A Great Investment in Green Real Estate

Buying property from a not-for-profit organization to purchase land can be a rewarding and cost-effective experience, especially if you work with a qualified environmentally-conscious buyer’s agent to help negotiate the transaction, and guide you through the entire process.

History and Vision for Altamont Acres

Western View

The story begins with a search for land initiated by a client drawn to our concept of ecological real estate. George Edens discovered six parcels comprising 120 acres near Linville Falls owned by the not-for-profit Conservation Trust for North Carolina. The CTNC purchased the property to protect the Blue Ridge Parkway view shed from the heavy development slated for these wooded acres.  The CTNC was selling large-acreage lots with protective covenants and building sites not visible from the Parkway.

The CTNC had tried unsuccessfully for five years to sell even one of the six parcels.  Competent, high-profile real estate brokers had been unable to interpret to the buying public that what the CTNC was trying to accomplish would be advantageous to anyone who would buy and build there.

We thought we could do the job, and we did.

Our enthusiasm for the property soon involved three more buyer-couples, two of whom we called after discovering what we considered to be a great deal. We worked intensely as a team consisting of the CTNC, our clients, and the listing agent. In the beginning, some of the clients did not find the property so attractive because there were protective covenants that would affect property use and home sites needing CTNC approval.

However, we were able to convince our clients that these covenants were actually to their advantage by protecting their interests from over-development and damage to the natural environment. Together we were able to work with our clients, the listing agent and the CTNC to locate approvable home sites, and develop covenants agreeable to all the buyers and the CTNC. In the end, the buyers actually negotiated for covenants more strict than the original ones! All parties were very pleased with what they had accomplished together.

The result was that the Blue Ridge Parkway had a permanently-protected view shed, ecologically-rich adjoining land, funds freed up for the CTNC to invest in other projects, and the buyers were able to purchase well-protected parcels at half the cost of typical acreage in the area. Previous potential buyers simply were not willing to work with the CTNC and the process that needed to take place because they had not understood. We were able to come in and help facilitate the process for a happy result.

To an older mindset “Protective Covenants” has sometimes connoted a lessened property value. A newer mindset sees that land protected by covenants and/or a conservation easement enhances value, financial as well as environmental, and aesthetic.  These parcels at Altamont Acres are highly likely to appreciate faster precisely because of the covenants and the low purchase prices.

Please visit our Blog for updates on the Altamont Acres property.