I’m sorry but I love the snow. Last time I ran outside an measured we had 6″ (8pm) and it seems to snowing at about 1″ per hour. It’s so beautiful! Whoa, power just flashed off and on - glad I have a battery backup. I think I’ll get off…

I just had a horrible experience with a salesperson. Yuck! It just left me feeling awful. This person tricked me into thinking she needed real estate help and when I contacted her she talked nonstop about things having nothing to do with real estate and gradually moved in the direction of her product and then just wanted to argue with me about why I didn’t want to buy it.

Well, I’m telling you this because sometimes when a person asks me what I do, if I say I’m a Realtor, they look at me funny, like they think I’m a salesperson and they are suspicious. I know all sales people aren’t bad, but some are and they really ruin it for those who are okay. But in the case of a real estate buyer’s agent, you really shouldn’t be a sales person.

What I mean is, your first duty is to help your client find what they want. That’s not the same as trying to sell someone something. If someone comes to me and says, ” I want to move to Asheville in the spring. Can you help me find a house to buy?” I certainly can. I will ask a lot of questions my client a lot of questions about what they want and need. I’ll suggest some strategies to them to help them think through their criteria for a neighborhood and a home. When they know what they want and approximately where, I can do a lot of research to help them find just the right place. It’s an art.

That’s not trying to cram a product down someone’s throat. It’s not talking non-stop to try to convince someone to buy something they don’t want or need.

I love helping people find what they want and need. I even love helping them figure out what it is they want. I feel more like a faciliator in the finding stages of home hunting. Then I can lead people through all the complexities of negotiating and paperwork.

There, I’m glad I had a chance to tell you how I feel about that!

The way real estate has been throughout the country the last couple of years, probably the last thing a person would want to do is be a real estate broker. But, maybe not. I can’t think of too many occupations that are like real estate. Depending on how you do it, who you work with or for, you can have the life you really want.

I’ve recently had closings on four different homes and they’ve each been so different. That’s what made me want to write about doing this kind of work. I love learning. I’m always learning new things - whether about people, real estate, green building, doing my artwork, designing Web sites, maintaining my home (I just installed a new bathroom faucet!), cooking, or what - I just love to learn. All of the clients and each of the homes I just closed on were like a little course.

I really enjoy all the new experiences and the varied schedule. Because I work for Keller Williams, I’m really on my own to develop my business the way I want it to be. I use a home office, so I can divide my time between hanging the laundry (we don’t use a dryer), getting paperwork done in my office and raking the leaves.

When I want to take a vacation, I just decide when and block out that time. If I have people who need me to help them during that time, I can refer them to a colleague. I can also take phone calls while gone. With my laptop and faxes available everywhere, I can usually do other things while gone, too, if I need to.

Yes, there are drawbacks. I don’t have a guaranteed income or regular schedule. I never know for sure where my next clients will be coming from - or when they will come. I may be showing people homes and land all next week, and I may not be. There are definitely lulls - but you can use them to accomplish others things that you need to do, things you want to learn. And the next thing you know, there are clients needing help.

I have to say that I’ve really appreciated working for Keller Williams. They have the most unique environment for people who want to work in real estate. They offer great training and opportunities, most of it free, a really caring environment, a better-than-most commission split, low fees, opportunities for profit sharing and contributing to the company leadership. Please let me know if you want any more information!

OK, I need to go out into this gorgeous day and wash the car.

Wow! It’s a good thing it happened in the middle of the night - but still, a couple of cars were damaged and people injured, but not too seriously. It could have been so much worse. Route I-40 winds through some beautiful mountain country. Well, early Sunday morning one of those mountainsides broke loose and boulders the size of small houses now sit on I-40, blocking all traffic.

This is a major route that brings people to Asheville - oh, it goes other places, too. But it’s going to be closed for at least three months while crews use all kinds of special equipment to get the highway cleared off.

