Monday, July 31, 2006
Asheville Real Estate Journal Sustainable in Asheville
Asheville Real Estate Journal
TALKING ABOUT SUSTAINABLE in Asheville Real Estate
Things HAPPEN when people start getting together and talking. The talk here in the Greater Asheville area, where “THINGS already are happening, is about making wise choices. A talkative and listening and creative citizenry has set its heart on finding ways around the “energy crisis” and the global warming predicament.
We’ve taken the challenge. We intend to uneath new ways that will benefit our ecology and our economy. Take, for example, one community owned business, Blue Ridge BioFuels. This business has a two-fold objective:1) Educate potential users and 2) Bring locally produced clean-burning products to Asheville and Western North Carolina. I asked them about their source. “Our biodiesel is produced from area restaurants' waste vegetable oil and burns cleanly in any diesel engine, “ I was informed. Furthermore, contrary to popular notions, "no modification is necessary to use biodiesel in your diesel vehicle. Biodiesel can also replace the home heating oil and you can find it right at a local gas station (Gas-Up) located on Haywood Road or in bulk delivery, “ a spokesperson said.
Check this out!
http://www.blueridgebiofuels.com/
One thing that contributes to Asheville’s good “kharma” is the way of sharing that seems to prevail among the people who live here….if you join the boiodiesel coop, you can get a discounted price on the fuel.
Asheville is on the “greenfront” looking forward, in happy anticipation, at a forecast of creative resolution in a natural economy throughout our region, nationally and across the globe . In Western North Carolina, the N.C. Solar Center, a State-sponsored agency, has joined the bandwagon. It is doing its part to accelerate that trend by making grants to alt-fuel producers and fleets. Warren Wilson College is eager to make use of the new fuels. UNCA is helping Blue Ridge Biofuels obtain national transportation-fuel certification so the school can use a 20-percent (and, eventually, 50-percent) blend of the cooperative's biodiesel in its campus shuttles.
Buncombe County Solid Waste, whose fleet now runs on biodiesel, announced that the county also intends to convert 15 ambulances to the fuel and hopes eventually to use methane gas produced by decomposing vegetable matter at the county landfill to power vehicles designed to run on compressed natural gas, such as the vehicles the Sheriff's Department is converting to CNG. The Blue Ridge Parkway also is looking into biodiesel. Privately owned local fleets such as Hart Distributing of Weaverville, a wine-and-beer distributor, is operating two biodiesel delivery trucks, along with several propane.
Nationally, spearheaded by advocates of thought-&-action for the good of everyone, and the groundwork of brave souls such the person formerly known as the “Next President of the United States”, Al Gore, there’s a movement toward energy-wise (and economy-wise) awareness blooming, that makes many Asheville residents smile. Recently, the tractor-maker, John Deere, heeding the demands of its customer base: American farmers, rolled out the first of its new line of tractors burning B2, a blend of conventional diesel fuel containing B2 percent biodiesel. And BioWillie, the brand of biodiesel that country-music star and FarmAid hero Willie Nelson introudcued, is now “singing” to the nation's long-haul truckers… with the applause of clean air advocates. It is far cleaner than petro-diesel and more than three times more energy-efficient to produce.
For more information
www.ECOstewardRealty.com
#####
TALKING ABOUT SUSTAINABLE in Asheville Real Estate
Things HAPPEN when people start getting together and talking. The talk here in the Greater Asheville area, where “THINGS already are happening, is about making wise choices. A talkative and listening and creative citizenry has set its heart on finding ways around the “energy crisis” and the global warming predicament.
We’ve taken the challenge. We intend to uneath new ways that will benefit our ecology and our economy. Take, for example, one community owned business, Blue Ridge BioFuels. This business has a two-fold objective:1) Educate potential users and 2) Bring locally produced clean-burning products to Asheville and Western North Carolina. I asked them about their source. “Our biodiesel is produced from area restaurants' waste vegetable oil and burns cleanly in any diesel engine, “ I was informed. Furthermore, contrary to popular notions, "no modification is necessary to use biodiesel in your diesel vehicle. Biodiesel can also replace the home heating oil and you can find it right at a local gas station (Gas-Up) located on Haywood Road or in bulk delivery, “ a spokesperson said.
Check this out!
http://www.blueridgebiofuels.com/
One thing that contributes to Asheville’s good “kharma” is the way of sharing that seems to prevail among the people who live here….if you join the boiodiesel coop, you can get a discounted price on the fuel.
