Looking Up: Cool mountain properties lure lowlanders seeking summer homes ...

An historic marker in Flat Rock, N.C., pays tribute to Christopher Memminger, the first Confederate Secretary of the Treasury.

What seems out of place is that Memminger, a 19th century statesman, grew up and lived most of his life in Charleston. Memminger Auditorium is named for him.

Yet like many Lowcountry residents, he traveled to the North Carolina mountains to escape the heat and diseases that seemed to appear in summer. Memminger owned a home in Henderson County, and that’s where he first hunkered down after the Civil War.

“We have always been a refuge for coastal people,” says Gwen T. Fowler, who owns Gwen Fowler Real Estate in Oconee County-based West Union and markets her website under www.coolmountainescapes.com. Charlestonians effectively settled the area. “They didn’t know mosquitoes caused malaria,” only that the symptoms went away when leaving the Lowcountry in the warmer weather months, she says.

Today buyers from the Charleston area and elsewhere are attracted by low prices, such as a lakefront condo on Lake Keowee for $80,000.

“We don’t call them deals, we don’t have steals, we call them true value,” says Fowler, who has ties to the Charleston area — she spent a harrowing night in a house on Johns Island when Hurricane Hugo blew through close to 22 years ago.

The mountain appeal? “Cooler temperatures, babbling brooks,” says Daryl Hardin, a Realtor with Keller Williams in the North Carolina town of Polk.

“You leave Charleston and it’s 98 (degrees) and get up to 3,000 (feet) elevation at Boone and Blowing Rock, and it’s 78,” says Nate Saunders of Premier Land Liquidators in Davidson.

It’s no question the highlands of North and South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee have been a home away from home for residents of low lying areas across the Southeast for decades. That includes Charlotte and Atlanta 1-2 hours away as well as Charleston, Savannah and Wilmington, N.C., which are 3-6 hour drives.

According to Realtors in the region, the mountain properties have felt the national housing showdown. But it hasn’t resulted in a big drop-off in sales or prices.

“The market’s gotten better but it is still on the moderate side,” says Tom Perry, broker with Steve Owen and Associates in Brevard, N.C., near the Pisgah National Forest.

He is listing a 3,500-square-foot lakeside home for $699,000 in Connestee Falls off U.S. Highway 276 South, known as the Greenville Highway. The neighborhood has four lakes, hiking trails, golf course, tennis courts, clubhouse, fitness center and bocce courts.

Asheville NC Log Cabins for Vacations and Rentals

Asheville NC log cabins have never been better for those seeking log cabins as second homes or perhaps as rental property here in the Asheville area. When people come to the mountains of the Asheville area to visit or vacation they always like renting a rustic looking log cabin complete with fireplace and views of these beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Log cabins in the Asheville NC area rent yearly for prices that afford many owners the luxury of actually owning a cabin, getting to use it for many weeks in the year, yet let the rental income pay for the actual payments on that cabin.

We love working with clients buying log cabins here in the mountains as we are in tune with what rents and what locations are better than others. Again, many visitors that are here want several things if they are choosing to rent a vacation style log cabin in the area. Vacation cabin renters usually want close proximity to the Downtown Asheville area yet they want a rustic looking log cabin with fireplace, internet, cable, hot tub on deck, views of the mountains and other cozy, homey amenities to enjoy while vacationing here in Asheville. Many log cabins can be purchased in the Asheville area for anywhere between 200k and 300K, and can generate owners a $1,000 per week rental income if they are using the best rental agencies in the area.

Once again, it’s all about working with the most qualified Realtors in the Asheville area and the most successful vacation cabin rental agencies to assure that your vacation rental log cabin will generate the king of rental income that you expect. Realtors that are in tune with Buncombe and Henderson counties will best serve you when looking for log cabins as second homes or to place in a rental pool for positive or break even cash flow. Call Green Mountain Realty today at 828.215.9064 for log cabins, homes, land and real estate here in the Asheville or surrounding areas of Western North Carolina .

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