What towns in NC mtns for 2nd home?

Toured areas around Asheville both N and S. Some beatiful communities very close to town some with elevations nearing 3500 with nice views. Black mtn area has a couple of spectacular view communities. Wooded lots, valley and mtn range views cool temps. Very attractive to this flatlander from FL. Black Mtn is about 20 minutes to Asheville. The town itself is quaint w/ mom and pop shops.....no starbucks here!

In Blowing Rock right now to get a handle on this part of state. As Daniel said it is a beautiful part of the country.

 

First I want to thank all of my fellow FChatters for insight on the various areas in the mountains. We have spent the last 6 days touring Asheville, Waynesville, Black Mountain, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk and Cashiers.

Our first day was touring Waynesville surrounds. There is a lot of open country and great mountain views. We did find a community, Smokey Mountain Retreat that we liked. SMR had only log cabin homes in the woods with mountain views. The homes have been built over the past 5 years.

Second day was touring Asheville, Fairview and Black Mountain. - North of Asheville Reynolds mtn has nice homes and mtn views; south of Asheville had a couple of communities with same near the Biltmore Forest. We did not think there were mtn views that close to Asheville. We were pleasantly surprised. There seemed to be some deals for nice homes. After Asheville we traveled Southeast to Fairview then on further east to Black mtn. Two nice communities near Black Mountain had spectacular views. One, Creston is surrounded by conservancy areas and had really incredible views. Creston probably had the best views of any mountain home community we toured. It is a bit out of the way with the nearest town about 10 miles away. Overall we left Asheville, Waynesville and Black Mountain areas pleasantly surprised.

Sunday night we drove up 221 to Blowing Rock. We probably should have taken 321 as it is an easier drive. 221 in the dark while driving a Rialta [small VW based RV] is not my idea of fun, but it was no big deal other than my better half wondering if we were lost. I would have enjoyed driving it it in my SA or the C/4 but have movies, fridge, a bed and bathroom......guess I have learned what it takes to stay married for 30+ years. I kiddingly refer to it as Driving Miss Daisy..... which is often followed by slap on the back of my head.

Monday we began touring Blowing Rock. Saw some nice lots to build on. BR is surrounded by National Forest lands providing protection and some great views. Some of the best lots had gorge views combined with long range mountain views. But there did not seem to be all that many choices for great lots. Either the lot was too steep [big construction $$] or it did not have better views. I guess that the BR area just does not have that much inventory of what we are looking for. The better lots were in small communities with 7 to 10 homes. We only found 2 that we would seriously consider. We also toured a few homes that were deals. Both had motivated sellers. But when I did the math of acquisition and renovations it did not seem to make sense.

The same day we toured Banner Elk. Banner has a couple of new communities with a lot of amenities. One, Eagles Nest even has a hillclimb race going on this weekend. The other Headwaters is a first class community with lots of long range view lots. But I got a better feeling from the town of Blowing Rock than I did from Banner Elk. To me it appears that BR has a more central core with its Main Street. Sure it is touristy, but it gave me a sense purpose and comfort that I did not get from Banner. Accordingly we decided to extend our stay and spent 3 days touring Blowing Rock homes and lots.

On Wednesday night we drove from BR to Highlands. Once again we picked the most winding road to travel in the dark. This time I was the one who thought we were lost. No cell service and a Garmin with a dead battery [lost the cord]. But we made it to check into the Old Edwards Inn. Beautiful hotel. Wish we had time to see the spa, but this is a trip with purpose leaving little time to sit back and relax.

Today [Thursday] we toured real estate in Cashiers. I had a preconceived notion that this area was overvalued and overpriced. I was wrong. Not only were there tons of beautiful building lots available, but there were also new or nearly new homes on the market for well under replacement cost. As an example a beautiful new and very private builder spec home on 4 acres in a nice community for $600k. Replacement would be $900k+. [I am a developer-builder so I can figure this out fairly easily.] It seems that there are a lot of VERY motivated sellers [or banks] in the market. We only had time to see about 6 homes and 10 lots, but we were very surprised at what can be had for very aggressive prices. I believe it is easier to find what we are looking for in Cashiers compared to any where we toured. However I also believe that the softness of the Cashiers market will endure for quite a long time. So if we make Cashiers our desired choice we better be prepared to stay for the long haul. I don't see price appreciation happening here for many years [8+?].

