Nearly 10,000 acres in North Carolina, including more than 6,500 acres in the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests, have been identified for possible sale. Those voicing opposition include hunters, environmentalists and politicians across the board, from Republican Rep. Charles Taylor of Brevard and North Carolina’s two GOP senators, Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, to Democratic Gov. Mike Easley and local officials in Buncombe, Macon, Madison and Burke counties.

The proposed sale would generate nearly $1 billion and finance a program funding rural schools. However, that funding would be temporary and the land would be sold permanently. David Young, a Buncombe County commissioner, said, “The little money they are going to gain from it will not equal the long-term benefit of keeping that forest land.” Rep. Taylor has stated the sale “is not going to happen.’’ The public comment period on the proposed sales was scheduled to end today. A bad plan at first glance, this one looks worse and worse as you peel off the layers. Aside from the obvious — the country keeps getting more people but it isn’t getting any more public land for us to hunt, hike or just enjoy — the plan is a slap at the South and the Midwest. (more…)

search for : North Carolina, Pisgah, Nantahala national forest, environmentalist, politician, Rep. Charles Taylor, Brevard, Elizabeth Dole, Richard Bur, Mike Easley, David Young, Buncombe County

According to an annual survey done by research firm TNS, the number of households with more than one million dollars ($1m) in net worth (excluding primary residence) rose in 2005 for the third consecutive year. This increase is due to long-term wealth accumulation, not new wealth creation or real estate investments (while real estate continues to be an investment portfolio staple, it is not the sole cause of wealth).

With the increasing number of millionaire households, comes an increasing confidence as over three-quarters of high-net worth households feel they will be financially prepared for retirement,” said Jeanette Luhr, manager of the research study. “These millionaire households understand that calculated risks are still a necessity within their portfolio design, however, over 50 percent have become much more conservative in their investment approach over the past year.” (more…)

search for : one million dollars, primary residence, long-term wealth, wealth creation, real estate investment, retirement, portfolio

Buying a home is the smartest investment you can make during your lifetime. According to the National Association of Realtors, the median home price in America hit $220,000 in August 2005 — a more than 55% increase in less than five years. And while experts warn that the real estate market might be overheated, some think that it doesn’t matter if prices are up or down right now. Over time, they will likely go up steadily

To say that David Bach’s latest book, The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner, eighth in his FinishRich Series, is a quick read is an understatement. He means for it to be read in just an hour or two, so you can get cracking. The ubiquitous best-selling author is back with his cheery, can-do message. This time he is talking directly to home buyers. (Excerpt: Chapter One: Meeting the Automatic Millionaire Homeowner). (more…)

search for : Buying a home, National Association of Realtors, median home price, real estate market, David Bach, The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner, FinishRich Series, Meeting the Automatic Millionaire Homeowner

Trout, turkey seasons will begin next month in Northwest N.C. Hatchery workers will have stocked almost 43,000 fish in Northwest North Carolina during March, when the season on hatchery supported streams is closed.

Next month, you can literally have a decent chance to “blast” a turkey in the morning and “cast” bucktails or live bait to stripers in the afternoon, all within a very small area. Outfitters in the Halifax-Northampton County area have been trumpeting ‘cast and blast” trips in the classified sections of state outdoor magazines since around 2000, when the big spring striper runs returned and the turkey flock in the area grew sizeable enough to attract attention from hunters several hours away. (more…)

search for : Trout, turkey, Northwest N.C, North Carolina, Halifax, Northampto, outdoor magazine, hunter

For most of us buying a home is a major decision and is the largest financial transaction we have in our lifetime. Therefore, it is easy to see why some potential buyers have a hard time pulling the trigger. Some questions they may be asking themselves include; can I afford this, what if I lose my job and can’t make the payments, and do I want this responsibility?

