Asheville Green Living and Real Estate

7 Hi Alta Avenue is located just 7 minutes from the hub of downtown Asheville, this secluded home, with complete privacy fencing, is in a neighborhood of responsible and friendly home owners. The house sits back from the road with a private drive.

This 2006, like-new home is a certified HealthyBuilt Home, which includes EnergyStar certification. Its open floor plan and nine-foot ceilings provide the a feeling of spaciousness. All 1,500 square feet are efficiently designed for comfort and low utility expense. The electric heatpump provides heat and air conditioning, and an efficient propane gas-logs stove provides ambiance and low-cost climate control.

Yard and Gardens:

Arriving at 7 Hi Alta Avenue brings you to our privacy-fenced driveway. Along the fence is a garden and fruit-bearing vines, including fig, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and grapes – all producing delicious fruit throughout their season. The .2-acre lot is cozy and creates a haven of privacy with the fence, and lovely trees and gardens.

An arched rose-covered entrance just inside the front gate ushers homeowner and visitors alike into a magical setting of beautiful flowers, more delectable fruits and fresh organic vegetables.

Inside this secluded lot you’ll find not only an enchanting environment but also an economic food source. The lot has been carefully sculpted with raised organic, fertile garden beds.

The property boasts a courtyard with stone walkways leading to seven fruit-bearing trees: apple, peach, pear, cherry (3) and a large mulberry tree loaded with tasty, dark red loganberry fruit last season.

Strawberry plants come alive in the spring with large red berries from over 200 plants that continue to send out runners and propagate more new plants. They share the courtyard with herb plants and bright flowers amongst the trees.

The herb gardens contain peppermint, sage, rosemary and a variety of cooking and healing herbs. Extensive mulching over landscaper’s paper keeps unwanted growth from encroaching on the gardens.

An open side yard provides a flat play area for children. There’s ample room for swings, slides and other playground sets. Additionally the gates can easily be locked and secured from the inside preventing little ones from wandering off while mom or dad garden.

Before moving inside the home you can visit the 12′ x 16′ outbuilding with an 8′ ceiling, currently outfitted as a wood-working shop. It has electric lights, power for tools and air conditioning. Additionally the roof is a 12 x 12 pitch and there is a large storage area in the upper level that has a 6′ ridge. This building is nestled in the rear yard, just inside the fence with a wood plank walkway to both front and side double doors.

For garden supplies and tools, a small, efficient 4′ x 8′ shed provides convenient storage and lock-up after a day of planting and watering. Three rain barrels hold fresh rain water for the gardens.

The house has two covered porches. The back 8′ x 12′ porch has a privacy screen to block the sun and wind and offers a space in the summer for cooking, resulting in reduced energy cooling expense from heating the kitchen. The 6′ x 19′ front porch is cool in summer months as vines and trees provide just the right amount of shade, leaving enough sun and light for relaxing throughout the day or in the evening watching the moon come up as the sun goes down.

Inside the House:
Once inside the front door you experience the expansiveness of 9′ high ceilings and the open floor plan to the kitchen. Floor to ceiling cupboards provide ample space for food and other kitchen storage needs. There’s a dishwasher, EnergyStar refrigerator, electric range and generous dining space.

Windows throughout are large and convenient, covered with large slat, white and wood louvered blinds.

There are two bedrooms on the first floor that can also function as offices or guest rooms. These rooms are 12′ x 13′ and 9′ x 10′. Each room has two tall windows, blinds and closets.

A large bathroom sits at the end of the hall. It has a tub/shower, toilet, double sinks, and a closet which houses a washer and dryer and multiple shelves for linens and towels.

There’s also an ample closet in the hall leading to these bedrooms and bath, which is currently used as a pantry.

Downstairs floors are wood laminate and vinyl for easy maintenance.

The landing for the stairwell holds coats and hats on wood shaker pegs crafted by the “Shaker Maker” owner himself.

