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Jackson County, NC Real Estate News

By Allen Lomax, WNC Mountain Homes & Horse Farms Specialists
(Steed Talker Realty is with two hours of Tryon International Equestrian Center and we offer the best properties in the area.)
Find other farms with Barn and Pasture surrounding the Jackson County Western North Carolina area The Farm: Within two hours of Tyron International Equestrian Center home to the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games, this beautiful mountain top equestrian estate provides privacy and serenity.  Riding trials surround the area.  The views from 3900 feet elevation are spectacular and the air is always fresh and invigorating.  This well-established horse operation offers everything the discerning equestrian needs to run a first-class operation. The estate showcases 30 acres of manicured pasture that is not only scenic but meticulously designed for the practicalities of keeping horses and managing all their needs. The pastures are fenced and crossed-fenced offering six huge paddocks and several sm...
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By Allen Lomax, WNC Mountain Homes & Horse Farms Specialists
(Steed Talker Realty is with two hours of Tryon International Equestrian Center and we offer the best properties in the area.)
If you've ever dreamed of living in a tree house, welcome home to your new abode. From the front ground level entrance traverse the main level to your French doors and step onto the back deck to enter into the splendor of the forest canopy without climbing a single step.In your canopy sanctuary listen to the serenade of the song bird orchestra and feel the cool mountain breeze as it brings wefts of fragrant mountain laurel. The hum of commerce mixes with the sounds of nature as the music of the busy little mountain town of Dillsboro, offers up shopping, fine dining, arts and crafts, access to the scenic Smoky Mountain Railway, and various water sports on the Tuckaseege. Your newly constructed tree house brings you 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths. This tree house Cape Cod offers living, dini...
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By Allen Lomax, WNC Mountain Homes & Horse Farms Specialists
(Steed Talker Realty is with two hours of Tryon International Equestrian Center and we offer the best properties in the area.)
After a 10 year buyer market with unbelievable values, Jackson County is entering a market that favors sellers.   Year to date new listings declined 13% and pending sales increase 100%.  Closed sales increase 103% over this time last year.  Median sales price increase 44% and the average selling price increase 72%.  Even though days on market have increased it is still a good time for sellers to put their properties on the market.Good Time To BuyBuyers should not be discouraged because property values though increasing are still at bargain prices and well below the highs of 2008.  That means that at today's selling prices a buyer can reasonably expect appreciation if market trends continue.  Another motivation for buyers are interest rates that remain fair but are projected to increase ...
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By Allen Lomax, WNC Mountain Homes & Horse Farms Specialists
(Steed Talker Realty is with two hours of Tryon International Equestrian Center and we offer the best properties in the area.)
Smart horse property buyers know the value of good pasturage so the wise property owner will maintain pasture not only for the health of their own horses but to insure the property's value remains competitive. Understand How Grass GrowsUnderstanding how grass grows is an important step towards good pasture management.  The leaves of grass or blades of grass are the light absorption mechanism that produces energy from photosynthesis.  This energy is stored in the roots as carbohydrates and drawn on by the plant to produce growth.  When grass is grazed (or mowed) the leaves are removed reducing the plants ability to absorb light and energy.  With less absorption ability the roots begin to shrink as the carbohydrate reserves are depleted.   Horses and People Damage PastureHorses and people...
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By Allen Lomax, WNC Mountain Homes & Horse Farms Specialists
(Steed Talker Realty is with two hours of Tryon International Equestrian Center and we offer the best properties in the area.)
When You are Ready to Sale Your Equestrian Luxury Horse Farm You Want the Highest Value PossibleQuite often we think that conservation and going green is something that only tree huggers do.  However, us Western Carolinians who value our equestrian lands, know that conservation is the only way to sustain the usability of our Smoky Mountain horse farms while maintaining and even increasing the economic value of our property.US Rider provides a seven-point plan to green up the Appalachian horse farm and increase the economic value of the equestrian estate. Manage Horse Pastures: The most important part of greening up the equestrian farm is keeping horse pastures healthy and mud to a minimum.  Less mud means healthier pastures and healthy and cleaner horses means less time grooming the hor...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
This morning, here near the Great Smoky Mountains in Western North Carolina, we all woke up to temperatures in the 40s!  We are almost at the end of June...and the temperature in Balsam was 49.  A friend on facebook was at Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the temperature was 39.  Weather is so interesting in that a tropical storm a 1000 miles away in the Gulf of Mexico can affect our weather here.  The birds outside are going nuts and that reminded me of the Joni Mitchell song "Chelsea Morning". The song always reminds me that every morning is a new chance to do or experience something wonderful...and an opportunity to reflect on the last several mornings that have also produced wonderful things. Everyday, someone on facebook posts about how much they love ...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
What a great community!  I've gotten many messages of concern from so many of you over the clean up of the fallen trees and getting our property back in order...thank you so much! After I posted the photos to fb, one of my former buyers...now friend, of course...reached out and volunteered to come help me take care of the debris!  I've seen in other posts of his similar acts of generosity in his hometown when neighbors have been in this same kind of predicament. Lucky, lucky, lucky for me...this kind fellow loves the chainsaw! Have a great day...I'm headed off to try and cram three days of work into one and a half days so I can take half a day and Friday off to do yard clean up.
