Kate Wheeler CCIM Murphy NC Real Estate for Sale

Have you ever listened to the music of the mountains at night?

We've just downloaded our first slide show, accompanied by an original song written just for us by my husband Frosty. It's called "Murphy Mountain Nights" and the instrumental version you'll hear is performed by Frosty and Tony Ford. Tony is a talented young local musician who won Star Search when he was just a kid. As a teen he performed all over the country, but now he's come home to the mountains he loves. Tony has his own recording studio in Hiwassee, Georgia and is the proud first-time dad of 2 month old son Judah.

The photos in the slide show were all shot locally by family and friends and you may recognize some of the scenes. Those of us who have found a home here in the mountains discover sights like these around every bend in the road - and sometimes from our own front porch. Penny Johnson, a local artist, has included several of these photos in her series of watercolors on display at many Murphy businesses and restaurants. I walked into Macon Bank recently and saw the view from my breakfast area on their wall!

There seems to be something about these ancient hills that lights a creative spark. Maybe it's the slower pace of life, the opportunity to finally pick up that guitar or paintbrush or camera that's been in the closet for so long. Or maybe it's the opportunity to finally create the YOU that you've always dreamed of becoming. Just listen...

Sweet music fills the night

Your secret dreams take flight

These ancient hills have power - on mountain nights.

Click on the link below to see our YouTube video -

Murphy Mountain Nights Music Video

It happened this morning...I was headed out to my car on a sunny but very chilly Friday when a flash of yellow caught my eye in the mostly brown winter landscape. A solitary daffodil bud is opening up, poking through a heap of dead leaves at the edge of the woods along my driveway.

It's from a clump of bulbs I rescued last spring, hastily transplanted in full bloom to save them from the backhoe about to bury them under a ton or more of gravel at a nearby construction site.

I wasn't sure whether the bulbs would survive. Did I get enough of the root ball? Would the new site be too dry and rocky? Only time would tell. But one thing I knew for sure - if I didn't take the time and plant the bulbs, they had no chance at all.

Spring comes early in the southern mountains of North Carolina, much earlier than in the Midwest where I grew up. But even here it's been an unusually severe winter...kind of like the bleak forecasts we've been hearing about the economic climate over the last few months.

However there's one thing I've learned over the years - no matter what you're facing, this too shall pass. Harsh winters yield to the warmth of spring. Tough times are a part of life. You do the best you can, keep planting those seeds of success. And little by little, as time goes on the signs of new growth will appear.

Today I saw my first daffodil...

If you turned on the TV over the past few days you've heard over and over about tough times in our country. Our 44^th President has the prayers and goodwill of the majority of the American public as he faces the challenges ahead.

But with those challenges come incredible opportunities for those of us who are willing to "think outside the box." There are fortunes to be made in American today. In spite of the woes of most retailers, J. Crew stock is up, thanks to the free publicity one American family has provided.

Murphy has its own retail success stories. There are several local businesses just opened in 2008 that have found a niche and capitalized on it and sales are booming. Xtreme Xchange is a popular resale boutique offering a wide selection of upscale children's and teen's clothing at affordable prices. Twice Upon A Time buys and resells the latest paperback and hardcover books and has quickly become a favorite among avid readers. And Murphy Sports Bar offers the only place downtown to have a beer and watch the game on big screen TVs on Sunday afternoons and evenings.

There are incredible opportunities in the real estate market right now too, for both buyers and sellers. One of my sellers called the other day and directed me to list his investment property here. He bought it 5 years ago and with the appreciation in price over that time, he can realize a significant profit even in today's market. He has his eye on a new home for his family in Texas that he never could have afforded in the past. But with interest rates at 50 year lows and prices rolled back, that dream home is within reach. And for someone here in Murphy there's now an opportunity to own a great place for $50,000 less than they would have paid 2 years ago!

There's no doubt that a good year is what we'd all like, especially those of us who own homes or investment real estate in today's market. Here are 4 REASONS why 2009 will be a good year for real estate in Murphy.

1. THE BUYERS ARE OUT THERE

In the last five months, we've had nearly 200 new prospects walk in our door, asking about real estate opportunities in this area. Most of these folks are Floridians who want very much to relocate to our mountains. They are watching our market while they wait to sell their Florida property. Some of them are acting now to snap up a great place here at prices they know won't be at this level forever.

2. THE MONEY IS OUT THERE

Mortgage rates are at 50 year lows and buyers with good credit can still get loans from our local banks, even on vacant lots for sale.

3. OUR LOCATION IS ONE OF THE BEST IN THE NATION!

Last year North Carolina was the 4^th fastest growing state in the US, and the #1 state east of the Mississippi in population increases. Charlotte, NC has the strongest real estate market in the country right now. Baby boomers still want to head south when they retire from the Northeast and Midwest and we have the mountain scenery and mild climate they're looking for.

4. IF IT'S PRICED RIGHT, IT SELLS!

Last week we had a seller who FINALLY agreed to reduce the price of his lot after nearly 2 years on the market. We had an accepted offer in 48 hours - just another indication that even in today's market, there are still people eager to buy. Buyers are doing their homework and they know when a property is a good deal.

It was a quiet Saturday morning in Murphy, NC, the last day of May, 2003. As I drove through downtown Murphy, I flipped on the radio just in time to hear that Eric Rudolph, one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives, had just been apprehended in North Carolina.

"Wouldn't it be a kick," I thought, "if they found him somewhere near here?"

Within two hours (of course!) CNN, NBC and every other major news provider had vans with enormous satellite dishes parked in every available space around the courthouse. By Saturday evening, the old train depot had been commandeered as a makeshift location for press conferences. Reporters from every media from the New York Times to the BBC were swarming the streets like a Biblical plague of locusts.

It was a dream story. Jeff Postell, the rookie police officer living in a trailer with grandma, Eric Rudolph, the dangerous fugitive who eluded the country's top law enforcement for years, the bizarre midnight capture as he scavenged scraps of food from a dumpster behind the Save-a-Lot - all played out in a quiet mountain town where folks don't even lock their doors.

Suddenly, Murphy, North Carolina was caught in the merciless lens of a media microscope. A local businesswoman was working at The Daily Grind coffee shop at the time. Here's how she describes the events that followed.

"Our business was the only place in town back then that had Internet access. I had reporters from every major news group bringing in their stories for me to email. At first we capitalized on the situation, selling specialty drinks like "Captured Cappucino." Then we started taking the time to read what we were sending."

"They were portraying our town and our people as rabble-rousing backwoods folk who approved and applauded what Rudolph had done. I watched them interview scores of people who came into our shop. But they never quoted the well educated, rational citizens in print or on the air. Finally, we told all of them we refused to send out any more of their stories until they began airing the views of the majority of the locals and reporting fairly rather than focusing on a handful of radicals who would say anything just to get that 15 minutes of attention."

But there's an old saying that there's no such thing as negative publicity. The capture of Eric Rudolph that summer was followed not long after by the worst hurricane season in years along the Gulf coast of Florida. Scores of people seeking a safe haven who had heard of the mountain town of Murphy, North Carolina came here to see the area for themselves.

And what they found is what I found when I came here for the first time. A town where my daughter can walk from the movie theatre to the candy store all by herself. A town where people wave when you drive by - whether they know you or not. A place where the only sounds I hear from my porch on Sunday morning are the birds singing and the faint pealing of church bells.

Murphy, NC is two hours from everywhere once again - but for those of us who call it home, we wouldn't want it any other way.