The master suite is takes up the entire second floor of the house – 17′ x 35′. The master bath is 60 square feet of that space. Going up sound-silencing carpeted stairs to the second floor, the door opens onto stunning blonde bamboo flooring. Spacious and bright with louver blinds in the sleeping area, there is ample room for dressers and other furniture. A large closet sits around the corner to the right when you enter the room.

A newly built master bathroom completes the charm and efficient use of this upper floor with its jacuzzi tub, double flush toilet, and dual sink set with cabinets and mirrors. The bath is just to the left at the top of the stairs. Next to this bathroom there is a 10′ x 12′ open space with a tall window for relaxing, sitting or storage. With the addition of a short wall and door it could become a child’s bedroom.

Contact:
To see the house, or for more information, please contact me or the sellers:

Ron and Kathy Heatley
kathy0121@msn.com
(828) 254-6837

Also, you can visit their website.

Wow, where have I been for the last few months?! Well, I’ll tell you. Vermont. Vermont? What am I doing up there? It’s a long story. Yes, I still love Asheville. And once life settles down a bit, I hope to get back to blogging again – maybe not as much as I was doing, but still some. And I still have my website: www.Green-Tree-Realty.com. If you need any real estate help, I can still answer questions and refer you to other people who I respect.

In the meantime, we put our Asheville home on the market today! http://tours.prorealtypix.com/43852 It’s very emotional for us. We had a lot of good times there. We had a great home in a fantastic location. We miss it so much. The screened porch was on the second level in the back, right up in the trees. We spent as much time as we could out there. In Asheville weather that meant we were out there at least once a month even in the winter months, if not more. In the warmer months we ate most of our meals out there and stayed after supper as late as we could to enjoy the evenings, listen to the birds and watch the changing sunset colors. When the leaves were gone, we had a 180-degree view of the mountains.

I’m really not sure which season I preferred. They were all great! In the spring the birds really went nuts – oh, and so did the squirrels and chipmunks. The forsythia seemed to start blooming earlier and earlier each year. The daffodils and tulips and other spring flowers would suddenly be out. The dogwoods were all throughout our one acre yard. The red buds tiny pink flowers would suddenly burst and the azaleas and rhododendrons would gradually spread their colors. Other things bloomed, too, and I never did find out what they were.

In summer it felt like a green cave. I loved to lie on my hammock on the porch and watch the trees sway – mainly oaks and poplars, so tall. They kept the house cool. We had AC but rarely used it. The ceiling fans gave a nice breeze. And every night it would cool off so you could open the windows and naturally chill it down.

The fall brought a real treat of color all around that gradually went away, but our view of the mountains returned. An occasional snowfall in winter was always a treat. I would run outside about every hour with my ruler to measure. It usually didn’t amount to much and it would melt in a day or two.

I think the snow brought more neighbors out than the nice summer days. People would go walking down the street – which ends on the Blue Ridge Parkway – to take a walk. The parkway always closes when we have snow, so it’s a perfect place to take a walk. But any time of year, if you cross over, there’s a path to the Mountains-to-Sea trail and you can take a nice hike without ever having to get into your car.

Well, if you or anyone you know might be looking for a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom house in Asheville, Just let me know. The MLS number is 509323.

Cheers!

Just got back from this year’s WNC Green Building Council’s (WNCGBC) annual celebration for the new green building directory. The directory is a great resource – filled with great articles and a directory of businesses that are related to green building. You can access the online version if you aren’t here. If we ever get together, you’ll probably get one from me – I give them to all my clients and everyone I meet with!

This year is also the 10th anniversary of the WNCGBC. It’s a very helpful organization and just a great group of people who run the organization and who are members. They’ve been responsible in many ways for the wonderful growth in green building in this area. They hold classes for builders and everyone else and oversee the certification processes. I know they do a lot of other things that I’m not even aware of. The website is really helpful, too – www.wncgbc.org.

