CONVENIENT LIVING is the KEY....

Sharing some photos of my newest listing that I just took yesterday... Enjoy:)

Property Description:

CONVENIENT LIVING is key with this 3 BR, 2BTH brick rancher strategically priced at $134,900. Home sits on level one acre lot close to I-40 and town. Very nice neighborhood. Main level features: 2 bedrooms, full bath, large living area, kitchen, formal dining, and computer room. Finished basement includes master bedroom and second bath. An additional 800 square foot building is located on the lot that could be used as an in-law suite, rental, or extra storage building! The possibilities are truly endless with this home. Must see to appreciate. 

Chelsi Mentink Poteat

ERA Mountain View Properties

Office Number (828)659-3100

Thanks!

God's Handywork

Wanted to share some pictures with you. I took these  a while ago when I drove out to Dysartsville to take new exterior photos of a house I had listed (which recently sold BTW) and I was just captured by what a beautiful drive it was. Here are some of the images I took.

 I took some more but for some reason they didn't turn out that great (maybe thats because I took them from inside my car while I was driving ) haha.. anyway... really just makes you appreciate what a beautiful town McDowell County is. We have gorgeous mountain views and lake views all around! If you are familiar with Dysartsville many of you will know where these photos were taken (right off Walker Road) There is  HUGE pasture that is just so peaceful looking (to me anyway)!


And just for fun...... :)

Here is  my yorkie! She just loves loves LOVEs riding in the car. Anytime I get a chance to take her I do.... I think she was a little tired after this trip... it takes a while to get to Dysartsville from where we were coming from... thought Id share these pics too!

yawn! haha


ps... if you read my blog PLEASE take the time to follow me! Id greatly appreciate it :)

Catching Up

Every month our office holds some kind of class for our agents... Last month we decided to have a "House Measuring Class"

As a Realtor, it is really important that we measure the houses we have listed correctly. You really can't just rely on the tax card or someone else's word. When in doubt..just do it YOURSELF :)

Sometimes measuring can get a little difficult, ESPECIALLY if there are multiple levels, entry ways, etc.

One of the agents in our office let us all go out to her house to practice... and a good practice it was! Below are some pictures of our day :)

Its always a good idea to have the tax card handy when measuring. And of course a VERY large measuring tape

Front side of house... finished

Jacque aka my "boss/mom" is ready to measure the upstairs!

My measurements on the tax card after we were finished!



I just love the classes we do at the office every month... I always learn so much.. and with my job we are NEVER DONE LEARNING!!!!

Now.... who wants to go out and measure a house??? haha

Have a great week yall!

Saving Energy = Saving $$$$$

So how many of you are just down right tired of these high gas prices? Well I know that I am! Unfortunately, it doesn't look like prices are going to be going down any time soon. :(

With that being said, we are going to have to come up with ways to save extra money to cover the added cost of gas prices.

Below, I found this really GREAT article while browsing the internet showing you ways to save money in your H-O-M-E by conserving Enery!... Enjoy reading

20 THINGS YOU CAN DO
TO CONSERVE ENERGY

Whenever you save energy, you not only save money, you also reduce the demand for such fossil fuels as coal, oil, and natural gas. Less burning of fossil fuels also means lower emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary contributor to global warming, and other pollutants.
You do not have to do without to achieve these savings. There is now an energy efficient alternative for almost every kind of appliance or light fixture. That means that consumers have a real choice and the power to change their energy use on a revolutionary scale.
The average American produces about 40,000 pounds of CO2 emissions per year. Together, we use nearly a million dollars worth of energy every minute, night and day, every day of the year. By exercising even a few of the following steps, you can cut your annual emissions by thousands of pounds and your energy bills by a significant amount!

Home appliances

Turn your refrigerator down. Refrigerators account for about 20% of Household electricity use. Use a thermometer to set your refrigerator temperature as close to 37 degrees and your freezer as close to 3 degrees as possible. Make sure that its energy saver switch is turned on. Also, check the gaskets around your refrigerator/freezer doors to make sure they are clean and sealed tightly.


Set your clothes washer to the warm or cold water setting, not hot. Switching from hot to warm for two loads per week can save nearly 500 pounds of CO2 per year if you have an electric water heater, or 150 pounds for a gas heater.


