The Divide

The Divide at Bald Rock – Premium Western North Carolina mountain properties. Discover our mountain sanctuary. Let our premier residential mountain community be your harbor in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Divide is located adjacent to the Panthertown National Forest and the prestigious Bald Rock community along the Eastern Continental Divide.
The Divide mountain properties present all the best the Blue Ridge Mountains can offer. Each residential lot in The Divide community takes advantage of its mountain features, be it bold streams, cascading falls, grand mountain views or the simple beauty of a Blue Ridge mountain wilderness. All just minutes away from fine dining, shopping, golfing, fishing, hiking, and much more. Whether your desire is to obtain a second home in North Carolina, escape city life or simply to renew yourself, The Divide at Bald Rock will exceed your expectations.

The Divide at Bald Rock

The Divide at Bald Rock is one of the newest developments in the Blue Ridge mountains. Situated directly on the eastern Continental Divide, our 250 acres of mountaintop forest,
glades, streams, waterfalls and magnificient mountain views have been carefully combined
with our long common border with the US Forest Service's 6,295 acre Panthertown Valley
Preserve, assuring you privacy while providing a multitude of recreational opportunities.
With elevations topping 4,500 feet, The Divide is a fantastic retreat from the heat of the
summer, and provides tranquility and vistas year round. The Divide features amazing long-
range mountain views, lush foilage, cascading waterfalls and extraordinary panoramas of sheer
rock cliffs and sylvan valleys. The community features a large covered pavilion located
adjacent to Panthertown Valley and perfect for family picnics and resident gatherings.
All Divide property owners are members in Sapphire Valley's Fairfield resort, which
provides numerous recreational amenities including: indoor/outdoor swimming pools, 18-hole
championship mountain golf, tennis, exercise facilities, miniature golf, boat rentals
on the beautiful 55-acre lake fairfield, winter skiing, tubing and snowboarding, supervised
activities for children and much more. The neighboring sister development, Bald Rock, offers
a maintained Equestrian Center with acres of lush fenced pastureland, stables and miles of
hiking, mountain biking and riding trails.
www.dividenc.com



For more information about Bald Rock and the Divide at Bald Rock please subscribe to this blog and/or email me directly @ jdandresen@gmail.com

New Development with Lake Views

Aerial View of The Preserve at Eagle Crest Development
The Preserve at Eagle Crest will be located 8 miles from Cashiers, 7 miles from Highlands, and 55 miles from Asheville. The site is found off Hwy 107 North to Pine Creek Road and right on Cullowhee Mountain Road. The Preserve at Eagle Crest is a proposed 44 - 48 Estate Home Site community with an average of two acre lots located in the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains of Lake Glenville, North Carolina. The views are 360-degrees of the lake, Blue Ridge Parkway, Balsam Mountains, Snowbird Mountains, Whiteside Mountain and long range views into bordering states. The development is located amongst the highest mountains in the Eastern United States and the area boosts the most waterfalls in North Carolina, exclusive shopping in Highlands & Cashiers, has two of the top five golf courses in North Carolina, public and private lakes, some of the best weather in the Eastern United States. Because of the close proximity to 3 major airports and several smaller ones, the area has doubled in size over the last 10 years. The area continues to see growth in golf courses, lake front property, shopping centers, residents of Fortune 100 companies and some of the top restaurants in the state. The proposed entrance to the community will feature stone pillars having an automated Iron Gate and signature Copper Eagle sculptures on the pillars. At the top you will come to the Community Pavilion on your right which is present and will be enhanced with a 360-degree stone deck equipped with benches, chairs, fire pits and outdoor fireplace, outdoor kitchen, table and chairs, enhanced indoor kitchen with cooking island for catered events, large tables for entertaining. The Pavilion has an automated 8 oversized "garage" door system that rolls into the ceiling for 360-degree viewing. The thought for the Pavilion is will be used for private parties, weddings, special events, anniversaries, community "block" parties, and many other uses. As you leave the Pavilion and make your way to the right on a 12-foot wide paved road that is one way you will drive by estate home sites looking to the west and continuing around to the south side which reflects the most exclusive lake view lots in the community. The current 2-story Carriage House will be converted to a fitness center, sauna, bathroom facilities, and showers. The fitness center will also provide restroom facilities for the future pool complex featuring an Infinity Heated Pool with full lake views from the edge and Mother Nature. This pool is intended to be upscale with the edge of the pool allowing for the 360-degree views. Walking trails are proposed to be developed throughout the community. The 2-story Guest House is intended for a hospitality home and on-site sales office. This current guest home will be enhanced with the full lower level becoming a master suite utilizing the large windows overlooking the mountains. The upper level is superior to many current builder standards and features a full kitchen, great room, full wraparound deck, and will be furnished. The home will be a 2 bedroom-2 bath when completed. The use of this home could be used as a hospitability home for potential buyers and their families.
Visit http://www.westernncrealstate.blogspot.com/ for local market information and statistics.
For more information regarding Real Estate, and Lots for sale in the Lake Glenville Area mailto:jdandresen@gmail.com

