Real estate discussion thread (Asheville, Hickory: appointed, HOA, buying a home)
Western North CarolinaThe Mountain Region including Asheville
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Following your threads, but maybe I have misremembered your situ, with all of the current book report length 'moving here' threads of late...
Thus, I don't recall your general wants/would likes/needs, beyond ~ $400G budget.
Having done the land/house/where to process we did moving to western NC from Metro NYC in 2001, and though that was a couple decades ago, the 'work' involved in finding an area, town, house situ here has not changed much, other than pricing, imo.
While it may not be convenient for you to some 'in area and on the ground looking' from FL, it may help any of us to have more general parameters of what might be of interest to you, and to offer 'better' recommendations, if you express some needs and wants, e.g. :
-Fam and schools for kids, or just a couple of adults?
-Work from home/remote or retired? Cable speed internet for work or the common fixed wireless we have in some areas?
-Need for close by med attention, 10 mins to a hospital or 30 mins to hospital?
-Suburban setting, bigger lots/less suburban, or more remote setting of house?
-Elevation: 1500 ft, 2,000 ft, 3,500 ft, 4,000+ ft?
-Like 80+ to 85+ deg daytime temps for highs all summer long, don't like 85 in shade?
-Would prefer cooler vs your usual FL and our ever increasing warmer temps found at 3,500 ft or less elevation?
-Grocery and other shopping 5-10 mins from house or is ~15 mins OK, or don't care if it is further?
-City like, 'regular' town, small town?
I could go on with a longer list, and there may be other items on your list, but none of us really know your needs or wants, or would settle for situ.
The What about this house that many posters present to those looking for a house here in western NC, (esp a situ where a move may be a year off or some of the a posters are simply kicking tires and want help with their 'term paper'), is not effective, in my experience...
There are literally a half to a dozen 'towns' and another dozen near 'town' areas that fit many needs for most of the posters here, but none of us can know if any area or town is in your consideration parameters, and if one has not been to/driven in and around, and done some searching and looking in areas of one's interest, most of any posted suggestions would be similar to what stock(s) to buy, imo.
Hopefully, this long post does not read as unhelpful or offensive, as my intent is to offer suggestions if a poster has expressed some specific needs and wants, vs just tossed up house links and general dream lists.
All in good stead, I hope!
GL, mD
Morning sunrise view from our Mtn home deck a couple days ago:
It's a lot to read through so I'll summarize / update and also answer the questions in your post:
We have $300,000 saved up to go toward home purchase. Willing to add up to $300,000 mortgage on top of that, bringing max budget to $600,000.
We want a home with some clean-rustic style, in the trees, don't need a large property, don't want a big grass lawn. Just the two of us, early 40s, work from home so absolutely need good internet.
Elevation probably 2,000 - 3,500 ft. I like cloudy, humid, misty, foggy weather. We are not weather wimps, we can handle hot and cold quite well. But driving on treacherous mountain roads in bad winter weather does scare me.
Originally I posted that we want to be within a 10 min drive to a nice downtown and a good grocery store. Now I'd say if we found the perfect house and it was more like 15-20 mins to downtown and grocery store we'd go for it.
Would like a woodsy setting, not suburban, not farm/country. Closer in to a downtown would be fine as long as my house is in the trees. Open to pretty much anywhere in WNC. Some places on our radar include: Brevard, Pisgah Forest, Penrose, Etowah, Laurel Park, Hendersonville, Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Highlands, Weaverville, Swannanoa, Black Mountain, Burnsville, Blowing Rock.
My intention with this real estate thread is to use sold and active listings to spark discussion about aspects of the housing market in WNC. Basically I need to immerse myself in studying the market so that I can go into my home search with as much knowledge as possible. I want to know comps like the back of my hand, I want to learn to identify condition issues that are major red flags vs minor repairs, I want to get a sense of what features are prized vs best avoided, I want to understand what is a decent deal, what's overpriced, what house is going to sell immediately with a bidding war vs what house is going to sit on the market for months, and I want local opinions about pricing, neighborhoods, and all manner of inside info.
While I think we'd prefer to buy an existing home, we are open to building if that ends up being the better choice for us. So when I'm monitoring the MLS, in addition to homes I also keep an eye on lots for sale.
