Asheville ECO-GREEN Real Estate

For some reason, I keep attracting dog lovers. Maybe that's because I am a pet-friendly REALTOR® and dog lover myself. I hop in the car with families and their poodles, beagles, hounds and mutts. I take dog biscuits with me to my listing appointments. I carry dog goodies in my glove box.  Once or twice I have to say, I actually have preferred the company of their dogs to certain "customers' who rode with me to look at land or a new "green-built" home here in the mountains near Asheville, NC. but mostly, pet-friendlyfolks are kind souls I really enjoy meeting.

A hundred or more dogs have introduced themselves to me along the way. I'd like to know why it is that dogs just seem to find a space for those in their sphere of influence to open up their hearts or laugh out loud?  

Pet-friendly clients seem to know all about that safe-haven.

Call me Snoopy, but after years of looking into it, I really am beginning to believe that pets set the stage for people to make wise choices. .. a final outcome this REALTOR® certainly can appreciate.

Here's something interesting. Most dogs I've met on the showing of properties trail seem immediately to know when they are ‘Home"...

Take for example the story I like to tell about Gloria, an 80 pound Golden Retriever.. She sat down with a satisfied thud on the third porch we visited, gazed with assurance at my client, released  a long sigh, and  any question about where she wanted to stay was settled. Never mind that it was a brand new WNC HealthyBuilt® Home with all the energy efficient features and nontoxic finishes one could ever wish for. Never mind that it had geothermal features and a rainwater catchment system. Gloria needed no convincing. This was Home!  Smart Dog.

I like to think that we have the option, through our pets and through stories, to discover more of who we and our clients are inside. I like to imagine that here is that amazing "space" that is able, somehow, to communicate what is most important to us and to them. Such treasures could help us to do well in our transactions while also making a special contribution to positive outcomes.. .for the benefit of all parties...in a sustainable way...now, and a hundred years from now.

Copyright © 2008 All Rights Reserved  Asheville ECO Real Estate: Trends, Legacies & The Home Place Greenolina  
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UPDATE: October, 2008

With an economic situation with particular challenges at hand, I'm asking 1031 Like-Kind Exchange Guru,  Matt Linville to weigh in on this again. And in the meantime, here's an Asheville 1031 review...  

Recently, I happened on an article about  Lunch and Learn, a program designed to expand training and development for staffers.  Lunch and Learn, I discovered ,could work to expand our real estate and real estate services training with a multi- outreach and professional education program. Because we are an Asheville Firm with a focus on 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges, this seemed like a great opportunity for staff and clients alike.

So, we opened our office doors to the public and inaugurated a "green investment (1031s encouraged) and sustainable issues"community and neighborhood outreach venue.

Our informal lunch-time chats, previously untitled, could become Asheville's own "1031 green" real estate's  Lunch and Learn forum. Does that sound like a Plan to you? It sure did to all the Active Rain Members at our Firm here in Asheville...   

Typical Lunch and Learn programs  include:

Eco-conscious  investing
1031 & Green
Qualifiers & the 1031 
Product training
Professional development
Personal  Development
Life Skills

Active Rain Members who enjoy camaraderie at our Firm  here in Asheville (7 of us.you can see Bill, Sami, Gabe and Rhodes, in the photo to the right) invited another Active Rain Member,  and 1031 Qualified Intermediary, Matt Linville to kick  off our Lunch and Learn program.

 Here's Matt!

Matt had informed all of us at Active Rain that there are some seriously important new developments that real estate professionals need to know if we work in the 1031 arena, so we were excited to hear what Matt had to say.

I, for one,  wanted to know what might be new in terms of  second/vacation homes, land and conservation properties as investments.

I had a good conversation with him during our Lunch and Learn session. This opportunity to speak informally with the Experts may be one of the greatest benefits of the Lunch and Learn Program, I thought.