One of the things discussed at the short members’ meeting at the start of our celebration was information about a new program to help people help themselves make their homes more efficient. They are encouraging people to get together groups to work on each other’s homes. They will provide someone the lead the groups in the work that needs to be done and the only expenses will be some payment for the leader and the materials. This way people will be able to make the efficiency changes they need affordably and with an expert’s guidance

There were tables of information set up about different member’s businesses – everything from builders, engineers and architects to green cleaners and organic mold remediators. Lots of people were there at the Pack Square building. Of course there was food from Pasana Cafe and Roots. Also there was local organic beer from the Craggie Brewery.

Maybe next year you can join us!

Went to Earth Day downtown yesterday. So nice to be able to attend festivals on Pack Square again! For the last few years they’ve been digging it up and turning it into a new park. I’m not really sure it was worth all the hours and dollars to re-sculpt it. I mean – it’s very nice, but we probably could have done something much simpler, less extravagant, less expensive, more community-centered – with some shared edible plantings, solar and wind-powered features, etc. Oh, well. I’m glad we can use it again.

It was great to see everyone out and enjoying the great day and all the interesting green booths. One booth that caught my attention was Quick Moves Moving Company. As a Realtor, you can imagine that would seem interesting to me. Plus, as it turned out, theyare really trying to be a green moving company! It’s their mission to reduce their carbon footprint. They use all bio-diesle fuel and use only biodegradable plastic wrap to care for your furniture! They also pay their workers a living wage. I want to learn more! I hope they are as good as they sound!

It’s Sunday afternoon. I went to my book club this afternoon and we sat out on today’s host’s deck and talked about this month’s book, An Unexpected Guest by Bruce E. Johnson, an Asheville author. This is an Asheville novel – his first novel. He’s written more than a dozen nonfiction books – mainly about Asheville area history and antiques.

So, as you can imagine, this novel was filled with historical facts – photos, too. It’s a murder mystery about a dead woman’s body found at the Grove Park Inn. There are photos of the earlier years of the inn and many of the characters are real people in history. Henry Ford was one; Thomas Edison another. Just about everyone in the book was a real person you would recognize from our history.

But the story is fiction.

You may have enjoyed our group. The weather was nice. Everyone had a different opinion of the book.

I went home, had a great dinner on my screened in porch, and drank a local Highland beer while watching our “winter view” close in with the fast growing spring leaves.

Hope you had a good day!

Part 5 of our Asheville HUD foreclosed home story¦

Nothing’s easy with a HUD home – including writing the blogs about it. I wrote one a few days ago and for some reason it disappeared. Oh, well…

So, we set the date for April 4th and that seemed easy enough.

Not. We soon heard from the local closing attorney that HUD requires 10 days notice to close – official notice. Just signing the contract isn’t good enough.

Plus, they require five days to examine the HUD Settlement Statement. What a luxury! If you’ve closed on a home any time recently, maybe you remember that you may get the Settlement Statement the morning of the closing – possibly the day before.

But five days before! That’s nice. I think I’ll require that from now on, too.

The settlement Statement tells you exactly how much money has to be brought to closing. It itemizes all the expenses like the title insurance, attorney fees, taxes, and so on. So, you need time to be sure the charges are correct and added and subtracted properly.

This is one of the big scary things on the NC Real Estate exam. It’s really not that hard, but you have to go over it carefully.

I don’t think you really need five days to do it, but a three day cushion would be nice.

One reason why it would be nice to have plenty of time for the buyer is so you can get your money to the closing agent in time. You need that number – that’s another blog.

Well, We had to change the closing date to the 8th – today!!!

In the meantime, though, my client had arranged to have a plumber dewinterize the house and for the water and utilities to be turned on and other appointments. They all had to be changed. Ugh.

We weren’t able to get them not to turn the electricity on. To do that you need to have an account number and they didn’t give us one, yet. Oh, well. We just checked to be sure the stove and oven were off and that the heat was also turned off.

One of the buyers had to go sign documents on Monday, because he wasn’t going to be able to get there today. It’s hard to get three people’s schedules together.

