Eco Friendly Real Estate Blog: North Carolina

 The Real Estate Neighborhood Review Journal of Asheville:
Lakeview Park

The sidewalks in Walkable Asheville's  Lakeview Park  run down to greet Beaver Lake. First created in 1920, Beaver Lake is man-made. It grew from the damming of Beaver Creek.  For me, this “private lake” shines like a diamond in the carolina blue sky, for, although it is “private”  the Lakeview Park walkable community welcomes Asheville residents and those relocating to Asheville to stroll, sit and enjoy ,canoe the lake, or jog aroung its perimeter.  And if ,any given day, during the winter, spring, summer or fall of the year,  you may see the young and the young-at-heart at play.

“Upscale” Walkable Asheville Neighborhood

 By 1922, an “upscale” housing development known as Lakeview Park that centered around Beaver Lake began to emerge. 

 It so pleases my real estate clients here in Asheville to say that what was first envisioned so many years ago today continues to delight visitors and residents alike.  

We walk  the Lakeview Park neighborhood  and down to Beaver Lake  almost every week.  

Lakeview Park 2012: We stroll the neighborhood, visit with our neighbors along the way and continue  to be amazed with the  views of the surrounding mountains, sweet picnic spots, colorful canoes gliding by and the much-prized sense that it evokes. . . “all’s right” ...

Homes: Here in Lakeview Park you will find an interesting mix of historic and newer homes, tree-lined streets, and lovely views of Asheville’s rolling hills …and, of course, Beaver Lake.

 
Neighbors:  This is a mature community. There area several second and/or vacation homes in this area, yet neighbors have a strong community voice.
Pet -Friendly: Yes      

Price Range 2012 in Lakeview Park : $300,000 to $900,000.  
Available Single Family Residences: 10  

SOLD in 2011: 7
AT or within 10% of Listed Asking Price

My Asheville Link Library Resources: CHECK OUT THIS LINK or THIS ONE  

for more on Lakeview Park  Walkable Neighborhood Asheville NC

xoxo

WALKABLE- Supply and Demand -  "The road to profitability - a foot path!" (3) 

Asheville Real Estate Journal

Walkable Neighborhoods  :  Grove Park

GROVE PARK Walkable Neighborhood. 

Asheville's Grove Park- Walkable Neighborhood  surrounds the world-famous Grove Park Inn. The Inn, built by Edwin Grove opened in 1913. The area surrounding the Inn became known as the "Grove Park."   

Many homes enjoy the "sustainability factor" in the Grove Park area. Wonderful updates and green retrofitting is on the rise. Here is a photo I took recently of such a project. My client was thrilled to see this type of activity going on in the Grove Park area.

Homes: Here you will find an interesting mix of historic and newer homes, tree-lined streets, incredible views of downtown Asheville and absolutely no commercial zoning (although there are several properties zoned institutional and two churches.) 

Three areas in the neighborhood, Grove Park, Sunset Terrace, and Proximity Park are listed on the National Historical Register. If you are relocating to Asheville it is even possible to find rental properties here-from single family homes to larger apartment buildings. 

Neighbors:  This is a mature community. There area several second and/or vacation homes in this area, yet neighbors have a strong community voice.

Pet -Friendly: Yes

Price Range in Grove Park: $400,000 to $1,600,000.  
Available Single Family Residences: 18

SOLD in 2011: 20

Price Point: $255,000 to $900,000 at or within 10% of Listed Asking Price

WALKABLE "The road to profitability may be a foot path!" (2)

Asheville Real Estate Journal: Walkable Neighborhoods
: Montford -The MONTFORD NEIGBORHOOD in Asheville, North Carolina not only is  Historic and Happening…but it is SO walkable!

Montford, a neighborhood of about 300 acres, offers a diversity of architectural styles. A good nuber of the homes such as you see in the photo here, were constructed between 1890 and 1920. Montford, like its residents, is a place of complex overall character.

 As you walk make your way from street to street on the sidewalks, you may notice that a certain romance is in the air. .

You may even " feel"  the artistic” influences.”  You may see residents of this sustainable community strolling down a tree-lined boulevard, possibly stopping to gaze at one of the majestic homes that never fail to catch your attention.

And Yes! There are wondrous architectural details including those from such  trendsetters as Bruce Price, Bernard Maybeck, the prominent Arts and Crafts architect, and Frank Lloyd Wright.   The Arts and Crafts style made popular in Asheville by noted society architect, Richard Sharp Smith, supervising Architect to Biltmore House is well-represented here in Montford.

Here is a walkable community where neighborhood parks greet families, the coffee shoppe is close at hand, and so are friends and families.

Asheville Real Estate Journal: The Power of Walkable

                                                                         WALKABLE "The road to profitability may be a foot path!"

According to BuilderOnline.com  in a review of NAR's "2011 Community Preference Survey,"  (a poll of over 2,000 American adults) seventy-seven percent  ( 77% ) of those polled considered having sidewalks a top priority in terms of deciding where they’d like to live.

And sixty percent (60%) said they would rather live in a neighborhood that featured:

 a mix of houses

 stores

 businesses within an easy walk 

Given this Trend, "The road to profitability may be a foot path!"

So here begins an ever-expanding  series on Asheville NC and our Wonderful Walkable Neighborhoods. Check back for connections (links) to this on-going series.  There's so much to explore when it comes to Asheville's Walkable Neighborhoods!

Montford

North Asheville-
Lakeview Park

Grove Park

Biltmore Lake

Biltmore Forest

West Asheville

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 –