Today’s local newspaper had a story of one of the cars that was trapped. A woman in her 70s was driving through the night to see her great-grandson, her first grandchild. Some college boys were able to get her out of her car where she was trapped behind the airbags. She was shaken up and bruised with a couple of sprains, but not badly hurt. Whew!

Here are a couple of alternative routes:

Detour Routes to Asheville

Detour 1: Express Route via Scenic Interstate Byway
The NC Department of Transportation advises I-40 travelers from the west to take I-81 north to Johnson
City, then I-26 East to Asheville. The I-26 route adds roughly 50 minutes to the travel time, and is one of the
nation’s only interstate Scenic Byways. I-26 takes motorists through the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains
offering scenic observation points, a welcome center and stunning views of the highest peaks in the East.

Detour 2: Dixie Highway - Travelers coming from the west on I-40 may also take exit 432-B for US-25 South/US-70 East toward Newport. After Newport, TN, 25/70 becomes the Dixie Highway. Follow signs to stay on 25/70. Shortly after entering North Carolina, you will pass through the town of Hot Springs. Continue until you reach I-26. Take
I-26 East to get to Asheville. This route adds roughly 30 minutes to the travel time and is a beautiful scenic
mountain highway. Passenger vehicles only are permitted on this road–it is not a commercial travel route (i.e.
motorcoach, RVs or dual-axel vehicles). Please consider possible weather and traffi c congestion issues on this
winding two-lane road.

For more information:

Asheville Visitor Information: ExploreAsheville.com | 888.247.9811
North Carolina Department of Transportation: NCDOT.org | 511 Travel Info Line | 877.DOT.4YOU

I recently received an email from another realtor asking about how to know if a home could have solar panels on it or not. The agent said the house was built in 2008. What would you answer? 

Well, the answer to that question depends on a lot of things. When it was built probably has nothing to do with it. For one thing, it depends on the kind of solar the homeowner wants - solar thermal (to create heat, like hot water) is not as fussy as solar voltaic (to generate electric power). By that I mean the requirements are not as precise. If you don’t have the ideal situation, solar thermal may still work okay, but voltaic won’t – at least that’s the last I heard. Things seems to change constantly. 

Ideally solar panels need to be aimed in a certain direction to best access the sun and if the roof isn’t pointed that way it can be a little harder, but not impossible - actually, they don’t even have to be mounted on the house. They could be installed in the yard. Thermal panels don’t have to be pointed as perfectly. They will still work if they are off a little. The other requirement is: no shade. If it’s thermal solar, they can get by with a little shade on the panels, but voltaic is not so forgiving. Even a tiny bit of shade falling on the panel can seriously affect its ability to absorb sunlight and create electricity. 

I think many solar installation companies in the Asheville, NC area will do a free assessment. You can look at the WNC Green Building Council’s site www.wncgbc.org and go to publications, then directory, to find them. Sundance www.sundancepower.com, FLS www.flsenergy.com, and Solar Dynamics www.solardynamicsnc.com are three of the companies I have most familiarity with - all very good.
  
There are companies around that will evaluate homes in terms of energy efficiency and potential for things like solar and upgrading insulation. You may be aware that there are wonderful tax credit programs in NC and federally through 2010 for a total of 65% of the cost of equipment and installation, plus Progress Energy gives a rebate. Build Smart Alliance www.buildsmartalliance.com is an alliance of green companies that does overall evaluations for buyers on houses they are considering as well as established homeowners.
 
Is this helpful to you? Just let me know if you have any questions. I love this stuff!!!

On October 24th at 8PM, Asheville Playback Theatre will present a special performance titled “Stories of our Dance with Sustainability”.  Audience members will be invited to tell true stories from their lives, and the troupe will create spontaneous theatre from these stories.  Location:  AB-Tech Ferguson Auditorium, Asheville, NC.  Price:  Suggested donation of $10, $5 for students, with no one turned away for lack of funds.  For more info on Asheville Playback Theatre (now in its 15th season), see www.ashevilleplayback.org.
 
