This
Web site is a service I wish had been provided to me when I was
considering a move to the Asheville area. You know it's a wonderful
place and you'd like to move here, but when you come right down
to it, where exactly would you like to live? What are the different
areas like? There are so many different sections of the city and
then there's also the county. What would it be like to live out
there?
Well,
when I moved here, I just got lucky. I came on a weekend from
out of town and really didn't know what I was doing. I had contacted
a real estate agent and she was going to take us to look at houses
we'd found in a real estate publication and online. We spent two
days and the last house we looked at was the right one. During
those two days we learned a lot about ourselves and what we needed
and wanted in a house, as well as a little about what we wanted
in a yard and neighborhood.
That's
backwards! And that's the way people usually do it! But, like
I said, we were lucky. Once we got through all the inspections,
repairs and closing, I was starting to find the whole real estate
process interesting. Also, I really had my heart set on finding
a "green" home, but we couldn't find anyone who knew
anything about them.
Once
we moved here, I began to hear about a new program to train local
REALTORS® in green building and development, as well as important
environmental information about all homes that agents should be
aware of. I seriously began to get interested in how I could get
involved.
Most
of my life I have worked in nonprofit organizations and higher
education. After completing my BS in Environmental Design, I ended
up pursuing graduate studies in anthropology, linguistics and
community development. Then I lived and worked with a nonprofit
in Papua New Guinea for 16 years - very much off-the-grid in a
remote mountain village. We had solar panels that charged two
large truck batteries, which ran our lights, radio and computer.
We collected rainwater in a cistern for all our water needs. We
had solar hot water as well.
When
we returned to the States, I did some nonprofit work with indigenous
languages here. I also co-directed an international peacebuilding
institute. We had hundreds of people from all over the U.S and
the world who came to learn principles of building peace in every
kind of situation you can imagine.
Then
I learned about Asheville and I couldn't stay away! We moved here
and before I knew it I was attending real estate classes. As soon
as I was a licensed broker, I did the training to become an environmental
consultant - my passion. Since then I've also become a National
Association of REALTORS® GREEN Designee. In keeping with my
intercultural interests, I also became Transnational Referral
Certified to help people buy property in other countries and to
help people from other countries buy property here.
