Asheville: Best Market to Buy a Home

Not surprisingly, Asheville is often mentioned in Money's "Best Places" lists, including the Best Places to Retire and 2009's reader's choice. In more recent news, the Blue Ridge haven has been pinpointed by CNN as one of the 5 best markets to buy a home. Along with southern South Carolina; Reading, PA; Sante Fe, NM; and Portland, ME, Asheville has some enticing qualities of which home buyers should take notice. Not even including the natural scenery and eclectic cultural heritage, which have long been drawing tourists and residents to the area, Asheville boasts relatively inexpensive homes that have risen only 5% since prices bottomed out in 2011. A typical Asheville home goes for $249,000, while few listings are over $350,000.

The Alex Krug Combo hits the stage at Highland Brewing Company tonight from 6-8p. Composed at its core of songwriter Alex Krug, violinist Ashley Cofield, and upright bass player Kevin Lampson, this Rock/Americana group promises a local music treat for its audiences. The group has evolved over the years to include such contributors as Patrick Armitage on the drum kit and Stu Benjamin on slide guitar. Tonight the band will be releasing their self-titled EP during their live performance. Enjoy the show, sample some fine local beers, and make a night of it! 

Advice from Sellers to Buyers, Asheville and Otherwise

Contrary to common belief, real estate sellers and buyers are not entirely at odds with one another. The case in point, and the uniting force that drives both parties, is the property. The seller wants to sell it; the buyer wants to purchase it. In order to help buyers out, Ask Tara @Trulia has compiled five insider secrets from the seller's side of the property push:

1. Pointing out the flaws of my home does not make me want to sell it to you for less.

2. Knowing that you have cash makes me feel more comfortable selling to you.

3. Close-ability is a close second to proof of "cash to close."

4. Your agent is your face in the selling world, so choose wisely.

5. Make reasonable requests, phrase them nicely, and live up to your end of the bargain throughout the transaction.

Keeping Current Matters' 5 Quick Tips for Agents:

1. We Must Be Able to Establish Trust
One of the tragedies of the economic crisis is that fact that consumers have lost trust in many of the brands, companies and people they do business with. Ford Motor Company, in their eGuide 13 Trends for 2013, reveals:

"Weary of misinformation, people are making integrity a new form of competitive advantage...More important than ever to building brand equity and differentiation, trust has become a precious commodity."

If you want to learn the four perceptions that drive trust in a consumer, join our free webinar, KCM's 5 Keys to Succeeding in Real Estate's New Market Reality.

2. We Must Become a Market Expert
Gone are the days of doing business with a client just because our children played on the same soccer team or they loved the cherry pie recipe we sent them. Today's consumer wants an industry professional that truly understands what is happening in the housing market, why it is happening and what it all means to the client and their family. We must become that expert.

Are you ready to commit to being THE market expert in your area? Check out KeepingCurrentMatters.com for the industry updates and information you need.

3. We Must Have the Heart of a Teacher
Today's market is extremely confusing. With so much information (noise) accessible, the consumer needs someone who is willing to take the time to sit down with them and explain what actually is happening in a plain, straightforward manner (signal). As Dave Ramsey said:

"When getting help with money, whether it is insurance, real estate or investments you should always look for someone with the heart of a
teacher, not the heart of a salesman."

For a clearer understanding of this concept, download our new eGuide
Real Estate's New Market Reality.

4. We Must Spread Our Knowledge
Whether by direct mail, blogging or other social media venues, we must be committed to spreading what we know as a market expert. We must build our brand as a 'thought leader' in the industry so the consumer reaches out to us for help with their housing needs.

Want help building a brand as a real estate expert on Facebook? Join thousands of other industry professionals, who have watched the free replay of webinar, The Facebook Strategy That Brands You as the Market Expert.

5. We Must Build Lifelong Relationships
Too many agents see the business as a never-ending cycle of 60-90 day transactions. Instead, we must be prepared to treat every client in a way that we create lifelong relationships. NAR stats consistently reveal that, at the closing, over 80% of clients say they would reuse us but less than 20% actually do. Current technology enables us to have a sophisticated, yet simple, way of keeping in touch with our past clients. We must commit to doing that - STARTING TODAY!

March is upon us, so take a look at KW's monthly calendar and newsletter:

Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce ENews for this week:
Highlighting the economic impact of 100 new jobs :: Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce | MyNewsletterBuilder