Matt had posted on the proposed 1031 Like Kind exchange affects of the new Farm Bill currently under consideration...on his BLOG not long ago, and I wanted to know more about that, too.

Making the exchange of collectibles no longer able to qualify for tax deferment was a concern to me.  And, I stayed concerned until I read his update Farm Bill Update....1031 Like Kind Exchange . Matt informed us that " The update will bring good news to those taxpayers who exchange collectibles.  The proposed change to their qualifying nature has been dropped from the bill.  So, exchange those collectibles as normal!"

Of course, real estate professionals being who we are, an inquisitive bunch for certain, especially those of us who are into the "green is red hot" thing, we had numbers of questions about conservation and socially-conscious investing as it pertains to the 1031 Like Kind Exchange ready for Matt.

And here he was, right in our Lunch and Learn, and with all the latest news. "I will continue to keep you up to date as things happen!" Matt promised us. . .

 ...and I  will answer questions if you ask them in  comment section below. .."

THANKS, Matt!

Copyright © 2008 All Rights Reserved  Asheville ECO Real Estate: Trends, Legacies & The Home Place Greenolina  
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(*)/'(*)

I emailed my client today.  He is relocating, and we have been talking about Asheville's "green" real estate market and how attractive it is...It is about "quality of life" issues.  I said that I had a few possibilities, in terms of seeking and finding real estate possibilities for him...the juice of  "positive momentum" to add to his living green suggestions.  

I asked...How about

1)  Talk. Be a "good neighbor". You can better gauge your own insights when you talk with those in the know.
2)  Ask. Especially ask local folks .Reach out strongly for the insights of others.
3)  Use your ingenuity and the resources available. Give it your best shot.
4)  Celebrate life.  Find humor, wherever you may be.
5)  Remember that is just fine to start where you are.

Again...deep stewardship.  I got thinking, as one travels down the road of life, isn't that what living "green" is all about?

Resources

Cradle to Cradle.One of my supreme favorites, this system proposes "a new strategy called eco-effectiveness. By learning from nature's 'design principles,' eco-effective design conceives industrial systems that emulate the healthy abundance of nature."
http://www.greenblue.org/cradle_vision.html

The Center for a New American Dream. Offers ideas to help you to live consciously, simplify, and buy wisely.
http://www.newdream.org/

United States Social Forum. Provides "space to build relationships, learn from each other's experiences, share our analysis of the problems our communities face, and bring renewed insight and inspiration. It will help develop leadership and develop consciousness, vision, and strategy needed to realize another world." 
https://www.ussf2007.org/

Green Careers. An accessible career consulting practice "supporting the transition to careers that promote ecological, social and economic sustainability."
 http://www.geocities.com/greencareers/

Ashevillage Building Convergence (ABC). Possibly an example of a project to be emulated in your town. Various Asheville communities come together to build beautiful neighborhood gathering places, learn sustainable solutions for our city and our world, strengthen connections to each other while celebrating life in Asheville.
http://www.ashevillage.org/abc/

Copyright © 2008 All Rights Reserved  Asheville ECO Real Estate: Trends, Legacies & The Home Place Greenolina  
__~o
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(*)/'(*)

In the practice of real estate in Asheville, North Carolina,  one gets to enjoy long drum rolls, loud and lengthy drum rolls- for human ingenuity. This unique ability to blend common sense with "sixth sense" means many real estate professionals and their clients know how to find our way to deep stewardship.

For me, deep stewardship is the very music of a life lived in balance.  Comprised of vibrant sounds and pauses, the subtleties, it requires a lot from me in the way of participation.  I must know my parameters, do the ground work, look at facts, and energetically gather data.

And never, never may I ignore what lies beyond the apparent.

Here in our bioregion, where the streams vocalize their way down the mountainsides, and valleys quietly promise abundant harvests, life is generous.

It is not so difficult to gather facts when there is time, and there is food, and there is a spirit of community.  You and I can afford to look around us. We can see large acreages with great potential. We can collect facts via surveys, plat maps, aerials, and what they're saying down at City Hall.   We can calculate "value" by gathering data. But never, never can we ignore the sometimes subtle, yet forever intrinsic rhythm of the land.

It sings out to us. That song creates insights. Insights teach us how to harmonize practice and possibility -the all-inclusive (both, all, and side-by-side) positive momentum of life....ethics at the deepest level.

Yesterday I talked about that deep level of ethics from the "living green" perspective:

1)    BE humane- from the inside-out. Call your neighbors and talk before you make judgments.
2)    Only then, take considered action.
3)    Discipline yourself with diet, exercise, and humor.
4)    Enhance compassion for all living things.
5)    Reduce your impact on what's around you.
6)    Engage in a sustainable lifestyle.
7)    Make eco-wise choices.
8)    Honor nature's cycles.
9)    Think about quality of life. Do NOT compromise it for your grandkids.
10)  Adopt a philosophy of deep stewardship.

Today, I am looking at this deep level of ethics from the perspective of the real estate professional and our Code of Ethics where the first two items..1) BE humane- from the inside-out. Call your neighbors and talk before you make judgments....and 2)Only then, take considered action...so often come into play.

Take for example Article 12 Standards of Practice.    12-8 says we have an" obligation to present a true picture in representations to the public...and this includes..." information presented" on our web sites. Your web site may be independent of Active Rain, or you may be using your place at Active Rain as your main outreach to the public. In any case, 12-8 says that you and I need to use " reasonable efforts"  to make sure that information is "current."

Just the  other day, I ran into a case where individuals were surfing their colleagues web sites/BLOGS, (as we are inclined to do,) and they found a 12-8 situation at hand; several sites were not current! Maybe they had been abandoned? Maybe there was an illness? They didn't know. Deep level of ethics prompted a neighborly nudge to those involved. I heard that gratefully, they received this information so that they could "promptly take corrective action." 

One of the individuals told me that this way, real estate professionals, our clients and the general public all are favored. And I so agreed. I'd be interested to know what you think ...

Copyright © 2008 All Rights Reserved  Asheville ECO Real Estate: Trends, Legacies & The Home Place Greenolina  
__~o
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(*)/'(*)

Living "Green".  It's About the Positive Momentum                                                                            

One mellow afternoon last summer, as we watched the sun filter thorugh an old, old tree, a novelist and client-friend of ours talked about living "green" as we headed back from our review of some amazing conservation land.

 A " rare bird", this author, a family man, an outdoorsman with the means to invest in what matters most to his heart, namely conservation real estate in the Greater Asheville area, is also a new urbanist.

With both these perspectives in mind, that day, I asked him what living "green" was all about. Without hesitation, his fingers keeping track, he counted out:

1)    BE humane- from the inside-out. Call your neighbors and talk before you make judgments.
2)    Only then, take considered action.
3)    Discipline yourself with diet, exercise, and humor.
4)    Enhance compassion for all living things.
5)    Reduce your impact on what's around you.
6)    Engage in a sustainable lifestyle.
7)    Make eco-wise choices.
8)    Honor nature's cycles.
9)    Think about quality of life. Do NOT compromise it for your grandkids.
10)  Adopt a philosophy of deep stewardship.

Low-impact Living. Long-term Sustainability. The Sounds, the Subtleties, and Stewardship.

Our friend's recommendations could be the anthem for low-impact living and long-term sustainability- even a celebration, if you will, of reducing energy, using renewable resources, working and playing near your home, inhabiting high-performance, healthy-built structures, selecting locally-grown foods, and  respecting one another and our common birthright , clean water and air.

 I am thinking today that when this happens, low-impact living, "green" living becomes a celebration of human ingenuity.

My Broker-Pal, Good-Old-Dennis called me almost collapsing with laughter the other day. He knew I'd love his latest great real estate story about an old B& B his client was considering.  

Like you and me, he gets his fair share of questions but what he told me just made my day...so I just had to share it with Y'All .. . .

It seems that Dennis had received an email from a relocating client that had him shaking his head. It read:

Dear Dennis,

I like this property very much. It could be almost perfect. But I need to ask a few questions please:

1.  Is this property next to a railroad track?
2.  How many owners have had this B&B? 
3.  Who owns the property above it?  Is there a graveyard up there?
4.  Are the current owners willing to remove the old car in the back yard?
5.  I know it is at 4,000 feet elevation, but has it ever flooded?
6. Are there ghosts in the building?

You don't know Good-Old -Dennis, but I can tell you, he is a Trooper with a capital "T"!  (You'd have to be with four boys under the age of 6.)  Dennis was on it. He could answer #1-5 with ease. In fact, he already knew those answers. But...ghosts?  

Now, I don't know about you, but I've seen some places that could make a person shiver. I've heard some pretty eerie sounds in the old mansions around Asheville. And I've imagined what it would be like to step over an unwelcoming threshold, all of which contain elements of great real estate stories within them.  But I've never confronted a ghost...nor been asked to be a ghost confirmer...  Dennis inadvertently had joined an exclusive club of the greatest real estate stories ever told!

What to do. What to do?

Dennis called the Listing Agent. He explained that his client seemed mightily attracted to her listing...of course with the exception of the old car. Possibly they would have forward movement ...but there was just one small matter ... He paused. There was, as he described it "...a weird, pregnant silence in the air..." . He took a deep breath, a very deep breath... and got on with it, fully expecting gales of laughter .....

"Say," he asked in as diplomatic a tone as he could muster, " I wonder if you happen to know, or if you could confirm for me.... are there any ghosts in there?"

Now here's the greatest real estate story  part... (and for my friends over at the ECO-All Stars Group, true proof of dedicated stewardship, wouldn't you say? ) 

"Oh, Yes!" without hesitation the Agent replied in a solemn tone, " There a little girl that likes to turn the water on at the kitchen sink, and giggle...and there's a surly old guy that hangs out upstairs...and a young boy that likes to get behind the wheel of that old car, and a couple of others, I've been told...although I cannot say for sure..."

"But none of the ghosts has ever seemed dangerous, so I really didn't think it was a material fact.. . ."

Don't you just love the stories we get to be a part of every day?

PS///I'm posting this to "Senior Issues"  =)

A Big GREEN Thumbs Up to the
January Challenge Winners and a Few Much Appreciated Runners Up 

WINNERS

• Georgina Hunter who wrote

I encourage you to try wind power if you live where it's windy.  It's renewable and clean energy, and it's there for the taking. .Fabulous post...READ IT here

• Michael Pulakamp who told us about a very unique recycling project.

You'll love to find out about this one. Here's the link

MUCH APPRECIATED

• Emily Johnston  who wrote:

1. goin' veggie! Primarily organic... and we'll be hitting the Farmer's Market for local items. Oh, and we've cut down on how often we go to a grocery store. And we bring our own organic cotton grocery bags!

2. switching to natural cleaners - Jonelle's given me even more great tips!

3. the standards: CFLs (even on outdoor lights), dropped thermostat to 67, running dishwasher on off-peak hours, unplugging chargers and misc items, sprinkler system OFF during rainy season, ... Oh, and my business is using recycled or sustainable paper... when I'm not paperless! :-)

~Emily, The San Diego Real Estate Expert

• Stephanie Edwards-Musa  who wrote

These are all nothing too fantastic or unique, but all are excellent ways to reduce emissions and Utility Bills. Check out her winning post here.  

• Dena Stevens who shared some great links and information. 

You can check out Dena's fast track to energy efficiency here.

 

• CHECK BACK for our February DOOZIE of a Challenge...Stephanie has concocted..I bet it will be LOVEly