Make sure your dishwasher is full when you run it and use the energy saving setting, if available, to allow the dishes to air dry. You can also turn off the drying cycle manually. Not using heat in the drying cycle can save 20 percent of your dishwasher's total electricity use.


Turn down your water heater thermostat. Thermostats are often set to 140 degrees F when 120 is usually fine. Each 10 degree reduction saves 600 pounds of CO2 per year for an electric water heater, or 440 pounds for a gas heater. If every household turned its water heater thermostat down 20 degrees, we could prevent more than 45 million tons of annual CO2 emissions - the same amount emitted by the entire nations of Kuwait or Libya.


Select the most energy-efficient models when you replace your old appliances. Look for the Energy Star Label - your assurance that the product saves energy and prevents pollution. Buy the product that is sized to your typical needs - not the biggest one available. Front loading washing machines will usually cut hot water use by 60 to 70% compared to typical machines. Replacing a typical 1973 refrigerator with a new energy-efficient model, saves 1.4 tons of CO2 per year. Investing in a solar water heater can save 4.9 tons of CO2 annually.

Home Heating and Cooling

Be careful not to overheat or overcool rooms. In the winter, set your thermostat at 68 degrees in daytime, and 55 degrees at night. In the summer, keep it at 78. Lowering your thermostat just two degrees during winter saves 6 percent of heating-related CO2 emissions. That's a reduction of 420 pounds of CO2 per year for a typical home.


Clean or replace air filters as recommended. Energy is lost when air conditioners and hot-air furnaces have to work harder to draw air through dirty filters. Cleaning a dirty air conditioner filter can save 5 percent of the energy used. That could save 175 pounds of CO2 per year.

Small investments that pay off

Buy energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs for your most-used lights. Although they cost more initially, they save money in the long run by using only 1/4 the energy of an ordinary incandescent bulb and lasting 8-12 times longer. They provide an equivalent amount of bright, attractive light. Only 10% of the energy consumed by a normal light bulb generates light. The rest just makes the bulb hot. If every American household replaced one of its standard light bulbs with an energy efficient compact fluorescent bulb, we would save the same amount of energy as a large nuclear power plant produces in one year. In a typical home, one compact fluorescent bulb can save 260 pounds of CO2 per year.


Wrap your water heater in an insulating jacket, which costs just $10 to $20. It can save 1100 lbs. of CO2 per year for an electric water heater, or 220 pounds for a gas heater.

Use less hot water by installing low-flow shower heads. They cost just $10 to $20 each, deliver an invigorating shower, and save 300 pounds of CO2 per year for electrically heated water, or 80 pounds for gas-heated water.

Weatherize your home or apartment, using caulk and weather stripping to plug air leaks around doors and windows. Caulking costs less than $1 per window, and weather stripping is under $10 per door. These steps can save up to 1100 pounds of CO2 per year for a typical home. Ask your utility company for a home energy audit to find out where your home is poorly insulated or energy inefficient. This service may be provided free or at low cost. Make sure it includes a check of your furnace and air conditioning.

Getting around

Whenever possible, walk, bike, car pool, or use mass transit. Every gallon of gasoline you save avoids 22 pounds of CO2 emissions. If your car gets 25 miles per gallon, for example, and you reduce your annual driving from 12,000 to 10,000 miles, you'll save 1800 pounds of CO2.

When you next buy a car, choose one that gets good mileage. If your new car gets 40 miles per gallon instead of 25, and you drive 10,000 miles per year, you'll reduce your annual CO2 emissions by 3,300 pounds.

Reduce, reuse, recycle

Reduce the amount of waste you produce by buying minimally packaged goods, choosing reusable products over disposable ones, and recycling. For every pound of waste you eliminate or recycle, you save energy and reduce emissions of CO2 by at least 1 pound. Cutting down your garbage by half of one large trash bag per week saves at least 1100 pounds of CO2 per year. Making products with recycled materials, instead of from scratch with raw materials, uses 30 to 55% less for paper products, 33% less for glass, and a whopping 90% less for aluminum.

If your car has an air conditioner, make sure its coolant is recovered and recycled whenever you have it serviced. In the United States, leakage from auto air conditioners is the largest single source of emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which damage the ozone layer as well as add to global warming. The CFCs from one auto air conditioner can add the equivalent of 4800 pounds of CO2 emissions per year.

Home Improvements. When you plan major home improvements, consider some of these energy saving investments. They save money in the long run, and their CO2 savings can often be measured in tons per year. 

Insulate your walls and ceilings. This can save 20 to 30 percent of home heating bills and reduce CO2 emissions by 140 to 2100 pounds per year. If you live in a colder climate, consider superinsulating. That can save 5.5 tons of CO2 per year for gas-heated homes, 8.8 tons per year for oil heat, or 23 tons per year for electric heat. (If you have electric heat, you might also consider switching to more efficient gas or oil.)

Modernize your windows. Replacing all your ordinary windows with argon filled, double-glazed windows saves 2.4 tons of CO2 per year for homes with gas heat, 3.9 tons of oil heat, and 9.8 tons for electric heat.


Plant shade trees and paint your house a light color if you live in a warm climate, or a dark color if you live in a cold climate. Reductions in energy use resulting from shade trees and appropriate painting can save up to 2.4 tons of CO2 emissions per year. (Each tree also directly absorbs about 25 pounds of CO2 from the air annually.)

Business and community

Work with your employer to implement these and other energy-efficiency and waste-reduction measures in your office or workplace. Form or join local citizens' groups and work with local government officials to see that these measures are taken in schools and public buildings.

Keep track of the environmental voting records of candidates for office. Stay abreast of environmental issues on both local and national levels, and write or call your elected officials to express your concerns about energy efficiency and global warming.

Article from:  http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/20things.htm

Spring has SPRUNG!!!!

I just love this time of the year.... 

Flowers start to bloom

The sun comes out to play

And most importantly... its time to start bringin' out the FLIP FLOPS :) haha

From a real estate perspective... 2011 is shaping out to be a pretty good year.  Despite the economy, more buyers seem to be putting their buying fears aside and pressing forward to purchasing homes! 

Lets hope things just go up from here :) again.. that is just my personal opinion...

As of right now, our company currently has 22 houses under contract! Way to go TEAM....

For this time of the year, that is a PHENOMENAL number....

From this:......

To that:....

To ..... SOLD

Considering putting your house on the market? Well this is the time of year to do it! Let me know if any of you are interested in a listing presentation!

HAVE A "G-R-E-A-T" Day yall :)

How Foreclosures have affected North Carolina in 2010

Below is an article I found on realestaterama.com today. Pretty interesting information, take a minute to read! Hope you all have a great day :)

Justice Center analysis: About 1 in 63 housing units in North Carolina were in foreclosure during 2010 | North Carolina

Justice Center analysis: About 1 in 63 housing units in North Carolina were in foreclosure during 2010

January 17, 2011

by North Carolina RealEstateRama

Category: News || Foreclosures, Housing & Development | No Comments

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County-by-county data tracking foreclosures is now available; Mecklenburg, Union counties worst off

RALEIGH, NC - January 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) — North Carolina broke the stateforeclosure filing record in 2010. And according to an analysis released today by the NC Justice Center, approximately one in every 63 housing units in North Carolina faced foreclosure filings last year.

For the first time, county-by-county data tracking foreclosures relative to a county’s housing units are now available.

Using U.S. Census data about each North Carolina county’ housing units combined with stateforeclosure filings, the Justice Center found that Mecklenburg and Union counties were worst off. During 2010, about one in 34 housing units in those counties were in foreclosure.

These figures do reflect a slight overestimate, said NC Justice Center Director of Communications Jeff Shaw, because the foreclosure filings also include some commercialforeclosures in addition to home foreclosures.

But the figures also actually underestimate the number of North Carolina’s working families affected, because many apartment buildings and multi-family units were foreclosed on during 2010.

“Now is the time for our leaders to support vital public investments that create jobs and help people stay in their homes,” said Bill Rowe, director of advocacy for the NC Justice Center. “We need to make critical investments in North Carolina’s future prosperity, like preserving essential programs that help homeowners avoid foreclosure.”

