along a stream
and leads back, in human-time,
to seventeen and ninety-four
to a Cherokee
who walked this way, like me,
but then it was a narrow trading path.

And if I turn my head just-so as I meander,
a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak or a
Scarlet Tanager, or a
Yellow-billed Cuckoo, or a
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, or even a
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
may call out in the same song
my fellow traveler heard so long ago
and, with this particular infusion of "color"
bridge  two hundred years and more,
so we can meet.

Now the days are wrapped in bone-cold chill,
the mountain mists press down upon my rooftop.
Should others cover up in blankets or in scarves
hand-woven in grey and purple and plaid,
I will not.  I have seen how muses paint
in shades of true.
I will relish the first bite of winter
bare-headed, though bald I am,
immerse myself in an array
of hues and never-ending colorful infusions.
And I shall greet each passer-by
with at nod that says,
 "All's Well!"

 for Jack and Ginny

 Thymoma Cancer Information

~^~ jA Narrin, Wind-in-the-Feather Asheville, NC, The Spirit Ridge Collection  Asheville, 2009 

for healing a THANKSGIVING

Photo taken at Hickory Nut Forest,
Eco-community, as I walked the trail.

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Asheville "GREEN" Real Estate and Relocation: The Eco-Steward Firm, ALL Eco-Certified® Real Estate Consultants!  Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved

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Looking again at the photo I took this morning of an Asheville  dawn (see below) reminded me how quickly the scene changed. You had to be ready with your camera to capture the vermillions and pinks and hints of blue. That got me philosophizing about change in general: CHANGE that is also Opportunity-

CHANGE is right here today- in our routines- in where we live-and possibly even in the way we live.

Change is one life-process with which we must deal and which we all share. Change -by the very fact that it is universally understood, is a common thread we share in the tapestry of sustainable living. It's just a fact of being in the world. And because of all this, it actually brings with it a strong sense of belonging.

A few thoughts on the SEASONS OF CHANGE in the practice of real estate

Whether that change involves moving from a family farm into the city, or relocating from another state to the Appalachians and the Greater Asheville area, our clients voluntarily are initiating four all-important "seasons"- the sweet spring of optimism, the summer of informed skepticism, the brilliant autumn of realistic expectations, and finally the clear winter of wise choices.
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janeAnne Narrin, M.A., C.S.W., poet, NAR GREEN®, ECO Certified, e-PRO, nature-lover is the founder of the ECO -Steward Real Estate Firm in Asheville, North Carolina. She loves a spirit of stewardship, and she is

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(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............ on the GO 4 Sustainability:  "GREEN" OPPORTUNITY. Keep on rolling into the sustainable  world you can create today and tomorrow!. ....... Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved

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Are you interested in  Eco-Friendly Development ? One Asheville area eco-community may have some answers for you. Creating an eco-friendly development starts with planning how the site on acreage comes together and will unfold.

There are questions that come up before one home is built that beg to be answered:

 How will this development work with natural resources  by preserving topsoil and trees and reducing storm water runoff?

 How  energy efficient building and an increased use of alternative energy sources lead to sustainable development?

What is the plan for using green building materials?

And is there a plan for educating homeowners and building professionals on the features and benefits of deep-green construction? 

When just yesterday I visited Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community near Asheville where 225+ AC surrounded by 800+ acres of conservation partners' land and how to carve out a net zero energy community on a small portion possibly these were questions under consideration by this group of thoughtful land owners.
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__~o
 -\_<,                                       
(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............ GOING GREEN: socially conscious investing keeps on rolling into a sustainable  world you can create today and tomorrow with eco-friendly land where you can build a green house and then help the environment by recycling.

GREEN Real Estate and Relocation: OBJECTIVE FIDUCIARY COUNSEL  ECO HOMES AND LAND LEARNING TOURS. Serving Asheville's Eco-Friendly-Home, Relocation LAND Clients..

  The Eco-Steward Firm, ALL Eco-Certified® Real Estate Consultants!  Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved

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Not long ago, Tom Rioux came to talk with us about PAINT.  No ordinary paint, mind you. This is elegant paint and no wonder. Tom is an elegant person.

I am not saying this because he dresses in Armani , which he does not. I am saying this because he is a class act. And I am saying he is a class act because Tom shows impressive and stylish excellence as he walks his talk.

I have the impression other people are a lot healthier because he has invested his time and energy for that purpose. Yes! You can have great paint without the poisons! 

Beauty. Strength and Sustainability all wrapped up in his creation which is known as  EARTH PAINT.  According to Tom, who knows first-hand what the chemicals in everyday paint can do to the immune system,  

Beauty is about

• Natural Sophisticated Elegance.
• Color, using standard or our No VOC (retailers) colorants

Strength is about

• Old style longevity with today's Green Movement consciousness
• Long Life Cycle factors

Sustainability encompasses

• 100% Wind Power Energy!
• Biodegradable
• 100% Wastewater Recycling
• Competitive Pricing / Fair Wages
• No materials from overseas

Our colleague Mary Bigelow  will be excited to know that Earthpaint is the first paint company to use 140% Wind Energy offsets! And now you have the opportunity to be impressed with Tom ,too.Here he is on video. Let me know what you think....

____________________________________________________________________ GOING GREEN: socially conscious investing keeps on rolling into a sustainable world you can create today and tomorrow with eco-friendly land where you can build a green house and then help the environment by recycling. GREEN Real Estate and Relocation: OBJECTIVE FIDUCIARY COUNSEL ECO HOMES AND LAND LEARNING TOURS. Serving Asheville’s Eco-Friendly-Home, Relocation LAND Clients.. The Eco-Steward Firm, ALL Eco-Certified® Real Estate Consultants! Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved