Hendersonville NC Real Estate Blog

NC Mountains are still glowing with color! Some friends came out for a visit and we decided to take a day for a little drive around the mountains. It turned out to be another gorgeous day and we went farther than we thought on this day trip. We started in Hendersonville, drove out Highway 64 east to Chimney Rock, finding some great stops along the way.

We then hung out in Chimney Rock for lunch. After, we drove up Highway 9 for an afternoon in Black Mountain. After that, we drove to Montreat for a peek at Lake Susan and Billy Graham's school. It was a lovely day, with sunlight dancing in the colorful leaves the entire time.

If you are in the area and have not been out to see the leaves, you are missing out. Today looks like another great day.

Fall in Western North Carolina is the BEST! I have traveled all over the country over the years and have seen a lot of falls all over the country. I really love our falls here in Western North Carolina and this year looks like it will be another pretty one. Tomorrow kicks off fall being October first, and for anyone traveling into the area, the main thing happening is the color of the leaves!

This weekend will be crisp and cool, with weekend temperatures hovering in the high 50's. The forecast calls for sun both days, so come on over to the mountains, and while you are here, take the time to check out some homes that can be yours for a great price!

Open houses run on Saturday and Sunday so just check in with the Hendersonville newspaper the Times-News and see for yourself.

In representing a buyer, how do you handle their final walk through? Do you have any set rules for this?

I found one that I stick to no matter. No more than 24 hours, preferably within 2 hours of, your closing a walk through must to be performed. And it must be performed by the buyers realtor and all buyers involved. And the second rule is that the property has to be 100% empty at that point.

If you are a buyer and don't get why this is important, then read on. Furniture, boxes and other objects can cover may issues. You absolutely must be able to investigate the home one final time, in it's empty state. Why? To see if anything has changed since you last saw it.

Case in point, a friend of mine a few years bought a home in WIlmington NC. The Realtor took them on the final walk through just a few hours prior to closing. The house was still full of boxes and so they were unable to really get in and see anything. In fact it was packed with boxes! They went to closing, signed all of the paperwork, and got the keys and went right to their new home. What did they find? Cat urine in bedroom carpets, so bad that they could not save it and even had to pull the subflooring below the carpet. Who paid for this? The buyers did, becasue they accepted the home as they saw it in the walk though. The walk through is to identify issues PRIOR to closing. These issues can get resolved before closing if found. Once the contracts are signed the buyer is out of luck.

Another reason buyers must inspect properties close to closing, is that anything can happen within the forces of nature. A tree can fall down on the home, winds can loosen shingles on a roof, or any number of other scenarios. Who pays for that? The person who owns the property the day the mess is discovered. If it is found prior to closing the seller will do it and more than likely they will have insurance to cover it. If you close and do not see the mess until after closing, then the buyer pays. Does a buyer really want to start home ownership with repairs and a fight with a new insurance company?

As Realtors we are held in a position to make sure that this does not happen to our clients. We need to be very careful about this rule. Always do a walk through as close to closing as possible, and always inspect the property when fully empty. As buyers doing the due diligence really does involve this point. Realtor or buyer, always insist on a walk through with an empty property the day of closing, hopefully within just hours of closing time. 

Doing this can save head aches for buyers and Realtors alike.

I was driving home this morning during an unusually heavy rain and along my street were a group of electricians getting electrical lines back up. They were drenched I am sure, despite the heavy yellow slickers they doned.

I never realized how dedicated and hard working the electrical crews are until I lived on top of a mountain. When I first moved to Western North Carolina, I had power outages all the time, with the slightest wind or ice. What I saw out there was amazing. These crews were out in the worst weather, at all times of the day and night, hanging off mountain tops. I recall them on the road above my house one night, in pitch black, on a cherry picker, getting the lines back. It was in the wee hours of the morning, maybe one or two. I just couldn't believe the bravery they showed time and time again.

This morning as I passed by these workers in town on level ground, I had to remember the harder jobs they have and appreciate them all over again. We love to complain when our modern conveniences are on hold briefly. But we have to learn to appreciate the men and women who are there for us day and night, risking their lives so that we can have lights and other conveniences.

So next time you drive by a crew, give them a big smile and a thanks. They really are one of the unsung hero's of the world.

Many buyers aren't familiar with Easements in Western North Carolina. I would say that the majority of buyers coming to this area are coming from cities outside NC where there are mostly subdivisions. But here in Western North Carolina, many homes are located in rural areas outside of the protection of any subdivision rules and regulations.

So when you are moving to this area, if you are interested in a rural property this may be important information for you to know. A friend called me this week with an access issue for a property she owns. It appears that there is a parcel of land behind her home that may be landlocked. By this I mean that there are no clearly deeded easements leading to the lot in question.

Her concern was that the owner of the lot in question may want to use her land as access, since there is already an existing road into the area. There are other properties that the lot in question could use. But she wanted to know what her rights were.

In North Carolina it is illegal to block access to a parcel, or keep it land locked. So my friend has to be careful in knowing her rights. She doesn't want people driving through her property.

The owner of the property in question believes that she has the right to an easement through my friends property. I advised her to get copies of both deeds. This is the first thing to check. There has to be correct wording granting the right of way from one property to the other, and it has to be clearly stated on both deeds. This was not the case.

Next I advised her to look on her survey and the survey of the other property. A road should be clearly marked out on both surveys. There was an easement to the middle of my friends property, to her home, but it did not extend beyond that point. In other words it did not follow through to the back property. And the property in question has no survey.