Homeowners have some advantages when it comes to capacity to make payments. Landlords want to evict and get a new renter; lenders do not want to foreclose unless they have no other alternative. Lenders are more apt to work with a borrower who is having temporary financial problems because the foreclosure process is expensive and generally end up with some dollar amount being exposed to loss. Most lenders will not even start the foreclosure process until you are 60 to 90 days delinquent in your payments. (more…)

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An new generation of buyers are splitting off from the traditional snowbird flock and changing the definition of home away from home. With low-cost travel corridors with multiple daily flights, advances in technology, and virtual workspaces, these folks choose to split their time between a primary residence and a second home or even third home.

With 75 million baby boomers heading into their golden years, experts say the splitter factor could alter the way developers build and manage the communities of tomorrow. “The implications for future growth are considerable,” says Kenneth Johnson, a demographer and sociology professor at Loyola University in Chicago. “[Splitters] are one of the fastest-growing demographic markets.” Other than mortgage-interest deduction, there may not be any additional tax advantages to owning a second home. (more…)

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Submit items one week in advance for the Outdoors Calendar, a weekly listing of hiking, mountain biking, paddling, running and other outdoor activities in Western North Carolina, to: Outdoors Calendar, Asheville Citizen-Times, P.O. Box 2090, Asheville, NC 28802. Fax to 251-0585 or e-mail to lnash@CITIZEN-TIMES.com

APPALACHIAN SKI MOUNTAIN: Nine slopes, skiing and outdoor ice skating an hour and a half from Asheville, two miles off U.S. 321 between Blowing Rock and Boone. Ice skating open with three sessions: from noon to 2 p.m., 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Ski season ends Sunday. Call (800) 322-2373 or visit www.appskimtn.com. CATALOOCHEE SKI AREA: Ten slopes, skiing and tubing in Maggie Valley in Haywood County. Five trails open. Ski season ends Sunday. For a ski report, call 926-3588 or visit (more…)

search for : Outdoors Calendar, hiking, mountain biking, paddling, running, outdoor activities, Western North Carolina, APPALACHIAN SKI MOUNTAIN, Asheville, Blowing Rock, Boone, Ice skating, CATALOOCHEE SKI AREA, Maggie Valley, Haywood County

Malone Bay – Lake Lots on W. Kerr Scott Dam & Reservoir. 18 Lots – 14 are Lakefront and meet private dock requirements.

Gated community with Lots ranging from 2.3+- acres to 6.8+- acres on the Hwy 421 side of the lake just off South Minton Road, Wilkesboro, NC 28697 (more…)

search for : Malone Bay, Lake Lot, W. Kerr Scott Dam & Reservoir, Lakefront, private dock, Gated community, acre, Hwy 421, South Minton Road, Wilkesboro, 28697

What are your options if your home is less desirable in the current marketplace than you’d hoped it would be?

If there’s no urgency to sell, an option is to rent the property for a time and sell at a later date. This might be worth considering. However, as with any scheme, there are pros and cons that should be evaluated carefully before making a decision. On the positive side, a property that is, or will soon be, sitting empty will generate income. This income can help offset mortgage and property tax obligations and homeowner association dues for condo owners. Another plus is that you can buy time until the market improves. (more…)

search for : rent the property, generate income, mortgage, property tax, homeowner association, condo

With the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission recently approving a replacement listing for rainbow trout among the state freshwater fishing records, anglers may be fishing for more than just the fish.

Mountain trout anglers who’ll be opening the season in North Carolina on April 1 have something new toward which to cast their dreams. The Wildlife Resources Commission recently approved a replacement listing for rainbow trout among the state freshwater fishing records.The catch? A whopper 20-pound, 3-ounce rainbow pulled from the Horsepasture River in Jackson County, North Carolina. The lucky angler? Sorry to be the bearer of this news to you deeply-devoted, hard-core, gung-ho, long-time, manly, macho trout fishing devotees, but she is Leah Johnson, 21, of Cashiers. (more…)

search for : North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, rainbow trout, freshwater fishing record, angler, Mountain trout angler, Wildlife Resources Commission, Horsepasture River, Jackson County, North Carolina, trout fishing

