“The less competitive the market, the more concerned buyers will be with the condition of the home they are considering,” says Kathleen Kuhn, president and CEO of HouseMaster®, the oldest and most experienced name in home inspections. “History shows that the ebb and flow of the market can have very positive effects on related industries, particularly on companies that have invested in training and service — home inspection or mortgage companies, for example.”

Says Kuhn, “Last year, the market was so hot that some buyers were opting to forgo their home inspection contingency in an effort to win the house over other bidders. In a more stable market, buyers are more concerned with condition and value, and therefore more likely to invest in a home inspection.” In addition, sellers are arranging more pre-inspections than ever before, in an effort to help document conditions within the home and minimize negotiations. “Having a home inspected prior to listing is beneficial to both the seller and the buyer,” says Chris Messick of Edgewood GMAC Real Estate in Yardley, PA. “It allows the seller to be informed of any issues upfront and to allow for corrections to be made well in advance of closing. When a buyer tours a home that they are considering buying, they can be presented with the inspection report and the seller can show what, if anything, has already been taken care of. This can be very comforting to a buyer. It’s a win-win.” (more…)

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With numerous national forests and parks in the area, miles of trails eagerly await the bike tires, running shoes, and hiking boots of those who explore and enjoy our vast and beautiful forests. Two such forests are Pisgah and Nantahala national forests, where the possible sale of 6,600 acres of public land has been proposed. Over the past couple of months the public has responded with resounding disapproval towards these sales.

The Pisgah and Nantahala forests are the two biggest national forests in North Carolina and are a priceless resource not only to citizens of Western North Carolina, but also to many tourists who come to visit our pristine surroundings. It is this type of environment and community that people identify with Asheville. Asheville is known for its extraordinary location and for its citizen’s appreciation for their environment. As Asheville continues to grow and expand it is important that we don’t lose this vision of Asheville. (more…)

search for : national forests and parks, Pisgah, Nantahala, forests, North Carolina, Western North Carolina, Asheville, environment

After being laid off from his $80 a week factory job in 1967, Mike Summey took his $300 severance and began a career as an entrepreneur and real estate investor that fulfilled a goal he set for himself at that time: to become a millionaire by age 30 and retire by age 50.

Now 60, Summey lives on a 25-acre retreat in Leicester and enjoys a seven-figure annual income from the several hundred properties he owns in Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. Summey said he bought his first investment property in 1972 and has never sold one. (more…)

search for : Mike Summey, millionaire, Leicester, Western North Carolina, South Carolina, investment property

The period of public comment on the controversial “Road to Nowhere” project through Great Smoky Mountains National Park closed Friday with park officials receiving more than 70,000 letters, e-mails and faxes. Park spokesman Bob Miller said the vast bulk of the comments were automated responses to e-mails and faxes sent out by environmental and conservation groups opposed to resuming construction on the road, which now dead-ends seven miles west of Bryson City, just inside the national park.

A 1943 agreement between North Carolina and the federal government promised construction of a road to replace a state highway flooded when the dam was built, provided Congress provided funding. Only a short section was built before high costs and environmental concerns halted work in 1972. The issue was revived six years ago when U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor, R-N.C., secured $16 million in federal money to resume construction. Supporters of the road say it would give residents forced out by construction of the dam and their descendants access to family cemeteries and homeplaces. The National Park Service now takes those people across Fontana Lake by boat for annual cemetery decoration days. (more…)

search for : Road to Nowhere, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, environmental, conservation groups, Bryson City, North Carolina, Rep. Charles Taylor, R-N.C, Fontana Lake

Western North Carolina has a new organization of cyclists. The Southern Off-Road Bicycling Association was chartered in November and is the first mountain biking club in Western North Carolina. With more than 35 members and growing, the club is a member-based, nonprofit organization formed to promote trail preservation and development, mountain bike racing, touring, fun and fellowship for mountain cyclists in the Southeast.

The Pisgah Area SORBA will be working with the Western North Carolina Bike Dealers Association as well as federal, state, Buncombe County and city of Asheville land managers to build and maintain local trails. First on its to-do list is a trail-building and maintenance clinic on Saturday at DuPont State Forest, where Woody Keen, president of the Professional Trail Builders Association and co-owner of Trail Dynamics, will teach a three-day class. “It’s about volunteerism,” club member Rick Schrader said. “The more hands the better. That’s one of the reasons for the classes, so we can get qualified for (trail maintenance). It requires a lot of training to go into the national forests and do this kind of stuff.” (more…)

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The ascent of Bald Mountain, a steep and rocky 350-foot elevation change from bottom to top, provides a fairly strenuous workout. Depending on the route taken, it also poses several drop-offs hikers skim by cautiously. The land trust told its hikers that the climb is not well-suited for children or pets off the leash. “I wouldn’t advise just any and everybody to pick up their shoes and go out there without knowing what they’re doing,” Walser said. “It’s a difficult, strenuous hike, in some respects a little bit dangerous.”

A 35-minute hike from the parking lot, the forested summit provides views of Davidson, Rowan, Stanly and Montgomery counties and, on a clear day, uptown Charlotte. Another feature in the area is the mountain’s sheer cliff face that attracts rock climbers and rappellers. It’s the site of an old quarry from which workers pulled stone to build the dams that harnessed the Yadkin River. Getting to it requires a scramble back down the mountain and along a trail that is better-worn and more colorful. Graffiti decorate rocks along the trail. “Jesus saves,” one proclaims. Another says that Ted Nugent does something not nearly as nice. Remains of the old quarry conveyor stand nearby like ruins of a thick-walled fort. (more…)

search for : Bald Mountain, hikers, land trust, Davidson, Rowan, Stanly, Montgomery, Yadkin River