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Sylva, NC Real Estate News

By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
  While working with someone new to the area today, I was reminded of when I first moved here to the mountains of Western North Carolina 25 years ago.  I remember thinking  "How will I ever find everything I need in this new place?".   People moving here from large metropolitan areas really are mystified as to how they will be able to access all of the services they are used to.  Make no mistake, small towns are different...but for many people, they are different in a good way.  Believe it or not, just about everything you can find in a big city, you can find here.  The quality is here, maybe just not the quantity.  The trip to get those items could be right in town, or you might have to travel just a little further - but the views that accompany you on your trip are incredible.   So, ...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
After an incredibly busy morning it was time to meet our clients at City Lights Cafe in Sylva for lunch.  What a welcome treat it was and a grand chance to relax.  While the restaurant has been there for a while, it's gone through a couple of names and owners.  This newest incarnation is the best!  The new owner, Bernadette, has so much to be proud of.  She has created the perfect kind of menu.  You know the kind, everything is so tempting that its difficult to make a quick decision.  Maybe that was her plan.  The complete antithesis to "fast food".  A grand opportunity to fully appreciate what you are about to eat.  A very intentional experience.   The food was fantastic, Leslie and I each had different crepes and Nelson and Jeannette had scrumptious looking grilled pannini sandwiches....
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
When you think about eating out in our area - Sylva, NC really is the little town with the big town amenities.    When I was telling Leslie about participating in the 30 Day ActiveRain Localism Challenge, she had the great suggestion to write about the many advantages to living in this area and the access we have to many of the same things that bigger cities boast about.  As soon as she said that, I started seeing this Town of Sylva and the surrounding towns in Jackson County with new eyes.  There is so much to talk about, this will take several days to even just give you a sample.  I'm looking forward to sharing with you everything that makes this area special.     Take tomorrow for example.  We have a lunch date with clients who we really like to visit with.  We do this every two or t...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
    Jackson County, North Carolina offers a number of really fine subdivisions, but I think one of my favorites is Sylva Vista. I posted an article the other day about the sense of community Sylva Vista exhibits, but today I want you to know how convenient it is to the Town of Sylva. It’s wonderful that a subdivision like Sylva Vista can boast privacy, views AND convenience to everything you might need on a daily basis.     Less than 10 minutes from Sylva Vista’s entrance is grocery shopping at Food Lion, movies at the Quin Theater, ice cream & coffee at Jack the Dipper, health care providers at WestCare Hospital, ABC Liquor Store, pizza at Nick & Nate’s, other restaurants and shopping in downtown Sylva and Jackson County’s new pride and joy - our gorgeous new public library.     Speaki...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
  For those people wanting to move to the mountains of Western North Carolina and desiring to achieve the feeling of privacy, surrounded by raw beauty and coupled with the security of "community" will find that ideal combination in the Sylva Vista Development in Jackson County, North Carolina.   The full team of MoonDancer Realty, including the Office Manager, visited our good friend at her home in Sylva Vista yesterday evening. Leslie and I talked about the scary roads I’d shown property on over the weekend while we drove through Sylva Vista. All we could think about was how organized the Sylva Vista Road Maintenance Committee must be to have these incredible wide and smooth roads. Rather than fight the terrain, the developers managed to design the roads to integrate into the grade gen...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
The images of art in the house on Lantern's Wick Trail in the Greens Creek community of Sylva, NC speak for themselves.   Enjoy some more of the artwork of Paulette Taiclet.  There will still be more posts of her graphic comic inspired paintings but for now, here are two pieces of stained glass, an impressive pencil sketch and a portion of a truly unbelieveable self-portrait produced on a quilt.     There does not appear to be a medium that Paulette Taiclet does not excel at!   When any agent takes a new listing, we can never know beforehand what kind of deep impression the seller will make on us...and often it has nothing to do with the listing.   I believe that Paulette Taiclet is inspired no matter where she is, but obviously the house on Lantern's Wick Trail in the Greens Creek comm...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
I can't believe it. Sylva and Jackson County, NC's local radio station - WRGC has just been silenced!  Jackson County which just this year created one of the most fabulous public libraries I've ever seen and who is growing daily with the addition of wonderful new businesses and restaurants no longer has its AM radio station, WRGC.  People who live in larger towns can't understand what it means to lose a local radio station.    Since long before the 70s, WRGC was owned by Jimmie (Uncle Jimmie) Childress and operated by him and his children.  The call letters are named after one of Jimmie's sons, Ronnie G. Childress, who was killed in an unfortunate accident by electrocution while working at the radio.   Sometime towards the end of the 90s, WRGC was purchased by a Georgia corporation who ...