With a minimum of 500 to 600 full-time employees, Laurelmor, a Ginn Clubs & Resorts mountain-top project under way in Wilkes and Watauga counties, is expected to add more than $2 billion in property values if it is built out according to a 10-year plan. The property is close to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Laurelmor will be built in phases, with a master plan calling for about 1,500 homes, 1,000 condominium units or hotel rooms, two 18-hole golf courses, 50 miles of roads, a spa, water park, equestrian center, observatory and other amenities. Ginn plans to hold a sale of lots in October and to open in 2009. Ginn expects to have a sales day in October for a first phase. A spokesperson said that the company hasn’t made completed lot prices for Laurelmor, but that the most inexpensive lot would likely be around $500,000. Developers have told local officials that the minimum home size would be about 3,000 square feet, and some could be twice that big. (more…)

search for : Laurelmor, Ginn Clubs & Resorts, mountain-top, Wilkes, Watauga, property value, Blue Ridge Parkway, 8-hole golf course, spa, water park, equestrian center, observatory, minimum home size

Two weeks of rates-are-going-to-the-moon concluded in a disorderly reversal late this week. The 10-year T-note fell from its run to 4.8 percent almost to 4.6 percent, which in turn pulled mortgages back from the 6.5 percent brink, now close to 6.25 percent.

One aspect of former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan’s genius was his willingness to talk: in a half-dozen pages of murky syntax he would bury a phrase or two that kept markets centered. As Bernanke will learn, the longer a chairman goes without centering commentary, the more explosive the consequences when policy change becomes evident. At this week’s end, the bond market has no clue whether the Fed is close to stopping, or has a long way to go. (more…)

search for : 10-year T-note, mortgage, Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, bond market, Fed

The unemployment rate in NC has steadily declined since 2002, when the unemployment rate was 6.6 percent. In 2003, it was 6.1 percent, 5.3 percent in 2004 and 5.1 percent in 2005. The prediction for 2006 is 4.9 percent.

The agricultural sector is projected to grow at a rate of 12.9 percent, the highest projection. The next highest projection is construction, which is predicted to increase by 11.5 percent. Wholesale trade is expected to swell by 8.6 percent, and warehousing, information, utilities and transportation are predicted to increase by 6.9 percent. The net job growth in NC in 2005 was 93,700, with 60 percent lost from the service sector. From 2000-2005, the total jobs lost in NC were 230,379. Manufacturing accounted for 202,943 of those jobs lost. The total jobs added from 2000-2005 in NC amounted to 310,706, with 169,000 added in the service sector. (more…)

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Zillow is a free service that’s very easy to use. Simply enter an address, street or neighborhood together with a city, state or zip code, and Zillow.com searches through the information it has compiled on more than 60 million residential properties in the U.S. to provide you with an approximate valuation of the property. Results are displayed on a map that you can zoom in or out or drag around. If you requested information on a specific property, its “zestimate” is displayed in a pop-up box, showing estimated price, number of bedrooms, baths and square feet, and links to see more details or view information about comparable homes. (more…)

search for : house, neighborhood, Zillow, zip code, Zillow.com, residential properties, U.S., zestimate

For years, investors were advised to view retirement funding as a three-legged stool supported by Social Security, pensions and whatever else you could save on your own.

Millions of retirees are sitting on substantial amounts of equity in their homes that they can use to help fund their retirement,” said Jim Keene, co-author with investment writer Gillette Edmunds of “Retire on the House: Using Real Estate to Secure Your Retirement.” “In fact, many new retirees have four times more money in their home equity as they do in their stocks. (more…)

search for : investor, retirement, Social Security, pension, equity, home, Jim Keene, Gillette Edmunds, Retire on the House

North Carolina is one of 18 states that allows billboard owners to cut down publicly owned trees to keep their signs in view. But the billboard industry says the laws are still too restrictive, and allow some signs to become overgrown.