Luxury Real Estate Snapshot: North Carolina

Ask a North Carolinian about the housing bubble bust, and you might get a quizzical look. Bubble? What bubble? It never happened here. In any conversation about local real estate, they will, however, be happy to tell you about "half-backers." Not a football player, but a name for affluent professionals and retirees who move from the Northeast to Florida and halfway back again, to North Carolina.
This migration pattern has contributed to the state's recent population boom and continued home sales growth, even as the U.S. housing market gets whacked due to years of speculation. North Carolina has moved past New Jersey as the 10th most populous state as its population grew 2% in 2006 to 8.8 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In 20 years, it is expected to be the country's seventh most populous state.
The influx seems to be keeping North Carolina's housing market afloat. Existing home sales in the state were up 4% year to date as of November, 2006, vs. a 4.4% year-to-date decline nationwide. Compared to November, 2005, North Carolina home sales slipped 4% in November, 2006, while U.S. sales fell 10.7% in the same period.
Business Bait
"[The population growth] bodes well for real estate, both for real estate investors and practitioners," says Tim Kent, executive vice-president of the North Carolina Association of Realtors (NCAR). "We have every indication that 2006 was the sixth straight record year for home sales in North Carolina."
There's something addictive about North Carolina, the site of the first English colony in the Americas. And it's not the state's abundant tobacco crop. North Carolina's strong economy might have something to do with the recent population boom (and vice-versa). In the 2005-06 fiscal year (July 1 to June 30), the state's gross domestic product grew 3.9%, outpacing the country's 3.5% growth. North Carolina also added 120,000 jobs in 2006. Roughly 20,000 were in construction, and about 10,000 were in financial services at firms like Wachovia (WB) and Bank of America (BAC), both based in Charlotte.
"We have a migration of people, profitable banks, a good university system, and a strong military presence," says Harry Davis, chairholder and economist for the North Carolina Bankers Association. "When you put all those factors together, it creates a good economic environment, and a strong real estate sector."
Forget Florida
Another feature attracting masses to the Tar Heel State? Value. Whether you are relocating for your job or purchasing a second home, as a general rule, you can buy more house in North Carolina than you can in Palm Beach. And you'll still get the ocean view.
"I see a lot of people saying, 'As soon as I can get my home in Florida sold I'll move [to North Carolina],'" says Pat Handley, a realtor with McKee Properties in Cashiers.
The Outer Banks, with its 100 miles of beaches, has always been a popular destination for homeowners and vacationers from the Northeast. The climate is more temperate than in coastal areas further south, and the houses, though costly, are not unattainable. The most expensive beach homes on the market will run you about $5 million. In the case of our featured house in Wilmington, that price buys seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms on the ocean.
The New Aspen
As half-backers make their way to the undervalued mid-Atlantic, another kind of migration is going on within North Carolina—homeowners are fleeing the hurricanes and sweltering summers of the coast, and taking refuge in the mild weather of the western mountains.
Cashiers, a tiny resort community in the Blue Ridge Mountains, was settled about 200 years ago by pioneers from the south looking to escape the summer heat. Today, it still has four livable seasons and some stunning luxury homes. Cashiers also has plenty to do recreationally, with golf courses, streams for kayaking and canoeing, miles of unspoiled forest for hiking, and even skiing.
"Our area has been likened to Aspen as it was in the '50s, before it was developed," says McKee Properties' Pat Handley, who is marketing one of the community's highest-priced properties—a private mountaintop estate with valley and mountain views from every room—for $4.48 million.
Growing Market
Homes over $5 million are still a rarity in North Carolina, especially when you leave the secluded mountains or the coveted coast.
"Emerging is a good word for it," says Ed Willard, an agent with York Simpson Underwood, who has a 10,000-sq.-ft. home on the market for $3.895 million in one of Raleigh's most desirable neighborhoods. The average house in Raleigh, a burgeoning business center, goes for about $250,000, Willard estimates.
The relative inexpensiveness of North Carolina homes can make selling at the highest end a challenge. "The high-end market down here is a little rough," says realtor Martha Bick, whose 15,000-sq.-ft. chateau-style listing near Durham, at $7.763 million, is the second most expensive property in the state. "But it might be $20 million in New York," she adds.