Comments 8
By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
It is so pleasant to travel between the two new listings we have in Greens Creek.  The area gives me another reason to "horse around".    This is a beautiful Weeping Willow tree on Brooks Branch Road.  There is usually a horse out by the barn either frolicking or munching.  I find it really hard to just drive by without trying to catch the photo.  Greens Creek is a community located 4 miles south of Dillsboro off of US441.  Its a lovely combination of mountains, valleys and pasture land. The area is named after Greens Creek, which is a rapidly flowing creek running alongside the road.  It's a stocked trout creek and on April 1st, opening day of trout season will find the roadside very popular with the trout fishing crowd.  The horse however, could care less about trout season!  All he c...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
The thing about ActiveRain contests? The points are secondary.  The real reward is the new insight and knowledge gained by preparing your entry post.  Take the Back to School Contest, for example.  My knowledge of what the School Board of Jackson County's responsibility to children, parents and Jackson County itself was minimal at best. I don't have children but I'm keenly motivated to make sure their rights to a good education is protected. Who in their right mind wouldn't want younger generations to have as good an education, if not better than the one we all received? Last night we were at a house warming party for clients friends who bought their house through working with MoonDancer Realty.  Among the guests were Thurza McNair, a two term Jackson County school board member (and mot...
Comments 4
By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
The brand new Jackson County Public Library truly is the crowning jewel of Main Street in Sylva, NC.  Already dubbed the "most photographed courthouse in North Carolina", the melding of the old courthouse and the new library is an amazing feat of architecture and construction.  It is impossible to tell where the old construction stopped and the new addition began.   Perched atop of the hill at the end of Main Street, the porch of our new library provides a commanding view of downtown Sylva.  Outside verandas and comfortable seating areas offer front row mountain vistas to enjoy while sipping coffee and reading books.         Nothing can prepare you for how stunning the interior of the library is.  In addition to the library, there are meeting rooms, a handsome theater, the Arts Council...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
Sign right here! Show me a sign that tickles my imagination and it's bound to get a photo taken of it.    Don't Leave Home Without It!  This vintage American Express sign is on the wall of the Blue Ridge Inn on Main Street in downtown Sylva.  I'll bet I drove by this sign a million times before really noticing it.  How cool is it?     Downtown Sylva hangs these attractive banners fom the lamp posts all along Main Street.  They add a welcoming touch to the town.     This little hot dog dude was so retro that I couldn't help stopping for the picture.  This is a hot dog stand and gold (so-called) exchange on East Main Street in Sylva, not far from Cody's Hot Spot - the gas station that I give most of my gas dollars to.   The morning that I drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway, I spotted the ...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
Pulling off Hwy US74 at exit 83 will take you right into the heart of downtown Sylva, NC and the home of "the most photographed courthouse" via Grindstaff Cove Road.   Just after leaving the highway on your right is the attractive entrance to the Jackson County Administration Center.  Before the county made real estate documents available online, real estate agents, paralegals and attorneys spent a lot of time here.  It's still a favorite retreat for many who want to get some research done wih the county staff available to assist whenever you need them.    We're very fortunate in Jackson County.  Whenever I've had an issue in real estate I've found the employees in Planning, Erosion Control, Mapping and Records to be extremely courteous and knowledgeable.   Continuing down Grindstaff Ro...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
      "I feel like I'm living in a dream come true", said our buyer after she moved into her new home.         The deed recorded late in the afternoon on August 3rd. By nightfall, our clients had moved many of their belongings and their 4 children from the life they'd always known in Cherokee, NC to a wonderful house just outside of downtown Sylva. When I asked her if she was happy, she couldn't believe how incredibly lucky she felt. "My kids are downtown at the swimming pool and park, and its just 5 minutes from the house!" were her cheerful words.     This is exactly why I love real estate. The house they bought was not the house they originally contacted us about. Isn't this what happens most of the time? This relationship started as a floor call to our office in mid March this year...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
Thanks to the AR community and one member in particular, we are one step closer to seeing the closing table.  Ray Waisler...again...you are the lender dude!  I'm blogging so much about him, I sort of feel like a stalker or a groupie!   Got an email from the lender on this FHA deal and they are waiving the road maintenance agreement condition based on advice given to us by Ray.  Hooray...or better yet...HooRay!   In just the five months that I've been actively raining, I have seen incredible acts of community kindness, generosity, support and advice. I will never forget the outpouring of comfort given to my family when my father passed away in early June.     Shortly after I started blogging, William Johnson from California sent me an email that he'd be happy to help me out with photo in...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