Department of Transportation administrators said they are still studying whether the tree-cutting rules need to be changed. A DOT “focus group” of government, environmentalist and industry representatives failed to resolve the issue after a year of talks. A similar effort nearly a decade ago took nearly five years to resolve, and this time it doesn’t look any easier. Environmentalists promise a fight, saying billboard companies already have generous access to their audience on the highways. (more…)

search for : North Carolina, billboard, tree, billboard industry, Department of Transportation, DOT, environmentalist, highways

Governor Mike Easley petitioned the federal government last Thursday to protect nearly 174,000 acres of pristine national forest land in North Carolina from commercial development.

Before leaving office in January 2001, President Clinton issued the Roadless Area Conservation Rule in an effort to do just that. Under the rule, development and road building would be banned on almost one-third of the nation’s 192 million acres of national forest land. The Bush administration repealed the rule last year and issued a new policy requiring states to work with U.S. Forest Service officials to devise management plans for individual forests. The revisions could allow road construction and commercial logging on 58 million acres nationally. The change also requires states to file petitions declaring how much protection they want for their forests. (more…)

search for : President Clinton, Roadless Area Conservation Rule, national forest land, Bush administration, U.S. Forest Service, road construction, commercial logging

As the real estate market slumps, adjustable-rate mortgage borrowers may be urged into into fixed-rate loans.

Some of the mortgage refinancing offers are bad deals, and high pressure is coming from some of the nation’s largest lenders. Borrowers may be urged by a large bank-affiliated finance company to hurry and lock into a fixed rate. “You better meet me at my office on Friday, the rates are going to rise!” On the surface, the deal may seem attractive. However, the proposed deal may increase the borrower’s debt significantly. In addition, the existing mortgage may have a prepayment penalty. (more…)

search for : real estate market, adjustable-rate mortgage, borrower, fixed-rate loan, mortgage refinancing, finance company, debt, prepayment penalty

Mortgage fraud has been increasing over the past few years and anyone involved in negotiating mortgages should be aware of “red flags” that can signal potential problems.

Fraud for housing may involve depositing money borrowed from parents in the bank to bolster bank records and possibly falsifying salary records in order to qualify for a loan. Fraud for profit requires a conspiracy and may involve a real estate agent, a lender or an appraiser making false representations to close a deal. That can involve the sale of property for two or three times its actual value. (more…)

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The fastest-growing commodity in Florida farm country last year? Land values, which jumped 50% to 88%, depending on the area. While not quite as dramatic, a similar story has been playing out across the country. Rural real estate prices soared 11% to an average of $1,510 per acre from Jan. 1, 2004, to Jan. 1, 2005. That’s the fastest annual increase since 1981 and the biggest on record in dollar terms, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

A majority of buyers in some regions are real estate developers, individuals who want to convert a ranch or farm to a recreational purpose, such as hunting or fishing, or those who see land as a good investment given low interest rates. Farmland that could be immediately developed sold for a big premium in 2005 — more than $6,050 an acre, according to USDA. (more…)

search for : Florida farm country, Land values, Rural real estate, U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA, real estate developer, ranch, farm, hunting, fishing, good investment, interest rate

The Conservation Trust for North Carolina has bought 12.14 acres adjoining the Blue Ridge Parkway near Little Switzerland in Mitchell County NC.

The Conservation Trust bought the property for $175,000 using its own money and a contribution from Fred and Alice Stanback of Salisbury. The Conservation Trust plans to donate the property to the National Park Service for inclusion in the parkway’s boundary. “The preservation of this property is important because of its border with the Blue Ridge Parkway, spectacular views of Mount Mitchell and proximity to other protected properties in the area,” said Reid Wilson, Conservation Trust for North Carolina executive director. “The property had attracted interest from a number of developers, so it was critical to move quickly to conserve this forested parcel so that this stretch of the parkway would not be marred.” (more…)

search for : Conservation Trust for North Carolina, Blue Ridge Parkway, Little Switzerland, Mitchell County NC, Conservation Trust, Fred and Alice Stanback, National Park Service, Mount Mitchell, Reid Wilson, developer

Many homeowners believe that the initial listing price isn’t that important because the price can always be adjusted down later.

