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Western North Carolina The Mountain Region including Asheville
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Old 09-22-2014, 12:46 PM
 
Location: Weaverville, NC
251 posts, read 243,490 times
Reputation: 280

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My husband and I are coming out to visit next week for 10 days.

We are beginning the process of narrowing down areas to re-locate to and the area around Asheville is at the top of the list. But, of course, we have a lot of researching and visiting to do. This will be the first of several visits. I won't ask questions that I can (and have) searched for answers to. I guess I just want to share my excitement I'm trying so hard not to get attached before we narrow down.... and I have to go to each area with an open mind. But the Asheville area just seems to pull at me in a way the other places don't.

Anyway, I'm so so so excited to visit. To check out the area. To go to the Sat. Artfest in the River Arts District. To hike. To be in that amazing area. It sings to my heart and spirit. I know that sounds hokey, but that's really how it feels.

Yay! Countdown to Asheville visit....one week
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Old 09-22-2014, 01:13 PM
 
Location: Weaverville
358 posts, read 783,447 times
Reputation: 723
We know how you feel. The wife and I were drawn here 22 years ago and we can't tell you specifically what it was about this area. Of course there are many great draws but it was more than that. Let us know how we can help. You will be just a little early for leaf season, but in the higher elevations it will be further along.
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Old 09-22-2014, 01:32 PM
 
Location: Weaverville, NC
251 posts, read 243,490 times
Reputation: 280
Thank you so much! Its just nice to be able to say "I'm excited" and just share that a little bit with people who really do understand. Thank you for your nice reply!
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Old 09-22-2014, 01:33 PM
 
Location: Western NC.
1,324 posts, read 2,502,145 times
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Hope you find what you are looking for, most of us have fallen in love with the area. Take a look at Weaverville, just north of Asheville great small town with easy access to Asheville and all the great activities. Some good restaurants too so plan stay for lunch. That being said.... so many great towns around to look at before settling on one. Have fun!
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Old 09-22-2014, 03:40 PM
 
Location: Weaverville, NC
251 posts, read 243,490 times
Reputation: 280
Yes, Weaverville is definitely on the list to explore. Also, Hendersonville, Flat Rock, Marshall, Candler, Fletcher, Black Mountain and Arden.

If anyone has an opinion or input on any of these, I'm totally interested. Or, more importantly, if there's a reason that we might be advised to avoid any of these. We have such limited time there so I really do want to focus on exploring the real contenders.

Yay!
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Old 09-22-2014, 04:04 PM
 
11,113 posts, read 19,464,658 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amyps View Post
Yes, Weaverville is definitely on the list to explore. Also, Hendersonville, Flat Rock, Marshall, Candler, Fletcher, Black Mountain and Arden.

If anyone has an opinion or input on any of these, I'm totally interested. Or, more importantly, if there's a reason that we might be advised to avoid any of these. We have such limited time there so I really do want to focus on exploring the real contenders.

Yay!

It would be helpful if you could give us an idea of what type of housing you are considering in these areas.
Condos? Single family? Acreage? # of rooms ? Are views important? Do you need to be near employment? How close to shopping? .... and so forth. Very important: how much house are you wanting in size, and for what price range ?
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Old 09-22-2014, 04:53 PM
 
Location: Weaverville, NC
251 posts, read 243,490 times
Reputation: 280
Sure

So, we're going to be early retirees (early 50s). We're very active and I guess you could say we're "artsy". We're leaning towards single family homes, but a condo wouldn't necessarily be out of the question. Yes, views would be awesome. We've spent the past 25 years in Dallas Texas area and to be honest it does nothing for our spirit to be here in the land of concrete and strip malls. We've only stayed here bc of my husband's work and we are ready to leave as soon as he is ready to walk, which we are thinking will be in the next year or so. We want to take this time to really do our research and make several visits. This is a time for us to finally move someplace that we really want to be, for once. And to maybe have people around to connect more with. To just really embrace this time in our life.

Being near employment is not important. But it would be really nice to be in an area where there might be others close to our age to connect with. We don't have kids (but 2 dogs, who I won't even pretend aren't my baby-substitutes, lol). I think we'd like 3 bedrooms. Acreage not really important. More important would just be the vibe of the actual house. We'd like around 2000 sq feet. Price range $200,000-$350,000. I understand that we might not be able to find what we're looking for up there. It might be out of our price range. I'm reading a lot about skyrocketing home prices. That's part of what we need to find out. One thing I've noticed in looking at homes online is that so many have vinyl siding. You just don't see that here. We will definitely have to adjust to some real differences from what we are used to, be we're adaptable

Close to shopping...meh. I mean, I say its not important but I guess maybe living the reality of not being near conveniences might get to be an issue. I don't really like shopping. But near-ish to a grocery store could be a big deal. I'd like to be close enough to Asheville to go in for things like art fests and other events but we don't have to be actually living in Asheville.

A little about us: We love outdoor activities. We're vegetarians. We're pretty liberal but we are used to living in a very conservative area. I'd love to be around a more liberal vibe which I don't expect to not find in that area. I do a lot of art and photography (I had my own photography studio for 13 years, but shut it down in January after I got sick last year and made some big life changes...doing well now!). We're going to visit neighborhoods, see some homes and get an idea of what we can afford in that area. We also have a small sailboat and we're going to check out Lake James when we're there. We'd love to have someplace nearby to sail but we understand we might need to downsize to a smaller boat b/c it doesn't look like there are any large lakes in the area?

Thanks so much for any input! Its so much appreciated.
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Old 09-22-2014, 06:45 PM
 
Location: Western NC.
1,324 posts, read 2,502,145 times
Reputation: 1273
You will find Asheville pretty liberal especially north end. It is less suburban oriented than southern part in my opinion. But many smaller places like Weaverville are a mixed bag. We have everything on our road from ultra left to ultra right and all in between. From what you have described you will be a good fit in this area. Keep us posted!
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Old 09-22-2014, 09:02 PM
 
2,424 posts, read 3,521,734 times
Reputation: 2437
Asheville is going through a real estate bubble right now according to a couple of architects I know, so you need to be aware of that.

IMO, the reason for the bubble is a lot of people are moving here, mostly retired and have $$ from selling a house in places like the NE and see the prices in Asheville as cheap for the amount of space and buy them and overpay driving up the price.

A situation like that does not last as we saw in 2009, so be aware.
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Old 09-23-2014, 05:27 AM
 
Location: Weaverville, NC
251 posts, read 243,490 times
Reputation: 280
Thanks so much for the replies!

Coming from Dallas, the housing up there is a lot more expensive than here. But of course the trade off is we have a beautiful big house in an area that we don't love. So we understand we are going to have to really take a look at the market and then decide on what is important to us. Maybe since we are not looking to buy just yet, the market will make a correction and not be in a bubble by the time we are serious about looking. A girl can hope
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