Not all buyers are alike.  Some are rigid in their tastes for style of home, or location, or amenities...sometimes rigid in everything and that's okay.  It helps to limit the field.  Some buyers can't be placed in a category with the exception possibly of price range and condition of home.  That's okay too.  At least in my opinion that's okay.  We've been very lucky with our buyers, they just want to be here in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina. The last two days have been spent assisting a newcomer to the area in her search for a new home.  We saw 18 homes together while her husband stayed home to get their other house ready to market.  She'll winnow out the field to a handful that she and her husband will then go out and review together. This is a pretty common way to ... 07/26/2014

Homes For Sale in Alfalfa Lane Whittier NC Just minutes from Hwy 74/441 are homes for sale in Alfalfa Lane Whittier NC where you’ll find the “gentle” in gentlemen farming. The stately country estate style neighborhood will take you back to the by-gone era of antebellum Gone With the Wind but with prices that you can afford. Lush meadows spread out before you with the backdrop of mountain views as you enter this fine neighborhood. There are a variety of home styles to choose from with all offering expansive views of this country estate neighborhood. Bring the whole family and settle into the gentle country life. From your private country home you have excellent access to the surrounding towns of Cherokee, Dillsboro, Whittier, and Sylva. Country living at its best and still you have the c... 07/24/2013

Private Investments in Sylva NC Strengthen and Build the Local Economy At a gathering I recently attended the question was asked, “What do we do with our money when we move our money home?”  Super question because there is no place safer for our money then close at hand, right in our own backyard and our local neighborhoods.   Not only is our money much safer at home than in the risky and volatile stock market or the Too Big To Fail (TBTF) mega banks but the bottom line is, localized and sustainable private investments in Sylva NC strengthen and build the local economy. Move Your Money Home Moving our money to a locally controlled institution is the first step.  In today’s world with the near monopolies of the TBTF it can be a challenge to find a locally controlled full-service financia... 06/13/2013

  While visiting a new listing today in Whittier to get a few additional photographs of the Isis Cove Retreat Center, I was thinking about all of the snow yesterday and how not a trace of it can now be found in most areas.  What can be found though are new flowers peeking out from the earth.  When I looked at the thermometer just a few minutes ago, it was 27 degrees outside.  Tomorrow, I'll bet I can find even more flowers. Amazing, isn't it?     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 02/20/2013

  The best reason to have visitors in our area is that it makes us become tourists in one of our nation's favorite playgrounds.  The Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway are two of the most visited outdoor attractions in the U.S.  The other day, we took my mother and brother to Gatlinburg, TN which is only a little more than an hour and a half from Dillsboro, NC.  I hoped before the day was over we'd get a chance to see elk in the park which were reintroduced to Western North Carolina back in 2001.   On our way back through the park we knew that we didn't need to watch for the elk as much as we needed to watch for a bunch of cars pulled over to SEE the elk.  We weren't disappointed!  At just about sunset as we neared the Oconoluftee Farm Museum and Homestead...... 10/25/2012

  Last night we were privileged to see a former vacation home transformed into a house of love and life after our buyers purchased it a little over a year ago. We were invited to a family cookout in what was formerly Leslie’s favorite listing. Family and friends gathered to enjoy each other and the efforts of what could only have been a day long marathon of food preparation, in particular David had grilled and smoked enough salmon, chicken, pork chops and ribs to feed a small nation. We couldn’t have been happier to be anyplace than we were last night. An unexpected pleasure was an opportunity to talk with Marie Junaluska, Sonya’s mother about her day yesterday. We stood on the deck of this happy household and Marie pointed out one of the mountains in our view site and told us that she ... 10/20/2012

Some areas of the country are lucky enough if they have one or two areas like this beautiful rushing water called Herron Branch.  In Jackson County, however, our cup runneth over with luck.  We have creeks, branches and rivers every bit as gorgeous as this running along many roads in our county.               If you love free flowing water, you'd love living in Jackson County, NC.       07/15/2012

