More pictures of my new house!

I couldn't help it, had to post them! My Realtor sent me these pictures today! The water test passed, and now all that remains in the appraisal and a response from the sellers for all the requested repairs!

Getting closer!!! Click on this link for access to the pictures!

http://www.kleinheksel.com/house_photos.htm

Moving to North Carolina!

Hello faithful readers, you'll be happy to note that very soon I will be only posting Minneapolis related real estate news on this site. I am going to turn this over to my team in Minneapolis who will surely increase the quantity and quality of the posts!

My weekly musings will be now be posted on my new site at yadkin-valley.com, yes my friends I am moving to the Yadkin Valley. Can you believe that such a great URL as yadkin-valley.com was still available? That site is only a placeholder. I am going to make that into an incredible place to learn more about Yadkin Valley wines and all the cities that comprise the region. So makre sure you check back in the coming weeks!

Yesterday, my Realtor, Gambill Aldridge of Basin Creek Realty in Elkin, NC, called and informed me that my offer had been accepted!!! And then today interest rates started falling once again, how great is that!! It's quite amazing how low house prices are in Elkin. I only paid $77 / sq. ft in NC, whereas in Minneapolis for the same sort of house, I would have paid $250 / ft or more...needless to say, I am very excited to move to the heart of the Yadkin Valley. It's an exciting beautiful place, a place where all of you should consider to vacation and retire someday. Bookmark www.yadkin-valley.com and check back in a few weeks to learn more about the area.

Brent

Vineyards and Adkins

Well, my journey for this week is coming to an end. Today, I am back in Asheville, readying to drive to Knoxville to catch a flight back to Minneapolis. The weather has just been incredible...50's and sunny pretty much the while trip, although it's in the 40's now. Of the four regions I explored (Asheville, Knoxville, Yadkin Valley and Greensboro), I settled on the Yadkin Valley.

The Yadkin Valley is a little deceptive. The area is about 40 miles from Winston-Salem and 90 miles or so from Greensboro. It's an area rife with transformation. However, it's very easy to overlook all the great things that the Yadkin Valley offers. As I mentioned previously, I had the benefit of two great guides in the forms of Mark Greene and Gambill Aldridge. Mark is the owner of Elkin Mill Vineyards and the Cimarron Steak House in Elkin. He has a beautiful piece of property at the Elkin Mill with about 5 acres of vines in the ground. He introduced me to Gambill Aldridge who is the owner / broker of Basin Creek Realty. Truly, a great guy. He knows the area inside and out and was able to introduce me to some great neighborhoods, that most would never know exist.

Elkin hosts the Yadkin Valley Wine Festival each year. The city, more than any other in the Yadkin Valley is beginning to embrace the notion that the Yadkin Valley may very well be the next Napa Valley. I know many regions like to tout that they are the "next Napa" but with 20+ wineries and new vineyards opening every month, the area is truly being transformed into a rich viticultural area.

This impact has not been lost on the town. New businesses are opening, new money is flowing into the town and jobs that were lost when the textile mills began to close are now being added in the services and tourism industry. With all of it beauty, Elkin still does not have even one Bed and Breakfast! Amazing growth will be occurring in this region in the coming years.

For those reseaons, I have decicded to call Elkin my home. I've decided it's best to hold off on the purchasing of any prime vineyard land and instead focus on finding a nice home with just a bit of land where I can practice growing grapes. Once I am settled in, perhaps in 6-12 months I can pursue buying a nice chuck of land to develop and nurture into Kleinheksel Vineyards and Winery.

A couple of other things about Elkin, NC. 1) They have a wonderful parks and recreation system. There is a beautiful facility with a fitness room, indoor basketball courts and 6 lighted tennis courts...all sitting on a trout stream in beautiful little Valley. They have a great country club and golf courses surround the area, additionally Elkin sits at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains...so some great hiking and rock climbing is just minutes away.

Well that's all for now, I'll tell you more about my house, if I am able to put a deal together. I found two great homes, either of which I think would be great...so we'll see!

Brent