Asheville: Sample Arty Appalachian Culture

Asheville: Sample Arty Appalachian Culture

Recently www.Fodors.com named Asheville, North Carolina one of the top destinations in the entire world.

http://www.fodors.com/travel-photography/21-places-were-going-in-2011-216.html

About Asheville

Consistently ranked by as a top city for living, retiring and visiting, Asheville, North Carolina, maintains its small town charm while offering a degree of sophistication normally only found in large cities. The temperate climate emphasizes the beauty of every season and unites outdoor adventure with leisure.

Downtown Asheville holds the nation's third-largest collection of Art Deco buildings, it is also a welcoming nexus of eclectic restaurants, galleries, bookstores, shopping and a thriving arts community. Part of Asheville's elegance lies in its history as a resort town and in George W. Vanderbilt's decision, at the turn of the nineteenth century, to locate his magnificent Biltmore Estate here, bringing with him his artisans from Europe.

With its mountain scenery, rivers, waterfalls and forests, Western North Carolina is an outdoor enthusiast's dream. The region's abundance of national parks means that hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding are readily available popular activities. The French Broad, one of the world’s oldest rivers, runs through the heart of Asheville and is a favorite spot for kayaking.

One of the greatest adventures you can have in Asheville is in George W. Vanderbilt’s magnificent Biltmore Estate http://www.biltmore.com/

Visit ExploreAsheville.com and Asheville Chamber of Commerce www.ashevillechamber.org/ to learn more about Asheville, "The Paris of the South."

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When you have a free minute click on www.ashevillechamber.org/ just to watch the pictures pass and you will see what I love about this great city in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Real Estate: GOLDen Opportunity of This Decade

by STEVE HARNEY on MARCH 30, 2011 · 4 COMMENTS

in FOR BUYERS,PRICING

Everyone wants to comment on the current real estate market. They want to talk about how now is not the time to buy a home. Some even argue owning a house has never been a great investment. Most say it will be a long time before real estate again begins to appreciate. It all sounds so familiar to me. It was just a decade ago that many made the same arguments about gold as an investment.

Gold had dropped from over $400 an ounce to $250 an ounce (a 40% decline) from February 1996 to August 1999. People ran from gold as though it was a plague.

Lord William Rees-Mogg, the current Chairman of The Zurich Club, in 1997 said:

“No investment has been so thoroughly exploded as gold; most people think that there will no more be another gold boom than there will be another boom in tulip futures in The Netherlands.”

Two years later in 1999, Don Wolanchuk author of the Wolanchuk Report explained:

“Everybody hates gold. You can’t have a bottom until everybody is out. And everybody is out of the gold sector.”

Everyone knows what happened next. The proclamation of gold’s death was rather premature. Gold rose from $250 an ounce to over $1,400 an ounce in the next twelve years. I see the same situation with real estate today. I am not predicting that real estate will see the same levels of appreciation. I do believe however that the market will rebound strongly.

Those who continued to believe in gold as an investment were rewarded. Those who continue to believe in real estate as a sound investment will also be rewarded.

Here is what Adam Hamilton wrote in October 2000 in an essay titled Is Gold Dead?

The road for gold investors has been long and parched in the last five years. They have wandered through a seemingly endless desert, occasionally tempted by what proves to be an illusory mirage. Many have fallen beside the sun-cracked path, their white bones picked clean by buzzards and gleaming in the sun. Nevertheless, a brave contrarian core continues to march forward. They have studied history, currency, gold, investments, economics, and finance. They understand the timeless value of gold, the cyclical nature of the markets, and the vagaries of human psychology. They realize it is darkest before the dawn, and the journey most difficult right before the homestretch is reached. Gold is in an INCREDIBLE position, and it will have its day. Nothing goes up in price forever, and nothing goes down in price forever. Investments are cyclical. Gold is NOT dead, it is simply biding its time, waiting for its next earth-shattering mega-rally. The spoils that go to the few remaining gold investors when that day inevitably arrives will be fantastic. The stunning victory will quickly blot out the painful memories of the long struggle…

You could replace the word ‘gold’ with the words ‘real estate’ throughout this essay and it would apply today.

HUD Launches New One-Stop Website

from Daily Real Estate News

HUD Launches New One-Stop Website for Economic and Housing Data
RISMEDIA, November 23, 2010—The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has unveiled a new website (hud.gov/datamap) that consolidates a wide variety of economic and housing market data at the regional, state, metropolitan area and county levels.