Then I got an email saying not to forget to have my clients change the locks. I was not to give them the key. I was also to dispose of the “for sale” sign and the combination lock box. What a waste. I questioned them on that. They said I could keep the key, but dispose of the lock box and sign. Government waste!!!

So, we got to the closing and the attorney was not going to be able to be there but his assistant would be able to take care of us – whew! That was a close one.

Then at the last minute, the attorney walked in.

In just a few minutes we were done. The actual closing was the simplest I’ve ever had!

We went over to the house. Hmm… the power didn’t seem to be on. We tried everything. They were trying to get the power on and the water going when I left.

I got the lock box, key and sign to dispose of and wished them well. They were delighted! I felt a little like a midwife who just helped birth a child. We’ll see if this is the end of the story or not. Post-partum blues…

Looking for a green home with privacy and mountain views? Maybe this is the place for you!

On over 2.2 acres, this 4-bedroom (split bedroom plan), 3-bath home is certified HealthyBuilt. It has both passive and active solar with radiant floor heating. If you have any allergies, you probably know that radiant floor heat is the best. No dust is blowing around.

Here are some of the features:

• cellulose insulation
• thermal barriers
• tankless water heater
• central AC
• Energy Star appliances
• water filtration system
• low VOC paints
• IAQ compliance
• spacious master suite with HUGE walk-in closet, tiled shower, garden tub and VIEW
• gourmet kitchen

The great room has a wonderful fireplace with south-facing windows – perfect for entertaining.
The lower level has a living room, office nook, full bath, indoor workshop, and a large bonus room that would be perfect for a studio or another bedroom.

There are also two garages, an outdoor coop and garden shed. Plenty of room for organic gardens! Perfect for a mini-homestead.

The price is $399,900 for this home of about 2700 square feet.

By the way, this house is actually located in Hendersonville, outside the city limits, not far at all from Asheville, but the taxes are lower – nice.

If you’re interested, please let me know. I would be happy to represent you! greentreenc[at]gmail[dot]com

Here’s a statement from the owner…

“The peepers are singing…
We have a duck that comes every year to call her mate and lay her eggs in our neighbors small pond. About our neighbors… they’re a phone call away and will drop everything to lend a hand if ever one is needed or to share from their organic garden’s abundance. They’re also very respectful of space and privacy.

“You can see the mountains from the large, front passive solar windows (8 upstairs and 6 downstairs). The house is on a small hill so the views are spectacular. There are 70 acres of untouched woods behind us – beautiful.

“It takes me 17-20 minutes to get to West Asheville, which is nice.”

Have you ever thought it would be ideal to gather a group of people who enjoy each other and start your own little neighborhood? I hear people talking about that all the time in the Asheville area.

As peak oil looms on our horizon and green living becomes more a necessity than something new that some people are trying, more of us are wanting to be part of a small, caring community.

This is “green” and “sustainable” at its best.

There are all kinds of communities in the Asheville area, from highly organized cohousing communities like Westwood in West Asheville and Earthaven Eco-Village east of Asheville, to various neighborhoods that have unintentionally bonded.

I loved the feel of our neighborhood last winter when we had all the snow. People were out taking walks, checking on each other and helping each other. A neighbor chainsawed a tree that had fallen across our driveway and someone brought us the newspaper when we weren’t able to get out.

But, most of the time, we all go our own ways.

I’ve put together a “cart” of multifamily properties that could easily become “intentional” communities. You could skip the step of buying land and building from scratch. You could “recycle” these into green communities – do some energy-efficiency updates, rain water catchment systems, composting, organic gardens and other permaculture… it could be great! A mini-homestead. All kinds of benefits, not to mention caring for each other.

Just for fun, take a look. Some of these multifamily properties could be used to create great homes for   groups of people who want to share the benefits and responsibilities of being part of a real community.

These are all located in Buncombe County, where Asheville is located.