My next words of advise were for her get an appointment with her closing attorney. It appears that the property in question has no legal right to access her land, but if the owner of the property that is landlocked pursues this issue, she will need legal advise to moves forward. Easements are a tricky thing and need the advise of a very good real estate attorney. The failure on the property in question was that this issue was not dealt with when the owner closed on it 10 years ago, when she purchased it. Now she can have a property that will never sell at a time when she is trying to sell it (it is for sale now).

If you are looking at property in Western North Carolina, and you are not within the city limits, or in the protected area of a subdivision, you need to look at more that just the land you are thinking of purchasing. What is around you that can effect the future use and enjoyment of that property? Always look at all parcels adjoining the property you are looking at, and investigate what can happen to you in the future.

What comes to mind here is what my first Real Estate Teacher said to us early on in the journey of this profession: The only thing you will know for sure in real estate will be that change will occur. And that is for sure a good one to remember. Change has changed the game over and over throughout the years, and in many ways. Make sure that your not a casualty of change, but rather a benefactor of it. Perform Due Diligence as if your life depended on it prior to buying a home or lot.

Can we as Agents Perform Dual Agency Representation Without Hurting One Side?

As a Listing Agent I am always surprised when I get a call on a property and a potential buyer wants me to show them a home. Don't get me wrong, I want buyers to look at any listing I have. But I just feel as though I am moving into a slippery slope there. In all honesty I just don't feel as though I can fairly represent them when I am already representing the owner of the property. To me it just is not fair. My first obligation is to the seller and I must give my all to them. So how can I give a buyer the full attention and due dilegence they need?

I think that today, as informed as buyers are about everything under the sun, they are still uninformed about the importance of dual agency. When I get these calls, I try to explain the importance of avoiding the dual agency by having their own buyers agent. I explain all the reasons why, and that I will have to keep my mouth shut about a lot of things. And then let them decide whether they want me to still show them the home. I never refuse.

Now I admit most of the time they will still allow me to show them the home, and almost always I will find that this listing does not meet their needs. But at that moment I gain their trust and they allow me to become their Buyers Agent. But if it goes the other way and they become interested in persuing the home, I will always refer them to a good agent for buyers representation.

I got an email this morning from Inman News talking about this very thing and so I am guessing it has become an issue- or maybe more accurately is still an issue. I am wondering how other agents treat Dual Agency? What is your take?

No!?? Well, Why not? Here is a video of what you missed today at the 65th Annual Apple Festival in Historic Hendersonville NC.

The Apple Festival is held every year on Labor Day Weekend on Main Street in Hendersonville NC. If you missed it this year, try for next year! I am sure that the weather will be perfect again in 2012.

For the last few weeks my house has been getting pummeled by nuts falling from the different trees in my yard. I have only been in this home for three years, but this is the first time I recall these nuts coming down with such force. I joke that I need to arm my pets with helmets in case they get hit. It could be a life altering event.

I have been reminded of my grandfather over the weather changes we have had this year. The Hosta's bloomed earlier than I ever remember them. They are long gone. And it looks like the Magnolia's are either re blooming or blooming really late in some yards. Nothing grew this year as expected. Knowing my grandfather, he would be talking about either an early winter/hard winter, or a late winter/mild winter. Something like that. He has been gone now for so long and I have forgotten all that he taught me as a kid, and I feel bad about that. I really loved him. He was a farmer all his life in Norther Indiana, and they know hard winters there.

So I was thinking this morning about my grandfather as all of these nuts were falling. He was a very stubborn and old fashioned man who was not interested in technology or anything fancy at all. He worked hard and saved his pennies to the point of being ridiculed by his family as too tight. My grandparents did not get a 'real' bathroom until the 60's, and that was because my grandmother was sick of the whole roughing it and got a job so that she could pay to have it put in. My grandfather refused to use it, said it was a big fat waste.

His idea of farming was a horse and plow and he was out there well into his 70's, and still grew food for his own family table. He never had big machines or debt on his family farm.

One day my grandfather came home in a brand new Chevy pick up. Everyone was stunned. Apparently he had been hiding money in jars all over the farm. He never believed in banks. They suspected he was doing that but never found them. I have often wondered how many lost jars there were.

So after a life time of hiding money, when my grandfather died he left his two daughters (who had ridiculed him all their lives) a hefty inheritance. Suddenly they were no longer laughing. Suddenly as a kid, saving pennies didn't seem so bad to me.

If only we could all take a lesson from my grandfather, maybe this tank in the economy would not have happened.

I think of him often when I feel I am being frivolous about something I am buying. I always loved him and at times wanted to be like him, as a farmer. I feel really sad that I have let go of all of the farming weather patterns he knew and farmed by. He was very strict at watching the weather and planting by the moon. All of that.

So the last few weeks I have been wondering, early winter hard winter? I wish he was here to tell me.

Have you been to the 65th Hendersonville Apple Festival yet?

This weekend has been perfect weather so far, as the 65th Apple Festival got under way on Friday, September 2nd. If you haven't made it yet, there is still one more day on Main Street, as well as the Monday parade. For more information you can check this Apple Festival Link.

See you there!

Starting Friday August 26 and running through Sunday August 28, 2011, the GoomBay Festival will be fillig the air with the sounds of African-Caribean music and the smells of great exotic foods.

This festival will be held in the Eagle Street and Market Street area of Historic Downtown Asheville.

If you are looking for something different to do this weekend, gather up your kids and an appetite and check out the GoomBay Festival and enjoy the diversity that Asheville has to offer.