October 24th is planned as an international day of climate action, to promote the goal of reducing carbon emissions in the atmosphere from today’s 390 parts per million to the safer level of 350.  This performance, honoring the experiences of audience members in their efforts to lead sustainable lives, is sponsored by the A-B Tech Drama Club, and is a collaboration with www.350.org and www.asheville350.org

U.S. News and World Report has just named Asheville, NC as one of “America’s Best Affordable Places to Retire.” It mentions how laid-back life is in Asheville. It also says life here is “easy on the wallet” - even if home prices aren’t the cheapest. Compared to many cities the size of Asheville, the homes are a bit in the pricey side.

I’ve read that the typical 2200 square-foot home with four bedrooms would sell for about $278,000, which puts it 145th of 310 housing markets. Well, if you are retiring, you may want to downsize and not want four bedrooms. You may want to consider a place like Lower Grassy Cottages in East Asheville. They are not going to be green, which is my personal passion, but it sounds like they are going to be well-built with quality materials and prices will be $159,900 to $169,900.

They will be all one level with open floor plans, three-bedroom/two bath designs, parking for two cars, Hardiplank siding, kitchen appliances included - and special financing options.

There are only 10 of these homes planned and they expect them to go fast, so let me know if you want more information.

Mars Hill College is one of the colleges in the Asheville, NC area. So, it isn’t too surprising that they are serious about being green. The Asheville-based solar company FLS is installing 75 solar panels that are expected to heat 3,000 gallons of water a day. This will save the college up to 28 percent in utility bills.

The financing for the project is an unusual model FLS is using. FLS will pay the upfront costs and the college will pay them monthy, but the monthly bill will be less than gas or electricity would be. Hmm… I wonder if they would do that for anyone?

FLS will be responsible for maintenance of the equipment. They will also give a performance guarantee. This kind of project is also being planned for other schools and government buildings in the area. FLS will be able to get a 30 percent federal tax credit and a 35 percent state credit for to cost of the equipment they install and own on nonprofit and government agency buildings. It’s a great deal for everyone - even the earth. The systems at Mars College will keep more than 44 tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Wow, do an Internet search on Tom Miceli and you’ll com up with a ton of sites telling about his senior project at Appalacian State University. He thought about designing an electric car - in one semester! But, he decided there really wasn’t time, so he settled for a motorcycle! From the ground up, he created the Ion Electric Sportbike, a creation that goes 80 miles per hour and has no emissions.

The Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College’s Global Institute for Sustainable Technologies, where his father is an instructor, contributed some of the components.

Want to see what this sleek wonder looks like? Click here to see the photo on the Autoblog Green Web site.

Now if we can just get safer roads, maybe riding one of these would be the way to go…or we can just wait for Tom to design an electric car. That could be two semesters!

I’ve been watching these beautiful townhomes for a long time. They were first offered at $450,000 and now they are $189,000! They were going to be certified HealthyBuilt homes, but I see they aren’t making that claim anymore. The shells were built with excellent craftsmanship using SIPS, the structural insulated panels being used in a lot of green homes. But the insides were not finished. That was left for buyers to be able to choose finishing touches.

Then the real estate market crashed and now these same gorgeous townhomes are being offered for less than half of the original price. Of course that’s the starting price. If you choose to have expensive options, the price will go up.

But what a great opportunity to own a beautiful home in the Asheville, NC area. The townhomes are actually in the little town of Black Mountain, just 15 minutes east of Asheville. You can easily walk to Lake Tomahawk and downtown Black Mountain - sidewalks all the way. Have you been to Black Mountain? It’s a great little, artsy town with coffee shops, a popular music venue, all kinds of interesting shops and restaurants. There are festivals there and lots going on, including Montreat College.

The townhomes are almost 2000 square feet with three bedrooms. The master bedroom is on the ground floor and has a large bathroom and walk-in closet.

I’ve heard they are selling fast now, so don’t wait too long. Let me know if you are interested or have any questions. Here are a few photos…