Some of the less expensive places include:

• a 3-family home on the busline in West Asheville for $219,970
• a historic brick 4-plex in Montford for $289,900
• 4 units in East Asheville on .89 acre for $334,900
• another historic 4-plex near Grove Park, just a mile to downtown, with a large shared deck, sunrooms in each unit, lots of storage for $365,000

Another more expensive place has 8 units, two each in four buildings in West Asheville on about an acre for $600,000.

There are all kinds. Have fun looking!

Just let me know if you’re interested and I’ll be happy to get more information to you. greentreenc[at]gmail[dot]com

Part 4 of our Asheville HUD foreclosed home story¦

Like I said last time, the closing is another blog. Well, here it is.

The information we received said that we were required to use a HUD appointed closing agent, so when they told us they signed all the papers, they also informed us that finance sales have to close in 45 days and cash sales have 30 days. The clock is ticking again.

We also received the name, address and phone number of their appointed agent. The office is in Charlotte, NC, not Asheville where we are. I figured they must have someone closer than that. But, no, they don’t.

I contacted them and the person I talked with said they would be conducting the title search for my client as well. We had been advised before that to have my client’s attorney do that. Anyway, we got an email then that said we actually could choose an Asheville attorney to do the closing. We don’t get confused any more – we just roll with it. So, we had to fill out and sign a couple more forms and emailed them to the appointed agent who then was in touch with out local attorney.

Much easier, now! We’ve set Monday the 4th of April to close. So now the attorney’s office is working on the title search and they will get us the HUD/settlement statement as soon as possible. They need to give us the exact payment figure in plenty of time to get either a certified check or have the money wired, which is now the preferred method – soon to become the required method of payment.

Also, in the past I’ve had clients who could not all attend a closing together, so some attended the formal closing and the others dropped by at another time just to sign the paperwork. That was so convenient. But, with HUD requirements, it’s really better for everyone to come at once.

Just one more “simple” thing to do, we hope, and that’s attend the closing where funds and title will be transferred after all the papers are signed. Won’t be long, now!

Part 3 of our Asheville HUD foreclosed home story…

Well, we submitted our bid for an Asheville HUD foreclosed home, the bid was accepted, then my client signed all the contract papers, and now Hud has signed all the contract papers. So, we have 15 days to get any inspections we want.

It is a hassle. There are very strict time limits on EVERYTHING. Twenty-four hours on this, 48 hours on that, 72 hours on the other…

They don’t make anything easy.

Because the house was winterized, which means a plumber drained the water out and disconnected it, to get it properly inspected we would be allowed 72 hours – no more – to have it de-winterized and water and utilities turned on again for the inspections.

My client would submit a $150 non-refundable deposit and permission form to do that, as well as pay for the utililties to be turned on.

Then, my client would have to pay to have the utilties turned off again and rewinterized.

The inspections would have to all take place within those 72 hours.

My question was, “Suppose it’s now spring, do we still have to rewinterize?” I called and emailed this question to everyone I could find. No answer and the clock is ticking.

One person I actually got to talk with said she thought April 1 was the last date for winterization, but she wasn’t sure.

Finally, I got someone who emailed that that was the case. So, if we began our 72 hours on March 30, it could end on April 1 and we would not need to rewinterize.

In the meantime, my client was thinking, “This is crazy. Dewinterize. Turn the power on. Turn the power off. Then turn the power on again as soon as they closed. All to inspect a house that seems to be in very good shape.”

True, this house was built in 2006 and nothing major seems to be wrong with it. The inspector could inspect it without utilties and then could come back later, at additional fee, to inspect it once they had closed and had the utilties on.

But, they decided, that would be a waste. They know a lot about building and houses and feel okay taking the chance that it could end up costing a bunch to make repairs. After all, they are getting a great deal on this HUD foreclosed house.

So, they did a simple visual inspection and decided just to close.

In the meantime, they also got to meet some of the neighbors. Very nice people who told them it is a great neighborhood.

On Monday, we hope to set a closing date – planning the closing is a whole other blog…

Back to you on that soon!