Asheville Real Estate Blog

This Sunday is your chance to tour the gardens in Biltmore Forest. I will be a docent for this fundraising event, so please join us for this special opportunity to learn more about gardening and landscape design.  The tour begins at the cottage next to Town Hall in Biltmore Forest.

This event is brought to you by Asheville Green Works and tickets are $15 for one or two for $25.  Admission includes a free plant, refreshments and the garden tour. In honor of fathers on their special day, fathers will receive boutonnières to wear.  The proceeds from this tour benefit the plantings and beautification in Asheville and Buncombe County.

-Debbi Briggs, Buyer Consultant

If you are searching for homes for sale in Asheville, you can check out all of the listing in our area right from your phone.  Whether you are searching in general or drive by a home and want to know more about this listing, just visit our mobile search or use http://stevebourke.listingware.com/m

By clicking on search listings at the top, you can search by the following:

• Our Listings  (The Bourke Group’s Listing)
• Our Company Listings  (Keller Williams Realty’s Listings)
• By City
• By Listing Number  (commonly referred to as MLS number)
• By ZIP Code
• By County
• By Street Name
• By School
• By Subdivision

Just a note to keep in mind, these listings are pulled from our local MLS database and are by default set to single family home. Please be sure to adjust the property type if you are looking for a condo/townhome, land, commercial, etc.

You may sign-in to save your searches and receive updates on the properties that match your criteria. 

If you prefer, you may click The Bourke Group at the top of your mobile screen to view our phone number or to click on our email address if you wish to email us a question about this property.

We also had a request for information regarding our RSS feed, so you may subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking here.

-Steve Bourke, Group Leader

New Neighborhood YMCA will open on April 27th!

With regards to Reynolds Village, Vic Knight, president of Reynolds Mountain Communities, stated that they “wanted to create something with a strong sense of community.”  Speaking about the project, he said that “we needed an anchor for the community, and the YMCA seemed like a logical fit.”

This YMCA is targeted specifically for the needs of the community.  According to a recent article in the Asheville Citizen-Times, Latisha Steele, Associate Executive Director of the Downtown and Woodfin branches, said that “this is basically more of a residential, neighborhood YMCA. We are really trying to be more friendly for the health seeker.” The facility also includes areas for cooking demonstrations and community events.

For more information regarding the new YMCA Woodfin, please visit the YMCA Woodfin website.  This website also gives details on the current Woodfin YMCA Specials that are available until opening day, April 27, 2009.  The Class Schedule for the Woodfin YMCA is also posted online.

- Carol Bourke, Broker/Associate

Part 2: How to use the new Buncombe County GIS web site to look for Asheville real estate.

Last fall, Clark posted an article about how to use the Buncombe County GIS website to search for properties in Buncombe County.  The county has launched a new version for online searching the GIS system.  So, here is an update on how to use the new Buncombe GIS website.

The Buncombe County GIS web site is a database of property card and tax information for every parcel in Buncombe County North Carolina.

The GIS web site: http://www.buncombecounty.org/governing/depts/gis/disclaimer.htm

After reviewing and accepting the disclaimer, you begin on the search screen.  Be sure to let the search page completely finishing loading before trying to use the search features.

At the top left of the screen, you will see options by which you can search for property.

• PIN
• Owner Address
• Deed Book/Page
• Plat Book/Page 

Select the circle button for the search option you wish to use and then type in the necessary PIN or address, etc. Then, click the FIND button.

From the results window below the search feature, select the property you want and a property detail box will pop up on the right side of the screen.

From the details box, you can select the property card for more information, minimize this box by selecting the triangle button on the far right of the box, or you may close this box completely by selecting the X at top right of the box.

Behind the property information box, you will see the map view of the property.  You have many map layer options available on the left hand side below the search feature. For example, you can select to view the 2006 Color Imagery layer to see an aerial view of the property.  Be sure you give the site a few second to load the new map image.

You can also zoom in or out by using the selected features icons located on the top left side, just above where you searched for a specific parcel. Click on the icon you wish to use, then click on your selected parcel in the map view. 

To review more about the online Buncombe County GIS system, as well as link to the previous system which is still active until the county removes this original GIS system, please click here.  Please note that the new GIS system loads slowly on occassion, so you may need to close it and try again if it hangs up and does not load properly.  Hope this helps you with your property information search.  If you have any questions, please let us know.

-Pam Welborn, Listing Consultant

My clients who are new to the area have often asked me for tips on things to do in Asheville.  So, I thought I would share some helpful places to look around online for ideas and things to do in Asheville.

Whether you are planning a trip to Asheville, looking to relocate here or currently living here, you have plenty of activities and places to explore in Asheville - outdoor activities, excellent dining, shopping, night life, live music, and more.  

The Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau now offers a really neat online, interactive visitor guide, along with a website containing a wealth of information about Asheville and trip planning ideas from exploreasheville.

You may also want to check out information regarding upcoming concerts and live music, please click here for these events in Asheville.

Another favorite destination is The Biltmore Estate which is currently featuring the Festival of Flowers from now until May 17, 2009. The gardens of the estate are full of color with thousands of tulips, flowering shrubs and trees, and spring bulbs.

-Debbi Briggs, Buyer Consultant