Asheville is on the “greenfront” looking forward, in happy anticipation, at a forecast of creative resolution in a natural economy throughout our region, nationally and across the globe . In Western North Carolina, the N.C. Solar Center, a State-sponsored agency, has joined the bandwagon. It is doing its part to accelerate that trend by making grants to alt-fuel producers and fleets. Warren Wilson College is eager to make use of the new fuels. UNCA is helping Blue Ridge Biofuels obtain national transportation-fuel certification so the school can use a 20-percent (and, eventually, 50-percent) blend of the cooperative's biodiesel in its campus shuttles.
Buncombe County Solid Waste, whose fleet now runs on biodiesel, announced that the county also intends to convert 15 ambulances to the fuel and hopes eventually to use methane gas produced by decomposing vegetable matter at the county landfill to power vehicles designed to run on compressed natural gas, such as the vehicles the Sheriff's Department is converting to CNG. The Blue Ridge Parkway also is looking into biodiesel. Privately owned local fleets such as Hart Distributing of Weaverville, a wine-and-beer distributor, is operating two biodiesel delivery trucks, along with several propane.
Nationally, spearheaded by advocates of thought-&-action for the good of everyone, and the groundwork of brave souls such the person formerly known as the “Next President of the United States”, Al Gore, there’s a movement toward energy-wise (and economy-wise) awareness blooming, that makes many Asheville residents smile. Recently, the tractor-maker, John Deere, heeding the demands of its customer base: American farmers, rolled out the first of its new line of tractors burning B2, a blend of conventional diesel fuel containing B2 percent biodiesel. And BioWillie, the brand of biodiesel that country-music star and FarmAid hero Willie Nelson introudcued, is now “singing” to the nation's long-haul truckers… with the applause of clean air advocates. It is far cleaner than petro-diesel and more than three times more energy-efficient to produce.
For more information
www.ECOstewardRealty.com
#####
Friday, July 28, 2006
Asheville Real Estate Journal Healthy Homes and Environment
Asheville Real Estate Journal
ASHEVILLE CITY COUNCIL ENCOURAGES A HEALTHY LIVING ENVIRONMENT
City Council agreed to establish a citizen’s advisory committee on energy and the environment to assess ways the City can be more sustainable in there own operations and promote green practices and green building throughout the City. So, the SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE was born.
As an ECO certified consultant and REALTOR, I couldn't be morepleased. Please feel free to send a quick email to council (all of their e-mail addresses are here http://www.asheville.nc.us/council/council.htm ) to let them know that you appreciate this action and you hope Asheville will become a leader in energy conservation and climate protection.
If you want to read the council’s discuss on the topic go here
http://www.ci.asheville.nc.us/council/agendadocs/Consent-A-7-18-06.pdf.
We applaud community members who have been asking the City to move forward with initiatives that 1) will benchmark the City’s greenhouse gas emissions and 2) create a goal and a plan to reduce those emissions. If you would like to become involved, you might want to check out the activities of The Clean Air Community Trust (see link below)…
The mission of the Clean Air Community Trust is to improve air quality through innovative programs that educate, energize, and empower the communities of western North Carolina:
1. To return visibility to natural conditions thus create a community with healthy air.
2. To initiate everyday activities and events that reduce global warming and air pollution.
3. To serve as a public resource for air quality information and education.
4. To partner with business, industry, local government, schools, other institutions to create innovative models to achieve clean air.
www.airtrust.org.
ASHEVILLE CITY COUNCIL ENCOURAGES A HEALTHY LIVING ENVIRONMENT
City Council agreed to establish a citizen’s advisory committee on energy and the environment to assess ways the City can be more sustainable in there own operations and promote green practices and green building throughout the City. So, the SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE was born.
As an ECO certified consultant and REALTOR, I couldn't be morepleased. Please feel free to send a quick email to council (all of their e-mail addresses are here http://www.asheville.nc.us/council/council.htm ) to let them know that you appreciate this action and you hope Asheville will become a leader in energy conservation and climate protection.
If you want to read the council’s discuss on the topic go here
http://www.ci.asheville.nc.us/council/agendadocs/Consent-A-7-18-06.pdf.