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
It is certain that I'm not the only agent ever to look at the calendar and bemoan the fact that it's been at least a week since I posted. (Wow, does that transport me back to being a Catholic kid going into the confessional and making up stuff to confess).  This time I'm not making it up, there's been people locally telling me that they're so glad I started blogging again that I really do feel bad about the temporary lapse. It surely isn't because nothing is going on, there's plenty to talk about.  For example, at the elevation I live at 3400 ft, now is the time to get a number of things into the garden.  I have raised beds and for years I've been planting too early. Recently I attended the Mother Earth News Fair in Asheville, NC and sat in on Ira Wallace's seminar about raising garlic ...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
So...like, lots of agents I've been pretty busy.  Buyers needing to see properties, contracts to write (yes!), new listings-paperwork for new listings-photos for new listings, and fielding phone calls.  Lots of phone calls from people "thinking" about listing their homes.  Digging a little deeper, more than a few won't be listing their homes for quite some time or their neighbor's house just went on the market and they don't really want to list their own house just curious about the market value.  I get it.  The challenge in small towns in the mountains of Western North Carolina is to find good comparable recent sales of as similar properties as possible.  The callers are surprised to find out it might take a day or two to find out the answer what is their house worth. Why?  We don't ha...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
There's no doubt that the real estate profession is a pretty serious way to make a living and not all agents will infuse their serious side with their personal side.  Guess what? That's okay.  The rest of us thinks that would make for a pretty dull relationship with our clients and for me personally, I don't think I would be able to help clients find the right property without a little give and take on a personal level.  So many clues exist when someone takes the time to find out not only how many bedrooms and baths are needed but what tickles your buyer's fancy?  In my not really very humble opinion, therein lies the difference between finding a house and a home.  There's more often than not a lovely pay-off when you take the time to encourage the personal side, the real connectivity o...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
Counting your pennies is a kind of cute but pretty old school saying and hardly ever applies in house buying but the point is, there are a number of costs associated with the buyer's side of the purchase transaction.  Before any buyer starts to think the only financial obligation is the price of the house...think again. Before you even contemplate buying that house, you'd be well advised to count lots and lots of pennies. Costs associated with your house purchase will be many...loan fees, appraisal fee, home inspection, pest inspection, radon inspections, survey, chimney, water, well, septic...and these are just the most common fees!  If your home inspector determines that something (like a chimney, HVAC system, electrical component or plumbing) is a bit wonky or hinky, in other words s...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
In my real estate area of Western North Carolina, I get my share of quirky and artistic listings. They are always interesting and so far, they've always been well built. The houses, like their owners have character and personality. The target audience is definitely not from the base of the pyramid but somewhere near the top quarter. In Sylva, NC and the surrounding area we are beyond blessed to have so many creative individuals, artists, craftspeople, musicians, gardeners and the occasional talent that cannot be defined or confined by or with a category.  They all have to live somewhere and that somewhere is in a quirky but full of character home.  Somedays it feels like my number is written in the local creative individual hangouts for listing their homes. There is never a reason to be...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
Weather is rarely a surprise anymore, predictions are made so far in advance.  Here in the mountains of Western North Carolina we can certainly have variety from one county to another, from the valleys to the mountains and from the towns to the country.  Today though, we all woke up to crisp and clear weather.  It is an extraordinary morning.  This may not have been a surprise but it is unusually early for this kind of weather.The thermometer showed 39 degrees today. No wind and now the sun is out and things will warm up nicely and quickly.  This morning when I went out on the deck to pour water into the dog bowls, our little sun metal art that I fondly refer to as "Monica's Gift" was bedecked with sparkling webs.  What I love about this piece is that by tomorrow it will look completely...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
Yes, for bonafide real estate customers I will definitely work on the weekends.  However, if I'm not booked by Friday morning then I really look forward to the weekends.This weekend started with a little tomato harvest.  These are tiny little cherry tomatoes and we still have a number of green ones on the vine but I fear the yield will be limited since we are headed into fall.In just a few minutes, I'll head out to the raised beds armed with my therm-a-rest kneeling pad, a dish to put weeds in, a small spade to dig up the spent squash and my camera.Some gardeners just elect to leave all the dead plants in the garden and then they'll turn that debris into the dirt in the spring.  That's up to them though.  I don't want to take a chance that there might be some blight or non-beneficial in...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