We would have like to toured real estate in the Highlands area, but we have run out of time and must head back to FL.

So we will go back to Naples and think about what our short list is going to be. Right now we are thinking Blowing Rock and Cashiers/Highlands as our preferences. Neither are near any major airports so accessibility from Naples is not the best. But we intend to live in NC from June until Oct so maybe that is not as big a parameter as we had previously established. One issue that I want to check out is the rainfall. Somewhere I remember reading where Cashiers/Highlands is in a temperate rainforest. Not sure what that means, but it sounds like a lot of rain. Being from the Sunshine State where we think the sky is falling if it is gray for more than one day this is worth a bit more investigation. Maybe someone can give us a bit more insight into this.

On the road in the morning for our 12 hour drive back to Naples.

will fill you in on our thought process about our 2nd home decision......keep the comments and thoughts coming

ciao
Steve Cantera

 

John,

I don't see us moving out of Naples right now. I have a business here, my son and his family are here and my in-laws are also in Naples. But I also know enough to not try to predict the future so your points are well taken. I have a specific vision in my mind of a mountain home with 3-4 BRs, great room, office and with a 2 car garage. I also want a larger detached garage with a guest suite above. Most of the time there will be 3 of us [grandson......long story] at home. But we will have visitors from PA/DE, FL and Italy that will require more BRs when they come calling.

So although my wife is a true Florida girl I intend to plan on any potential situation. I know that making a "two step" move is not the right thing to do. I hope to find the right lot and build the house that fits our lifestyle......including a big garage!

 

Rbtrader,

We did get a chance to look at one of the Lake Glenville new communities. I think it was called the Lake Club. Being as big as it is I would guess that there are other opportunities on the lake. Cashiers made our short list. Since we only toured one day I plan on coming back to view more properties.

It is hard to predict the future with respect to real estate values. My old rule was that plan to be in a home for 5 yrs if one needed to recoup their investment. But each market is unique in some way. Inventory and supply issues are what will dictate what happens in Cashiers. Floridians needing to sell their homes are not helping the market. But it too will pass...

Not sure if a lake community or mountain community [bordered by National forest] is more desirable for us. Clearly I need to spend more time to learn the lay of the land. Feel free to pitch in with any thoughts or comments.

 

Husker,

Yes, we did find our spot in the mountains. We had narrowed our town/area choices down to 2.......Highlands/Cashiers and Blowing Rock. Although we preferred Blowing Rock there really were not any properties that we really liked on the market. This was unlike Cashiers where we found many choices and some good deals. It seemed we were heading that way.

But as luck would have it a Ferrari Fall Colors Drive was organized by the NC Chapter of the FCA in October. Set in a resort in Blowing Rock my family came up from FL for the weekend. The event was a good time with a great drive and fun socials. After the weekend my wife and I stayed on to look around Blowing Rock again. A property came on the market that was not available on our previous trip. It was a 10 acre property w/ gorge and mountain views, southern exposure, buildable area w/ reasonable slope.....and only 1 mile from the center of town. It hit all my hot buttons with location being the primary driver. As a developer/builder for the past 30 yrs I know a good property when I see one.

We are under contract and hope to close within the next 2 weeks. Design of our new home [and detached garage] is in the construction drawing phase and should be completed this week. I have interviewed 4 builders and am almost ready to put the package out to bid. [Fun being on the other side of the table for a change]. Our plans are to begin construction asap w/ hope to be in the home next spring.

So after my long-winded answer........yes we found our dream property. Can't wait. Blowing Rock will be a great home to summer and a fun place drive my Fcars.

best

 

On Friday we settled on our acquisition of 10 acres in the mtns. Located 1 mile from the center of Blowing Rock this site is everything we could have hoped for. Wooded, long views, south slope.........a dream come true!

House is already designed and out for pricing. Can't wait to get started. Our plan is to live in the mtns from June thru October before returning to Naples. Finally........a place to drive my cars!! I really look forward to joining the Carolina folks in various events and get togethers.

NC here we come! Here is a pic of our home-to-be.
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