North Carolina’s proactive measures to prevent foreclosure have helped it stay ahead of places like Nevada, where one in 11 homes is in foreclosure, and the nation at large, where one in 45 homes received a foreclosure filing last year.

An Excel spreadsheet with data for every North Carolina county — dating back to 2000 and updated through Dec. 31, 2010 — is available to reporters for download here. If you have problems with the download, please e-mail jeff (at) ncjustice (dot) org for a copy.

Besides tracking total foreclosures and foreclosures by housing unit, the spreadsheet also hasforeclosure data per capita. These figures determine which counties have the most foreclosuresrelative to population size.

A list of the top 10 counties in North Carolina in terms of total foreclosure, foreclosure by housing unit, and foreclosures per capita follows this e-mail.

The per capita figures understate the problem considerably, said Shaw, because the per capita figures include everyone living in a given county – including children and non-homeowners. Still, it provides additional confirmation of how widespread foreclosure is throughout North Carolina.

Mecklenburg, Union and Brunswick counties are the only three counties in North Carolina to appear on all three lists (total foreclosures, foreclosures by housing unit, and foreclosures per capita).

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Jeff Shaw, Director of Communications, 503.551.3615; Bill Rowe, Director of Advocacy, 919.856.2177; or Rochelle Sparko, Housing Attorney, 919.863.2403.

TOP 10 BY TOTAL FORECLOSURE
Mecklenburg 12,176
Wake 5,584
Guilford 4,101
Forsyth 2,396
Union 2,050
New Hanover 1,894
Durham 1,772
Brunswick 1,723
Gaston 1,705
Cabarrus 1,609

TOP 10 BY FORECLOSURES PER HOUSING UNIT
Mecklenburg 1 in 34
Union 1 in 34
Dare 1 in 37
Currituck 1 in 43
Cabarrus 1 in 44
Brunswick 1 in 45
Franklin 1 in 47
Pender 1 in 49
Johnston 1 in 51
Clay 1 in 51

TOP 10 BY PER CAPITA MEASUREMENT
Dare 2.58%
Brunswick 1.56%
Currituck 1.36%
Mecklenburg 1.34%
Clay 1.25%
Cherokee 1.07%
Union 1.02%
New Hanover 0.97%
Pender 0.96%
Jackson 0.92%

The Healthy Home: Minimizing Household Health Risks

Flip through a magazine, browse the web, turn on the television or radio and you are bound to find someone talking about how to be more health conscious. Organic and all natural foods have hit a new high with everyone paying more attention to what they put in their mouth. But have you ever stopped to think about having a HEALTHY HOME? Not only do we need to pay attention to the kinds of food we eat- but the home we live in too...




Indoors is where Americans spend 90 percent of their lives – 25 percent at work and 65 percent at home, and the latter is increasing as home offices become more common. So it's important to take a look at how healthy the home environment is.

Mold isn't always this obvious!

• Mold is one concern that has gotten a good deal of attention recently, involving possible problems with allergies, the brain and the circulatory system. Wherever there is a leak, condensation or flooding inside a house, causing housing material to stay damp for more than a few days, mold begins to grow. So it's important to clean and repair roof gutters regularly, grade your land away from the house foundation to keep water from running toward the house, keep air-conditioning pans clean, and keep household humidity low.

• Radon is another naturally-occurring challenge that has become a common concern of potential homeowners. Radon is a gas that can cause lung cancer; it is present in soil and rock and can enter a home through basement walls and floors. Some states are more at risk than others, but the only way to be sure about levels of this colorless, odorless gas is to get a qualified radon inspection. 
• Proper ventilation in general is important for any home – an adequate exchange of air from within and without, to minimize humidity and disperse possible toxins, is needed even in the most energy-efficient of structures. And you should always make sure that fireplaces, stoves, furnaces and dryers are not venting any particles, gases or other unhealthy substances into your house.

• You should also be careful of everyday materials which can contain toxins (such as formaldehyde in carpets, to which alternatives are increasing), and, if your current or new home gets its water from a well, be sure to have it tested regularly. 

So, not only do we need to pay attention to having a healthy BODY but a healthy HOME as well!

info from TEAMERA.com