Some weeks, it seems that there is plenty of time to book everything I need to and no big deal if someone is late or grrrrrr a no show but not so much this week.Everyday I will have a couple of written in stone events to attend and they aren't all located within a city block.  This is the country and sometimes nothing is close together.This week starts off with the people I trust the most with taking down some of our very big, very old and very ailing trees.  Jeff Polson's company Western Carolina Tree Company will be here shortly so time is tight even to do this post!Our Boards of Realtors and MLS with a neighboring county are merging and since I serve on the Board of Directors of the Board, there are details to be worked out.  Those meetings start insanely early and I never want to be...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
You can barely turn on any of the local news channels or open the local newspapers in Sylva, NC and the surrounding areas without seeing headlines boasting about the Mountain Faith Band from Sylva, North Carolina.  They have successfully arrived in the play-offs of America's Got Talent and voting is tomorrow!Yes, it is completely true that the McMahan family behind the band has been playing together since they were little kids.  They not only headline at local festivals and music venues but they've done an impressive amount of traveling as well.  It is also true that Mr. McMahan owns High Country Tire at the foot of Cowee Mountain and in between tire changes and gas fill-ups (yes, they have service people fill your tank for the same price as self-serve!), the band would practice their m...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
I'm thankful to be in a profession that with the exception of actually showing properties, can be handled anywhere there is a cell signal or an internet connection.  That is a real plus for Realtors.Most of the "business hour" time, I AM in our office but occasionally there will be a weekday that I'll handle other things.  Our friend of almost 30 years (and our current MoonDancer Realty office landlord) told me that one of our neighbors in Dillsboro noticed we weren't in the office on Tuesday and hoped everything was okay.  He told them, "they're probably just bringing their garden in".He was right.We've worked, in Robin William's words "full tilt Bozo" on a good number of contracts all year and managed to get six 4x12 raised beds in and a garden planted.  As it just so happened, one of...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
Most buyers, especially new buyers, rarely know in advance that lots of money may leave their account long before they purchase a piece of property. It's a difficult theory for some to follow, that your Due Diligence or inspection period is going to cost money, potentially lots of money.  Even more difficult to grasp is that the buyer may well spend this inspection money and then not even buy the house!Sure enough, your Buyer's Agent may be able to negotiate some seller contribution towards these costs but the reimbursement happens at the closing table, not when you engage the necessary professionals.In North Carolina, an attorney is going to do your closing for you. At some point, the title research will begin.  The attorney wants to be sure that the property you are purchasing does no...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
Gardening can be seductive...a lot of work but really seductive.  Before I knew it, I was in for the ride of my life.  It started simply, a way to take control over some of the food that enters my body.  We studied how to do this, asked advice from any friend who'd ever turned a shovel of dirt, attended the Jackson County NC Cooperative Extension seminars and googled and youtubed the subject like crazy.It worked! Now, we have food stuff all over the place.  We can hardly find a square inch of counter space that isn't occupied by tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers or beans, beans, beans.  Along with learning how to grow things, we've also been trying to learn how to preserve what we've grown.During the last two weekends, I've managed to figure out how to turn cucumbers into pic...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
"I have loved this house more than any other in my life", says the current owner. "The mountains can be seen through almost every window. There's a hot tub on our covered patio and the deck runs down the front and side of the house for great entertaining."   The houses that are the most pleasure to list and sell are the ones that the current owners have loved, respected and maintained. This is all that and more. "Ready to move into" is such a cliche in our industry but the house at 108 Hardrock Road is "turnkey" and "ready to move into".     This approximately 1200 square foot, 3 bedroom and 1 bath house has always been well maintained but from the moment the current owners decided to sell the house they have given the property a lovely spa treatment. Fresh paint inside and out gives ou...
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Jackson County, NC Real Estate Professionals