As I reread my title, I realize it sounds like a crop of horses, but it's my title and I'm sticking with it! Horses are growing up in the Savannah community.  This is such a great place to live, you'd think you'd have to drive way off the beaten path to enjoy spectacles like this. Nope, this is 30 seconds from US441. Scenes just like this are little treasures to be enjoyed all over Western North Carolina.   Back on May 27 I posted a photo of a brand new baby horse that I spotted on my way to show a house in the Savannah community.  In case you missed it the firt time...have an early morning awwwwww moment. Here's the baby's picture again.   On my way to again show property in the Savannah area a couple of days ago, I spotted the same young horse and a buddy.  They are growing up fast.  ...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
My blogs usually aren't concerned with ranting or blowing off steam BUT this morning is a little different. Yes, loans are getting approved and closed everyday, yes there are still 100% and 90% programs available for qualified applicants. BUT...does the general public have any idea how many hoops REALTORS and loan originators are having to jump through in order to get the buyer into their new home????   The good thing is many of us are so professional and take it in stride, making the deal work no matter how many extra hours and high blood pressure moments it takes...neither the buyer nor the seller really sees the extra effort.  The bad thing is many of us are so professional and take it in stride, making the deal work no matter how many extra hours and high blood pressure moments it t...
Comments 9
By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
Do small towns have business advantages over larger cities?  We're in a little town among little towns with only a handful of closing attorneys.  The quantity or quality of attorneys isn't the issue, the fact that most of them don't keep office hours past noon on Friday is.  Oh, but if nothing else, we real estate agents are resilient and adaptive.  Very few of us EVER calendar closings for Friday, but when it happens - it's often dramatic.  There are also no office supply/service stores in most of our towns.  No big usually during the week, banks, attorneys, insurance agencies are pretty accomodating to help out with the occasional fax or scan favor.  Weekends, not so easy for small town clients who might need to transmit docs to you electronically.  Overnight deliveries to towns like ...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
Quality of listing photos certainly has been discussed on ActiveRain - but this morning I'm wondering about quantity of photos for listings.   Of course, let's be clear if your quality of photos is terrible, by all means do you sellers a favor and limit quantity - and then get yourself to the local community college for a few lessons!   Unless you are in a part of the country where demand is exceeding supply, buyers and agents are paying attention first to the houses that are well described and well documented by photos.   Granted sometimes the interior of the house doesn't photo well, but is that a reason to limit the number of pictures available to consumers and your fellow agents?  If the interior shots are bad because the house is messy - isn't this a discussion you should have had ...
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By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
Points are like whipped cream on a dessert, an extra reward on top of an already luscious treat.  The real treat, the real substance of ActiveRain is a place to find common and fertile ground for open and frank discussions on a myriad of real estate and non real estate topics...among other professionals in our industry.     For whatever reason, it is rare to find any of these conversations taking place in our own communities.  We are learning so much from each other by participating in each other's choice of topics that the very exposure to all of these ideas improves our performance as good real estate professionals in the field.             Where else can we go to find such freely shared advice on appraisals, staging, home inspections, closing pitfalls, the ever-changing world of home...
Comments 8
By Mona Gersky, GRI,IMSD-Taking the mystery out of real estate.
(MoonDancer Realty, Dillsboro,NC)
Since getting involved with the ActiveRain real estate community, I often wonder about the differences and similarities of real estate markets and marketing in our various regions. Is print media still a relevant way to market real estate?           Today is pickup day for the Buyer's Guide ads and that lead me to be glad that we haven't jumped on the band wagon proclaiming print is a dead medium for marketing real estate and only the internet has validity to buyers.                We have three contracts ready to close within the next month.  Two of them have origins we can directly trace back to someone picking up a copy of the local Buyer's Guide.  Did the buyers ultimately contract for the house they called in on?  No, but somehow we were able to turn the "opportunity" into a sale o...
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