While I think we'd prefer to buy an existing home, we are open to building if that ends up being the better choice for us. So when I'm monitoring the MLS, in addition to homes I also keep an eye on lots for sale.
We just finished an exhaustive search for a home in those same areas in the past 6 months. I can say with pretty much certainty that you will not be able to build a quality home with all you want for $600K. The new homes getting built for that...what few they are....are crap builds, quick builds, full of LVP and jammed in together.
Hey, whattaya got against LVP? It's great for a seasonal home even into the millions price range. We had 8 inch oak in a house and had nothing but issues with it when we closed it up for the summer and with temperature fluctuations. We switched to wide plank LVP in our newest house because it's effected so little by moisture and temperature fluctuations.
It's a lot to read through so I'll summarize / update and also answer the questions in your post:
We have $300,000 saved up to go toward home purchase. Willing to add up to $300,000 mortgage on top of that, bringing max budget to $600,000.
We want a home with some clean-rustic style, in the trees, don't need a large property, don't want a big grass lawn. Just the two of us, early 40s, work from home so absolutely need good internet.
Elevation probably 2,000 - 3,500 ft. I like cloudy, humid, misty, foggy weather. We are not weather wimps, we can handle hot and cold quite well. But driving on treacherous mountain roads in bad winter weather does scare me.
Originally I posted that we want to be within a 10 min drive to a nice downtown and a good grocery store. Now I'd say if we found the perfect house and it was more like 15-20 mins to downtown and grocery store we'd go for it.
Would like a woodsy setting, not suburban, not farm/country. Closer in to a downtown would be fine as long as my house is in the trees. Open to pretty much anywhere in WNC. Some places on our radar include: Brevard, Pisgah Forest, Penrose, Etowah, Laurel Park, Hendersonville, Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Highlands, Weaverville, Swannanoa, Black Mountain, Burnsville, Blowing Rock.
My intention with this real estate thread is to use sold and active listings to spark discussion about aspects of the housing market in WNC. Basically I need to immerse myself in studying the market so that I can go into my home search with as much knowledge as possible. I want to know comps like the back of my hand, I want to learn to identify condition issues that are major red flags vs minor repairs, I want to get a sense of what features are prized vs best avoided, I want to understand what is a decent deal, what's overpriced, what house is going to sell immediately with a bidding war vs what house is going to sit on the market for months, and I want local opinions about pricing, neighborhoods, and all manner of inside info.
While I think we'd prefer to buy an existing home, we are open to building if that ends up being the better choice for us. So when I'm monitoring the MLS, in addition to homes I also keep an eye on lots for sale.
That one parameter outweighs anything else in your search and dictates EVERYTHING about what you should be looking at. Comps are meaningless if the houses do not have the high speed internet you need. All you need to do is spend some time in local facebook groups with daily posts from people begging for suggestions to get internet to know that it's a real issue here. Not only are the options completely location dependent there are locations with no options at all. It's fun to look at listings but you are really doing nothing more than daydreaming and window shopping or as mD said, tire kicking. Fun, but ultimately, not very productive or informative for your real needs. The best and most consistent advice given by people living here to people who want to (or think they want to) live here is you need to be here, boots on the ground and work with a realtor who knows your priorities and doesn't waste your time with properties that don't fit them.
We just finished an exhaustive search for a home in those same areas in the past 6 months. I can say with pretty much certainty that you will not be able to build a quality home with all you want for $600K. The new homes getting built for that...what few they are....are crap builds, quick builds, full of LVP and jammed in together.
Feel free to PM me.
I'm sure you're right that our budget is not enough for a quality build. I think it'll be a very challenging budget for an existing home too.
I read your thread about your home search https://www.city-data.com/forum/west...nth-house.html and I've read your posts warning about the dire health care situation in WNC. I'm extremely thankful for all of the information you share here. I haven't come across anyone who's recently attempted to buy in WNC that had a positive experience. Trust me I'm bracing for anguish and misery...