We applaud community members who have been asking the City to move forward with initiatives that 1) will benchmark the City’s greenhouse gas emissions and 2) create a goal and a plan to reduce those emissions. If you would like to become involved, you might want to check out the activities of The Clean Air Community Trust (see link below)…
The mission of the Clean Air Community Trust is to improve air quality through innovative programs that educate, energize, and empower the communities of western North Carolina:
1. To return visibility to natural conditions thus create a community with healthy air.
2. To initiate everyday activities and events that reduce global warming and air pollution.
3. To serve as a public resource for air quality information and education.
4. To partner with business, industry, local government, schools, other institutions to create innovative models to achieve clean air.
www.airtrust.org.
Here's to stewardship of your wellness in your home and on the land!
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Asheville Real Estate
"You can never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model
that makes the existing model obsolete".
- Buckminster Fuller.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Asheville Real Estate
Asheville Real Estate Journal
North Carolina Solar Center and Volvo to Boost Idle-Reduction Technology
Volvo Trucks North America said last week it has been chosen to participate in a demonstration of mobile idle-reduction technology for heavy-duty trucks. Volvo will partner with the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University in a two-and-a-half-year program funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership.
For the full story, visit:
www.bizjournals.com and www.ncsc.ncsu.edu
ASHEVILLE REAL ESTATE
INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO INFO
www.asheville1031Realty.com
North Carolina Solar Center and Volvo to Boost Idle-Reduction Technology
Volvo Trucks North America said last week it has been chosen to participate in a demonstration of mobile idle-reduction technology for heavy-duty trucks. Volvo will partner with the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University in a two-and-a-half-year program funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership.
For the full story, visit:
www.bizjournals.com and www.ncsc.ncsu.edu
ASHEVILLE REAL ESTATE
INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO INFO
www.asheville1031Realty.com
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Asheville Real Estate 1031 INFO
Asheville Real Estate Journal
7 "DON'Ts" All 1031 EXCHANGERS Should Know
Over my the years in the practice of real estate in the Greater Asheville area, I have seen strong gains in the real estate market. During that same time, I have noticed with interest the number of clients I meet here in the Asheville area who are approaching retirement -- "baby boomers" seeking the welcoming embrace of this area, and soon ready to let their wealth flower for coming generations.
Interestingly, just in the past few years, the demand for 1031 Tax Deferred Exchanges has also "bloomed". More and more of my clients want to know whether they can qualify their vacation homes and secondary residences for an Exchange. Although I have done many successful 1031 Exchange transactions, and have taken advanced training in this subject area, I am NOT an expert on the intricacies of the tax code.
I like to refer my clients to those who are experts for details about the mechanics of the 1031 Exchange, especially in terms of Vacation Homes. (In order to conduct a valid 1031 Exchange it generally is necessary to have such property rented to unrelated parties for a period of time both BEFORE and after the exchange, for example.) In making sure a Property actually qualifies for the 1031 requirements INTENT is all-important. In this regard, there are many details that a Qualified Intermediary explains and handles.
As your real estate professional, I CAN help in certain details however.
I CAN advise you NOT :
1) To inadvertently indicate in a Contract that you intend to live in the property,
2) To sign a listing agreement soon after its purchase,
3) To apply for “owner occupied” financing on the property,
4) To move into that property within a specified period of time,
5) To ignore rental history (it must be rented by its tenants for a significant time)
6) To claim the "mortgage interest" deduction for the property on yours tax return,
7) To treat a 1031 investment property as a "time-share" arrangement. Section 280A of the Tax Code spells out the Test. Personal use of the property may not exceed the greater of: 1. Fourteen (14) days; or2. Ten percent (10%) of the number of days that the property is rented at fair market value to others.
My clients like to consider the purpose for which they will be using an investment property. I ask them to be aware that in order to qualify for Section 1031 treatment., the purpose for holding the property must be for investment or business use.
Please check out more information at
www.janeAnne.com
There a small library of related INFO there!
Let me know if you need a referral to a Qualified Intermediary. I have taken the time personally to interview a number of QIs and have excellent references from satisfied clients to share with you.
contact me at ECOinvest@janeAnne.com
####
Asheville Real Estate Journal
7 "DON'Ts" All 1031 EXCHANGERS Should Know
Over my the years in the practice of real estate in the Greater Asheville area, I have seen strong gains in the real estate market. During that same time, I have noticed with interest the number of clients I meet here in the Asheville area who are approaching retirement -- "baby boomers" seeking the welcoming embrace of this area, and soon ready to let their wealth flower for coming generations.
