Funny thing happened on our way thru NC, we bought a Ski Lodge !

Yes, it was a funny thing all right ! 

Cabin Hunting in North Carolina

My husband has always wanted to live in the mountains.  He was born and raised in Jacksonville, FL and at 47 years old, we are both retired now and thought we would take a drive through North Carolina to look at some little cabins for sale.  We still have a teenager at home with 2 more years of high school left, but it wouldn’t hurt to look at what is on the market right?

Funny thing happened along the way … we discovered that a) the mountains were calling us and b) the foreclosure & housing market deals out there are INCREDIBLE.  What if those same deals aren’t there in 2 years when we are able to move full time to another state?  I am the master of all deals, and it sure is hard for me to resist a good one.  We traveled thru Franklin, Asheville, Lake Lure, Blowing Rock and Boone.  It is truly gorgeous country, especially if you are used to flat, flat, flat land of Florida.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Florida Sunshine and weather, but there is something about the mountain air that was calling us.

We took a look at our finances and discovered that even though mortgage rates are low and savings rates are even lower, we really had enough liquidity to just buy the house outright. We weren’t able to get much income on that savings without too much risk in the investment market.  A cash deal would make our negotiating power stronger.  I just didn’t know how MAXIMIZED our power was going to be yet …

We looked at nice little cabins in a reasonable price range and just didn’t see much re-sale or rental value in them.  Many were only 1 or 2 bedrooms and in remote areas.  The more expensive cabins in Boone and Lake Lure just weren’t a great deal.  So, we kept looking.  My husband actively searched the MLS listings every day and we finally made a decision to Just GO FOR IT !

One Cabin, Two Cabin, Three Cabin …. Four… Ugh oh, this one is a Lodge !

We had been talking with several realtors in NC and quite frankly, we felt a lot of them could care less about selling a house.  Surprisingly they were not as “hungry” for a deal as you would think in this economy.  Until, that is that we met David Lee.

We originally spoke with David and he said yes, if we came up for a weekend, his partner would show us houses in the Hendersonville area.  As time approached, my husband confirmed with David that the only reason we were coming up was to buy a cabin so he better have appointments scheduled and have a jam packed weekend.  He assured us his partner would do just that.  Turns out the partner wasn’t quite as hungry either because he bailed on us before we ever got there. David, even though “he didn’t normally show houses anymore” was hungry friendly enough to pick up the slack.

A quick stop at the Jiffy Market for Mountain Dew, Coffee, and Cheetos, and we headed out to see our list of about 20 cabins.  One cabin … not rustic enough.  Two Cabin … not unique enough.  Three Cabin … only 1 bedroom.  Four Cabin … you get the picture.  The cabins we looked at were either cookie cutter Lincoln Logs or too small for entertaining guests.  We ended e 1st day of house hunting a little dismayed.  Husband again studied MLS listings online back at the hotel, determined that the “perfect” cabin was out there for us.

Before dawn the next morning, he thought he may have just found it.  The price had just dropped by $100,000 and was now coming up in our price range vs. yesterday’s searches.  Yes, a $100,000 drop.  I like that. We showed it to our realtor who quickly informed us that it was over an hour away.  But then his interest perked a little when he saw *SELLER* offering Double commission … yes 6% to the realtor vs. his normal 3%.  Now, the hour drive didn’t seem so bad.  He did however insist that we see everything else on his list before we headed out of town.

We were an hour late to the cabin Lodge because we had to see about 10 others before we got there.  We drove up and said HOLY COW. The Realtor said HOLY COW too… and HOLY 6% !  By this time, we really liked David.  Spending a 8hrs a day in a car with a stranger you find out some very interesting things about each other

The Our Lodge is made out of reclaimed antique lumber taken from various old barns, buildings, and city halls around North and South Carolina.  We love antiques and we love Unique.  We just couldn’t find the heart to call this a “cabin”  because it is 3 stories and 3800 sq. feet.  It is a 3 bedroom / 3 bath built on a side of a mountain and fits the word “lodge” much better.  There really is not a “mountain” view, but just up the road is the Ski Resort ! Added Perk ! We found out this house rents out for $1800 week during ski season.  We haven’t ski’d since we were kids … but I think we’ll give it a try soon enough!  Until then we’ll offset some of our costs by renting it out to skiers.