Using data from the Census Bureau, Labor Department, state and local governments, housing industry sources, as well as HUD’s own field economists, the new website employs interactive maps that allow visitors to access a variety of reports—from a region-wide look at employment and housing activity to individual county-level figures on population trends, rental activity and vacancy rates.

“This is a powerful new tool that’s easy to use and offers the public a remarkable look at their local economic and housing markets,” said Dr. Raphael Bostic, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research. “Current and reliable data shouldn’t be hard to come by. This is precisely why this site will be so helpful to state and local leaders, developers, the real estate industry, and the general public who need the latest available data on their markets.”

HUD’s new website displays an interactive map of the U.S. allowing visitors an intuitive way to seek data in a number of areas of geography – from an entire region down to a particular county. In particular, the portal offers the following reports:

“Market at a Glance” reports contain economic and housing market data trends for every metropolitan area and county nationwide with employment data updated on a monthly basis. Employment data is provided from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and housing data is derived from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Some adjustments are made by HUD field economists based on regional information. The data are expected to be released on a monthly basis for most of the metropolitan areas and counties. Eventually these reports will become “live” documents enabling field economists to include analysis as they complete more in-depth research for specific areas and monitor local conditions.

“Regional Housing Market Profiles” are based on the quarterly U.S. Housing Market Conditions report and include non-farm employment, population changes, and building activity. These regional profiles also focus on the most recent housing rental and sales activity for the past two years. In addition, approximately 10-12 individual metropolitan areas are specifically profiled each quarter to provide these same data down to the metro area level.

“Regional Narratives” are broad overviews of economic and housing market trends within 10 regions of the U.S. These narratives are based on information obtained by HUD economists from state and local governments, from housing industry sources, and from their ongoing investigations of housing market conditions

“Comprehensive Housing Market Analysis” – Periodically, HUD field economists focus on particular metropolitan housing markets to produce counts and estimates of employment, population, households, and housing inventory. Each housing market analysis considers changes in the economic, demographic, and housing inventory characteristics during three periods: from 1990 to 2000; from 2000 to the as-of date of the analysis; and from the as-of date to up three years in the future.

Housing Bust? So What? We Still Want to Own.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The American Dream is still alive and kicking, including within immigrant and minority communities, according to a survey from mortgage giant Fannie Mae.

The housing crisis hasn't quenched the homeownership thirst, the company found. More than 51% of people said the bust did not change their willingness to buy a home and an additional 27% said it actually made them more likely to do so.

The crisis has not put a dent in the desire to own," said Doug Duncan, Fannie's chief economist, "although it may have changed the reasons that people want to own."

The report, the first close analysis Fannie has taken of consumer attitudes about the rent-or-own decision, found that qualitative reasons -- like having the ability to remodel or to send the kids to a better school -- have overtaken financial considerations as the primary motivators for homeownership.

Some misperceptions about financial benefits may help to keep it high.

"People's attitudes don't always line up with empirical facts," said Duncan.

For example, although trillions of dollars of equity were wiped out by the housing bust and millions of people will lose homes to foreclosure, nearly two-thirds of people surveyed still believe purchasing a house is a safe investment. That could be viewed as a major disconnect.

Buying a home now is a no-brainer

Also, more than half the public thought buying a home was a good idea financially even if they plan to move out in less than three years. That's actually rarely true because transactional costs like real estate commissions, title insurance costs and mortgage fees take a big cut off the top of selling and purchase prices.

Furthermore, a huge majority, 86% of those surveyed, cite income-tax benefits -- mostly the mortgage interest deduction -- as a big reason to buy. That benefit, however, is very small for most homeowners or even nonexistent.
"Lower-income homeowners, for example, don't itemize," said Duncan, "so there is no tax benefit for them at all."

Fannie found that no matter what their ethnicity or immigration status, Americans generally share similar positive attitudes toward homeownership, even though there are substantial differences among these groups in homeownership rates.
It seems that economic opportunities, not attitudes, account for much of the variation.

Only 44% of African Americans own homes, for instance, compared with 71% of whites, but that disparity starts to vanish among families in stronger financial circumstances. African Americans' homeownership rises to 60% for those earning between $50,000 and $99,000, for example.

The survey findings have implications for Fannie's business model. Non-Hispanic whites are projected to account for just 46% of the population by 2050. Immigration will account for most of the population growth between now and then.
And since, as the report stated, "strong homeownership aspirations exist across races, ethnicities and immigrant groups," Fannie can count on future demand for owner-occupied homes remaining strong, as long as the economy cooperates.