Interestingly, just in the past few years, the demand for 1031 Tax Deferred Exchanges has also "bloomed". More and more of my clients want to know whether they can qualify their vacation homes and secondary residences for an Exchange. Although I have done many successful 1031 Exchange transactions, and have taken advanced training in this subject area, I am NOT an expert on the intricacies of the tax code.
I like to refer my clients to those who are experts for details about the mechanics of the 1031 Exchange, especially in terms of Vacation Homes. (In order to conduct a valid 1031 Exchange it generally is necessary to have such property rented to unrelated parties for a period of time both BEFORE and after the exchange, for example.) In making sure a Property actually qualifies for the 1031 requirements INTENT is all-important. In this regard, there are many details that a Qualified Intermediary explains and handles.
As your real estate professional, I CAN help in certain details however.
I CAN advise you NOT :
1) To inadvertently indicate in a Contract that you intend to live in the property,
2) To sign a listing agreement soon after its purchase,
3) To apply for “owner occupied” financing on the property,
4) To move into that property within a specified period of time,
5) To ignore rental history (it must be rented by its tenants for a significant time)
6) To claim the "mortgage interest" deduction for the property on yours tax return,
7) To treat a 1031 investment property as a "time-share" arrangement. Section 280A of the Tax Code spells out the Test. Personal use of the property may not exceed the greater of: 1. Fourteen (14) days; or2. Ten percent (10%) of the number of days that the property is rented at fair market value to others.
My clients like to consider the purpose for which they will be using an investment property. I ask them to be aware that in order to qualify for Section 1031 treatment., the purpose for holding the property must be for investment or business use.
Please check out more information at
www.janeAnne.com
There a small library of related INFO there!
Let me know if you need a referral to a Qualified Intermediary. I have taken the time personally to interview a number of QIs and have excellent references from satisfied clients to share with you.
contact me at ECOinvest@janeAnne.com
####
Asheville Real Estate Journal
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Asheville Real Estate
Asheville Real Estate Journal
Envision your Place in the Greater Asheville Area Mountainlands……
Here in the venerable mountains, almost as old as time itself, it is easy to connect with something much larger than yourself. Experience tells me that as you relax, your heart just opens wide, and that magic connection simply happens.. Maybe that’s why Asheville is known as the “Happiest City in the USA”.
A gentle soul told me, “…..there’s a pathway to contentment here. It is like the rainbows over the ridges. It's an uncommon force. When you see it you can measure it by your heartbeat ... an all-at-once coming together and letting go... .” …
Yes...Artists and Poets and Creative People love it here.
Inspiration. . . and Possibility….on so many levels here..
SO as you and I travel in search of your dream property, this is where we start.
At our very fingertips is anything we could ever wish for...an abundance of choice….mountain acreages to enjoy and care for, lovely equestrian properties for riding out with your family and friends, historic properties both in town and in the farmlands, organic gardens, bold streams ..and places to invest time, energy and to create a sanctuary for generations to come…. and so much more.
The natural wealth here reminds me of the flow of the great French Broad River running by the days, bringing wonderful things right to your door. Understanding this, you need only to choose the where and when. But you probably already know this. I’m smiling.
Asheville Real Estate Journal
####
Envision your Place in the Greater Asheville Area Mountainlands……
Here in the venerable mountains, almost as old as time itself, it is easy to connect with something much larger than yourself. Experience tells me that as you relax, your heart just opens wide, and that magic connection simply happens.. Maybe that’s why Asheville is known as the “Happiest City in the USA”.
A gentle soul told me, “…..there’s a pathway to contentment here. It is like the rainbows over the ridges. It's an uncommon force. When you see it you can measure it by your heartbeat ... an all-at-once coming together and letting go... .” …
Yes...Artists and Poets and Creative People love it here.
Inspiration. . . and Possibility….on so many levels here..
SO as you and I travel in search of your dream property, this is where we start.
At our very fingertips is anything we could ever wish for...an abundance of choice….mountain acreages to enjoy and care for, lovely equestrian properties for riding out with your family and friends, historic properties both in town and in the farmlands, organic gardens, bold streams ..and places to invest time, energy and to create a sanctuary for generations to come…. and so much more.
The natural wealth here reminds me of the flow of the great French Broad River running by the days, bringing wonderful things right to your door. Understanding this, you need only to choose the where and when. But you probably already know this. I’m smiling.
Asheville Real Estate Journal
####
janeAnne Nature Walker
www.janeAnne.com
