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Whether it's a choice to bring sustainability and healthy living indoors or the desire for energy efficiency, there are countless reasons to buy "Green." For a home to be certified requires third party verification. ENERGY STAR homes have met the requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These homes have energy-saving features that typically make them 20-30% more efficient than standard homes. Benefits for homebuyers and New Home Features can be found at www.energystar.gov. By clicking on the "Take the Tour" icon at the bottom of the page you can actually look behind the walls of an Energy Star home.

An Energy Star townhome in Black Mountain, NC

NC HealthyBuilt Homes have met criteria established by ENERGY STAR plus additional requirements which can be seen at https://wncgbc.org/healthybuilt/checklist.php. Points are awarded for builders completing the various items on the checklist. There are four levels of certification depending on how many features the home has. For a list of homeowner benefits go to https://wncgbc.org/healthybuilt/benefits.php.

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Asheville, NC was recently ranked #14 on Forbes.com's list of the Best Places for Business and Careers.  The list studies cities throughout the U.S., and ranks areas based on such factors as Cost of Doing Business, Net Migration, and Income Growth.  Asheville ranked #2 nationally on the Cost of Doing Business list, costing businesses 20% less than the national average.  As a state, North Carolina dominated this category, taking the top 4 spots and 6 of the top 7.

Overall, North Carolina had 6 cities in the top 20 of the Forbes list, including 3 in the top 6.  Kurt Badenhausen, former Associated Editor at Forbes, explains North Carolina's business-friendly environment by detailing all of the ways our state leads the way in business.

These days, a lot of folks are interested in "green" homes, and the Asheville area offers a wide variety of environmentally-friendly options.  Many of these listings are new construction properties on small lots.  But from time to time, an eco-friendly home is listed on a generous lot within an established neighborhood.  Such is the case [...]

Despite the downturn in real estate markets across the nation, Greybeard Realty experienced growth in 2008. Our market share within the Asheville Board of Realtors has increased, as our firm climbed from 19th overall to 11th. In 2008, we represented buyers or sellers in 49 home sales transactions. By comparison, we represented clients in 50 [...]

With buyers focusing more and more on energy-efficient home designs, modular home construction has become increasingly popular in the Black Mountain and Asheville area.

Modular constructions provides other advantages, including a more environmentally-friendly building process that helps minimizes construction waste.

Some modular companies [...]

I've been concerned with the best way to convey the current real estate market in Black Mountain. A preliminary look at the numbers comparing sales volume and units sold in 2008 to 2007 shows a very steep decline in both categories. Sales volume and units sold were down 38% and 41% respectively. At the same time, average and median prices [...]

For the first time, looking at the latest real estate numbers provided by Multiple Listing Service (MLS) it is possible to see the national downturn in the market creeping into our [...]

The City of Asheville ranked #5 in a report by NuWire Investor of the top 10 places to buy a vacation home in the United States.  Asheville was the top-rated town in the Eastern United States.  To see the entire list, read the article here.

These charts are based upon information gathered from the Asheville Area Multiple Listings Service (MLS) for the first quarter of 2007. A brief analysis revealed some interesting statistics.  Please note that the figures presented do not include sales outside of the MLS system such as "for sale by owner" properties and developments not [...]

People often look at the Black Mountain area for investing in vacation rental property, a topic I will discuss at length at another time, but another part of the real estate market is long term rentals. Investors often look for this property, but it can be very difficult to judge the quality of their investment. [...]