That one parameter outweighs anything else in your search and dictates EVERYTHING about what you should be looking at. Comps are meaningless if the houses do not have the high speed internet you need. All you need to do is spend some time in local facebook groups with daily posts from people begging for suggestions to get internet to know that it's a real issue here. Not only are the options completely location dependent there are locations with no options at all. It's fun to look at listings but you are really doing nothing more than daydreaming and window shopping or as mD said, tire kicking. Fun, but ultimately, not very productive or informative for your real needs. The best and most consistent advice given by people living here to people who want to (or think they want to) live here is you need to be here, boots on the ground and work with a realtor who knows your priorities and doesn't waste your time with properties that don't fit them.
Thank you for ALL of the amazing info and input you've contributed in my threads DLM. I will take your above advice to heart.
I'm sure you're right that our budget is not enough for a quality build. I think it'll be a very challenging budget for an existing home too.
I read your thread about your home search https://www.city-data.com/forum/west...nth-house.html and I've read your posts warning about the dire health care situation in WNC. I'm extremely thankful for all of the information you share here. I haven't come across anyone who's recently attempted to buy in WNC that had a positive experience. Trust me I'm bracing for anguish and misery...
I would focus on buying an existing house. Depending on how much square footage you want, your budget should be doable. Etowah sounds like a good fit for you. I wouldn’t describe the health care situation as dire. It just takes a little more care in finding the right physician. For most needs, there is adequate care in Asheville and Greenville, SC.
I'm sure you're right that our budget is not enough for a quality build. I think it'll be a very challenging budget for an existing home too.
I read your thread about your home search https://www.city-data.com/forum/west...nth-house.html and I've read your posts warning about the dire health care situation in WNC. I'm extremely thankful for all of the information you share here. I haven't come across anyone who's recently attempted to buy in WNC that had a positive experience. Trust me I'm bracing for anguish and misery...
I literally kept telling my husband "I'm not paying $600,000 to live IN $hithole or NEXT to a $hithole."
BOTH of those scenarios described almost all of our house hunting. If the house wasn't a wreck, the house or trailer right next to it was a total wreck.
At the end of the day we realized we don't need to be right up IN Asheville. Close proximity to the hiking is great. But we want to love the home we are in and the neighborhood we are in.
It was a long journey and I had to accept some things about myself that I just didn't know.
Honestly I see a lot of homes like you described---in Connestee Falls. But you will be the age of everyone's grandchildren and it'll feel weird.
I literally kept telling my husband "I'm not paying $600,000 to live IN $hithole or NEXT to a $hithole."
BOTH of those scenarios described almost all of our house hunting. If the house wasn't a wreck, the house or trailer right next to it was a total wreck.
At the end of the day we realized we don't need to be right up IN Asheville. Close proximity to the hiking is great. But we want to love the home we are in and the neighborhood we are in.
It was a long journey and I had to accept some things about myself that I just didn't know. Honestly I see a lot of homes like you described---in Connestee Falls. But you will be the age of everyone's grandchildren and it'll feel weird.
Best of luck.
That's interesting what you said about Connestee Falls. If the residents tend to be more advanced in age that would be perfect for us. And our love for WNC began right across the street from Connestee Falls - I believe it is permanently closed now but back when we had dogs we used to stay here a couple times every year: https://www.dogwoodsretreat.com/ (right up Cantrell Mountain Rd.) I found this regarding internet in Connestee Falls: https://connesteefalls.com/web/conne...eeds-increased so looks like internet would be plenty fast enough for us. But carachel you said there is no cell service in Connestee and I have been told the majority of homes in the neighborhood are a mess.
That's interesting what you said about Connestee Falls. If the residents tend to be more advanced in age that would be perfect for us. And our love for WNC began right across the street from Connestee Falls - I believe it is permanently closed now but back when we had dogs we used to stay here a couple times every year: https://www.dogwoodsretreat.com/ (right up Cantrell Mountain Rd.) I found this regarding internet in Connestee Falls: https://connesteefalls.com/web/conne...eeds-increased so looks like internet would be plenty fast enough for us. But carachel you said there is no cell service in Connestee and I have been told the majority of homes in the neighborhood are a mess.
I've been in some lovely, lovely, lovely homes in Connestee Falls. I'm sure there are ones that are a mess but the last six that I've been in are amazing OR look like they need a simple update. The residents say their wi-fi is fine but you are right---I lose cell coverage there all the time. If you are fine living with the older crowd then I would keep digging there! It is so peaceful and lovely there and I think Brevard is a nicer town than Hendersonville,etc.
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