  There’s something very cool about “subdivisions” in Jackson County, NC. No grids of avenues and streets, no light polluting street lights, no denuded parcels with cookie cutter houses and if you are very lucky… neighboring property just might be cow paradise. It finally stopped raining long enough for me to go take new photos of our Kee Kee Run listing in Laurel Hills in Whittier just outside of Dillsboro, those will appear in an upcoming post. On my way to 3 Kee Kee Run, the cows were also enjoying a bit of dry time before the next band of rain fell. I can’t tell if they just weren’t impressed by me or if they wished they’d brought their own camera to snap shots of me to post later in the cow blog! Call us if you'd like to know about the most unique subdivisions in Jackson County, NC... 07/13/2012

  Sometimes houses stay in the same family for generations with the walls guarding the family history…but not always. Most houses are destined to watch over many different residents over the house’s lifetime. Byrna’s brother inherited the little cabin on Herron Branch from his sister and through his attorney was referred to us for the listing. Byrna was the first owner and loved the house well. One of the things she left to him was her camera, which because he and his wife have so many cameras, he in turn gave to Leslie and she allows me to monopolize...really monopolize. This camera is one that I’ve used thousands of times to capture the photos I share on this blog. An extra treat was the gift of seeing through another’s lens…Byrna’s memory card had perhaps a hundred images on it. I sh... 04/11/2012

Funny how this business works sometimes. Another agent used me and sent me a thank you text! What do you think about that? The other day I was researching some properties to show a couple from Chicago on Thursday. One of the houses had an intriguing exterior and was in the right area but had no interior photos. This particular listing agent is usually pretty good about providing lots of photos so I emailed him for more information. I told him I was interested in showing the house but without having a clue about the interior I wanted him to at least describe it to me before I invested any time in showing it. The listing agent responded that when he’d had this house listed before it was always in top showing shape but that for some reason this time around he couldn’t get the seller to pi... 02/20/2012

  Barkers Creek is a short ten minute ride from Dillsboro and an even shorter flight of fancy to what the area must have looked like 150 years ago. Previewing property is a big part of being a Buyer’s Agent, especially when you are working with out of state buyers. The last thing you want to do is waste their time (and yours) taking them to inappropriate listings. After verifying a few things with a listing agent on a property we looked at last week, the agent showed me another wonderful possibility for our clients. . When I finished with the agent, I headed over to another part of Barkers Creek to put up real estate signs on several new listings we have in two separate developments. On the way to the developments I noticed an old cemetery established in 1977 high up on a mountain overl... 01/25/2012

No, not Fall in the River because well…brrrr, but Fall on the River began a few weeks ago. We are just beginning to see the subtle beginnings of “Color Season” in the lower elevations of Jackson County, NC.  The beautiful Tuckasegee River is not only well known as a terrific Class II rapids river and world known trout river but it also has many of the prettiest vantage points to look at the hardwood trees as they begin to trade in their green leaves for the fall hues of yellows, oranges, reds and browns.  These photos were all taken on and around the old Jewell Revis bridge at the crossroads of 441/74 and Barkers Creek Road. Barkers Creek refers to an actual creek but it is also one of the largest townships in Jackson County plus one segment of the township is known as the “Barkers Cre... 10/13/2011

What can I say?  Horsing around Jackson County is one of my favorite past-times.  The trip to the little investment possibility via Crystal Creek Road enabled me to capture (figuratively) the beautiful horse outside of the large barn on my way up.  The Whittier/Cherokee area is loaded with these little scenes.  Marvelous barns and lovely pasture land.  This barn has Indian Hills Subdivision painted on it.   This localism contest has been one of my favorites so far.  Even though it makes you work harder it is unbelievable how much better I know the seller now.  If I hadn't been in the right place at the right time watching for localism blog fodder.   Thank you to all who have visited, read and commented on my blogs.  I hope you like this frisky pony collection as much as I enjoyed takin... 09/30/2011

When I showed the little cabin out on Herren's Branch today, it reminded me of a day a couple of years ago when I passed the cow pasture at the corner of Dicks Creek Road and Herren's Branch in Whittier.  It was obscenely cold out and I left the toastiness of the car because who could pass up a visit with these picture perfect bovines?  They wanted me to engage in a little cow conversation which I was happy to oblige.  I couldn't choose between the two fotos so what the heck...have two Friday fotos! 09/09/2011