If most buyers first viewed your property because of a newspaper ad, a magazine, the internet, brochures, or the sign in your front yard, the initial listing price probably would not make a difference. The house would always be “new” to those seeing it. The initial listing price does matter. (more…)

search for : homeowner, property, house

Site unlocks door to home value, Zillow.com offers free estimates on real estate.

Whether you enjoy scouring through property transfers for your neighbors’ homes, or driving through swanky neighborhoods to guess the price of your favorite mansions, there is a new Web site made with you in mind.

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Prudential beat Zillow to the Net

Prudential Northwest Properties saw the potential more than a year ago and launched its own valuation program, Property Investment Profiles, or PIP. It is the largest local residential real estate firm to feature a home valuation tool on its Web site. (more…)

search for : Zillow.com, property transfers, neighborhood, mansion, Zillow, Prudential Northwest Properties, valuation, Property Investment Profiles, PIP, real estate, home valuation

Is an interest only loan a viable (and smart) option?

An interest only loan is exactly what it says: the borrower pays interest only for a period of time. Let’s take this simple example: you borrow $200,000 at 6 percent. If you amortize this over 30 years, your monthly payment would be $1199.11. This only includes principal and interest, and not taxes and insurance. The principle behind an amortization loan is that at the end of 30 years, you will have paid off the loan. Why? Because each and every month, a portion of your mortgage payment goes to reduce the then outstanding principal balance of your loan. For the first seven years, the outstanding principal balance goes down very slowly. However, if you keep the loan for a longer period of time, eventually more of your payment will go toward reducing the principal and less to paying mortgage interest. (more…)

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Asheville – The Biltmore Estate

In 1914, George W. Vanderbilt died from complications from a surgery he had for appendicitis. His wife was extremely upset. So late at nights, in the Library, she would sit in front of the large marble fireplace, and talk with George. Though he was never really there. Her servants started to think she was losing her mind. To this day late at night you can still hear her voice very softly talking with George. Also, You can feel George’s presence in the Billiard Room, and the 2nd floor Oak Sitting room. (more…)

search for : Asheville, The Biltmore Estate, George W. Vanderbilt, appendicitis, marble fireplace, Billiard Room, Oak Sitting room

Asheville – The Biltmore Estate

In 1914, George W. Vanderbilt died from complications from a surgery he had for appendicitis. His wife was extremely upset. So late at nights, in the Library, she would sit in front of the large marble fireplace, and talk with George. Though he was never really there. Her servants started to think she was losing her mind. To this day late at night you can still hear her voice very softly talking with George. Also, You can feel George’s presence in the Billiard Room, and the 2nd floor Oak Sitting room. (more…)

Today’s lofty prices can mean saving tens of thousands of dollars more for a down payment than in the past. But, it’s still a dream of many young adults to buy a first home.

Mortgage lender Washington Mutual estimates that a buyer who puts down 5% on a $300,000 home with a 5.88% 30-year fixed-rate mortgage might pay $2,133 a month, including fees and property tax, while a buyer who puts 20% down would likely pay $1,682 a month. (The estimate assumes the 5%-down buyer must pay for mortgage insurance.) You’ll also need extra money set aside on top of the down payment for closing costs such as title insurance and mortgage fees, which can reach up to $5,000. If you want to pay “points” to lower your mortgage rate — a smart idea for borrowers who expect to stay in a home several years — you’ll want a few thousand dollars more. (more…)

search for : down payment, Washington Mutual, fixed-rate mortgage, property tax, insurance, mortgage fee, points