By Les Christie, staff writerDecember 16, 2010

Veteto's Children Explore the Trails on the Blue Ridge Parkway

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY — At the young and rambunctious ages of 4 and 5, brother and sister Wren and Mia Veteto are on their way toward promising careers as outdoor explorers. Or at least they're on the path to a life of fitness and healthy curiosity about the natural world. The siblings were honored recently at the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center as the first children to complete six trail adventures in the Kids in Parks program. “I like hiking. I went hiking six times,” said Mia Veteto, 5, of Biltmore Lake.

The siblings have actually logged many more hikes and miles on the trail, said their mom, Nina Veteto, but it only took the exploration of six TRACK Trails to earn hand-carved hiking sticks. “We met Carolyn Ward (president of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation) at a program at Mast General Store, and she told us about the Kids in Parks program. We were so excited and started doing it right away,” said Veteto, who home-schools her children. “I feel so strongly about getting them outdoors. One of the reasons I home-school is so I can maximize their outdoor time.”

The youngsters were honored by parkway assistant chief ranger Lena Koschmann and Jason Urroz, director of the Kids in Parks program, with the walking sticks carved with rivers, mountains and wildlife. Kids in Parks is a partnership of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, which are working with community partners to increase physical activity of children, to improve nutritional choices, and to get kids outdoors.

The program was funded with a three-year, $300,000 BC/BS of NC Foundation grant. Urroz said Kids in Parks is applying for another grant to continue the program after this one ends next year. “We have 200 kids registered now,” Urroz said. “You just go online to sign up and it gives parents advice on how to start. The trails are set up so you're not out in the wilderness, but you're hiking on your own.”

TRACK Trails, which stands for Trails, Ridges and Active, Caring Kids, take children and their families on self-guided scavenger hunts. The first trail was designated along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail near the Parkway Visitor Center in August 2009.

Since then, TRACK Trails have been designated at the Andy Cove Nature Trail in Pisgah National Forest, at Chimney Rock State Park and on trails on the Virginia section of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

At the start of each trail there are brochures that help guide visitors along, with different topics such as insects, ferns and birds. The program targets ages 4-9, Urroz said, but anyone from 1 to 18 can sign up.
Adults can learn just as much, Urroz said, but they can't earn the prizes such as bandanas and field guides. Those serve as incentives to lure children away from TVs and computers and into the never-ending world of exploration outdoors. There is no fee for parents to register their children.

TRACK Trail Adventures can be downloaded from the website or picked up at the trailhead. Once a trail is completed, kids go back to the website and answer some questions.
“The program is going great,” Urroz said. “We are getting seven-eight new kids a week. We're trying to get kids outdoors, off the couch and fighting childhood obesity and nature deficit disorder. If we can get children back outdoors, we can really make a change.”

Urroz said there are plans to continue expanding Kids in Parks. The next installment will be a disc golf course and nature trail at Owen High School in Black Mountain, opening Dec. 15, where children can pick up scorecards at the start of the nine-hole course that will teach them about their natural surroundings. Future disc golf nature trails are planned at Enka and North Buncombe high schools.

“Studies show that children are cognitively, physically and socially more advanced the more time they spend outdoors,” said Nina Veteto, who used to work in environmental education. “The kids love to go hiking. They run down the trail and climb trees. I tell everyone I know about it. It's free, it's safe and the kids love it.”

Brevard named "One of the Coolest Towns in America"

Budget Travel recently voted Brevard, North Carolina, one of the "Coolest Small Towns in America." In Budget Travel's fifth annual celebration of hometown escapes across the country, Brevard is chosen as one of the cities that packs personality!

According to the recent article, "If the notion of town-wide square dances with an old-time caller sounds appealing, then Brevard is your kind of place. Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains 45 minutes south of Asheville, the redbrick town is an outpost of authentic Appalachia. Every Tuesday night in summer, locals block off Main Street, a bluegrass band strikes up, and everyone lets loose."

Carolina Mountain Sales Participates in the American Cancer Society Biltmore Park Relay for Life

On June 18th, Biltmore Park hosted the first annual Relay for life. Over 37 teams and 300 people participated in raising money for the American Cancer Society. The Carolina Mountain Sales team was awarded fourth place, raising close to $3,000 for cancer reseach!! The team began raising money by flocking friends and neighbors in the Asheville area. At the crack of dawn, pink flamingos were tastefully placed on front lawns. The flocked home owner then contributed money to the cause and in turn, earned the right to have the flamingos moved to the lawn of their choice. The team also raised money by selling baked goods and raffle tickets. Everyone enjoyed live music, good food, exercise and fellowship - all for a good cause!