About Watauga County, NC

Why Green was a great success marketing and presenting local Green Thinking and acting folks.

Open to the public, a dozen presenters briefly explained what they had to offer and why it would be a good service or product, adding notice of tax Incentives to boot.

We had the following speakers donate their time and expertise:

Presenters and their topics:

Judy Wagner & Brian Rogers - NAR Green Designee REALTORS

- Green Designee REALTORS are the "Source of your Source"

Sam Zimmerman of Sunny Day Homes, Inc.

- Target Zero: Energy Focused Remodeling and Retrofitting

Travis Thompson of T-Square Solar Solutions,

- Solar Water Heating

Scott Suddreth of Building Performance Engineering

- HERS Certification, Blower Door Testing

Harold Gertner ASU Energy Center

- Western NC Renewable Energy Initiative: Renewable Energy

Resources and Education

Dwight Simmons of Mountain Lumber

- Green Vendor

Adrian Tait

- Greenman Studios - Green Home Design

Scott Eggers of Blue Ridge Energies

- CFL's and Water Heater Jacket Kit (Conservation)

Drew Petrey of Mountaineer Sheet Metal

- Green Heat & Air Geo-Thermal (Remodel)

Robert N. Oelberg ASLA PA

- Green Building Guidelines for Site Development and Landscaping

Dave Parks of Distinctive Kitchens & Baths

- Green Products for Kitchen & Bath

Landon Phillips- Green Appraisals and their Value

I was so inspired by the speakers and the reception they (we ) received.

Connections were made, jobs lined up and smiles abounded. I look forward to many more connect the vendor to the consumer in Building and Remodeling GREEN.

Thanks to one and all who worked on and attended the event.

Greystone...one of Blowing Rock's premier gated communities. Tucked away off of the Blue Ride Parkway between Boone and Blowing Rock, Greystone is synonymous with mountain luxury. The community boasts big gorge views and pristine craftsmanship while still maintaining a laid back, natural feel.

The location is hard to beat. It's far enough out that you are away from the hustle and bustle of town but still close to all of the great amenities that this area has to offer. In ten minutes you can be shopping at Shoppes on the Parkway or sipping a glass of wine watching the sunset on the deck of Canyon's or seeing a show or movie at the Hayes Performing Arts Center in Blowing Rock. In 15 minutes you can be downtown Boone browsing through Mast General Store, eating at one of the many great restaurants or checking out a football game at Appalachian State University. There are also tons of exciting outdoor activities available in the area: hiking, rafting, trout fishing, skiing/snowboarding and climbing to name a few.

It is my privilege to have recently taken a very unique listing in Greystone. I won't go on and on about it but I would like to highlight a few features and post up some pictures. If you have any additional interest, here's a link to the MLS sheet and you can contact me directly for more information.

This home is great for entertaining. It features an open floor plan with cathedral ceilings, state of the art kitchen, formal dining room and 2 levels of wrap around decks. The wooded double lot gives the feeling of living in a tree house but there is the potential for view with some trimming off of the back deck.

The architecture in the great room is stunning. This home definitely has the "wow factor", but the thing I like most about it is that it's a true blank canvas just waiting for you to put your mark on it. The floor plan is so light and airy that anything is possible. A more rustic look would be easy to create with little effort. In fact, the seller is an interior designer and is offering 10 hours of consultation at no charge to the buyer in order to help create your mountain dream. The home is yours for the taking, don't let this amazing opportunity pass you by!

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers...I've never been a math person but the more I run the numbers for different aspects of the market the more I actually find it addictive. There is so much value in analyzing the facts now when most people are wading in a sea of vast generalities pertaining to the real estate market. Now that I'm really looking at the stats I don't know how I ever spoke intelligently about the market before now.

Last month in my Market Report I predicted that this years May would start to break away from May 2009. Up until now, the early part of 2009 has followed in early 2008's footsteps across the board. It's looking like this is still very much the case. That isn't the end of the world since Boone and Blowing Rock are resort areas and therefore our market hasn't taken as big of a hit as other areas. We've slowed but stayed relatively steady through out the whole downturn.

May 2008 saw 54 home sales while this May saw only 33. I was surprised by these numbers because to me it feels like there is a lot more buyer traffic this year but I think we're just going to have to see how the rest of the summer plays out. I am still very optimistic. We only saw a slight increase in days on the market when comparing the two years and also only a slight bump this year in the percentage of list price that homes sold for (93% May 08 and 92% May 09)

I decided to focus mainly on what price ranges were selling as seen in the charts below. The under 300k range overwhelmingly takes the lead on both, followed by the 300k-600k range. I'm sure that this comes as no surprise but it puts things into perspective when you see the percentages mapped out.

I hope that this helps demystify the current real estate market in the "High Country". Please feel free to contact me directly for more detailed information. Also, if you're on Facebook, I've created a Blowing Rock Real Estate page where I add market updates and things going on in the area if you become a "fan".

Thanks for reading!

(This article is copied with permission from Scott Nicholson of the Mountain Times)

Sections of U.S. 321 will be closed Mondays
Motorists traveling off the mountain toward Lenoir and Hickory will need to steer clear of U.S. 321 on Monday nights.
The N.C. Department of Transportation is adding another closure to help with blasting for the widening project. The additional closure will be on Monday nights between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., beginning on June 1.
The regular closures, taking place from from 12 noon to 2 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, will continue, though NCDOT engineer Lee Hammer said the Monday-night closings may reduce the number of Tuesday closings as crews will be able to blast and remove larger sections of rock with the expanded window of time.
“The one good thing about this is they should be able to pull off a much larger blast, which should move the project along faster,” Hammer said.
The complete project is already more than half a year late. The $64 million widening of a 6.6-mile section from Caldwell County to Blackberry Road was due to be completed by Aug. 15, 2008. It is currently about 80 percent complete, according to Hammer. He anticipates the Monday-night closing will remain in place for at least several months.
The detour from the Boone area follows U.S. 421 to Wilkes County and then detours west on N.C. 18 to Lenoir, reconnecting with U.S. 321.
The third phase of the road widening, originally scheduled to start in 2008, was delayed because of a lack of funds. The right-of-way acquisition is under way in Blowing Rock, with the contract scheduled to be granted in October 2010.
The U.S. 321 widening through the Green Park historic district will be a narrower four-laned highway with no median, while the route near the town of Blowing Rock will include sidewalks, medians and other amenities.
The right-of-way acquisition is under way in Blowing Rock for the third phase of the widening, with the contract scheduled to be granted in October 2010. Pettyjohn said the right-of-way purchases had stalled due to lack of funding.
The route will run from Blackberry Road to Possum Hollow Road near the Tanger Outlet Shoppes on the Parkway. The final 4.3-mile section of the widening project through the town will cost about $46 million.

Our office went on a caravan yesterday and I couldn't resist posting pictures of these really cute homes in the Blowing Rock Area. Everything has just turned really green here, it's the best time of year to take pictures. (Except October of course when all of the leaves change).

Enjoy...