Bear Paw Resort Effectively Issues a Moratorium of New Home Construction Due to Water Supply

Posted by John Poltrock on

When it comes to building a new construction home, the availability of water is crucial. Bear Paw Resort is a great community here in Murphy NC and the utility company just issued a notice that affects all lot owners and prospective buyers of lot owners.

On April 21, 2023, Utilities, Inc. (formerly Carolina Water) informed the Bear Paw Service District that they do not have enough water supply to accommodate new construction homes. They have already invested a significant amount of money in drilling two new wells within the Service District, but unfortunately, these wells do not provide enough continuous water flow to meet further increased demand for water.

As a result, the BPSD has received advice not to issue any additional new house-build permits. It is important to note that water is crucial for any house to be built and to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy from the Building Department in Cherokee County, North Carolina. Without an adequate water supply, new home construction simply cannot occur.

It is understandable to have questions about whether your proposed building plan will have access to water. In this case, it is recommended that you reach out to Utilities, Inc. directly to discuss your concerns and options. They can be reached at 1-800-525-7990 or their website is here at https://www.myutility.us/carolinawater

This news may be disappointing for those who were hoping to settle down and build their dream home in Bear Paw. However, it is imperative to prioritize the availability and sustainability of water resources for the entire community. The BPSD will continue to work with Utilities, Inc. to find a resolution and keep residents informed of any updates.

If you are considering purchasing a lot to build a house in Bear Paw, it is necessary to rethink your plans until this issue is resolved. Stay informed and updated on the situation, and we hope for a positive resolution in the near future.

Looking for real estate in the mountains of Western North Carolina and North Georgia? The Poltrock Team has you covered! Feel free to call us at 828-837-6400 or shop for real estate online at www.ThePoltrockTeam.com

If your house burnt down, does your insurance protect you? Meet Veldia Dockery of Mountain Insurance

Posted by John Poltrock on

Fires can be a homeowner’s worst nightmare. In a matter of minutes, a home and all its contents can be destroyed due to an out-of-control fire. Sadly, many homeowners don’t realize that they may not have enough insurance coverage to replace their home if it were to burn down. We don’t want our clients and friends in that situation.

At Mountain Insurance in Murphy NC, Veldia Dockery is passionate about helping her clients make sure they are adequately insured. She knows that an insufficient policy can leave them with huge financial losses and emotionally devastating consequences. That’s why we created this video – to help spread awareness about home insurance coverage and ensure everyone has enough protection against fires and other disasters.

In the video, John Poltrock with The Poltrock Team at RE/MAX interviews Veldia so she can explain what you need to know when it comes to homeowner’s insurance coverage. She offers advice on finding the right policy for your specific circumstances so you can rest assured knowing you’re properly covered in the event of a disaster.

No one wants their house to burn down – but if it does happen, having adequate home insurance coverage will provide peace of mind that your losses will be minimized or at least somewhat manageable. So don’t let yourself get underinsured – watch our video with Veldia Cook Dockery from Mountain Insurance in Murphy NC today! You can call her at 828-837-3866.

Want to see all our recommended vendors? Check out our Gotta Guy List by clicking here.

John Poltrock is Dave Ramsey’s Endorsed Local Real Estate Provider

Posted by John Poltrock on

Dave Ramsey ELP Poltrock TeamJessica and I are incredibly fortunate to have graduated from Financial Peace University. It literally changed our lives! So much so, we even taught it at our church. Dave Ramsey is a household name in financial education, both due to his nationally syndicated show The Ramsey Show, which is listened to by 18 million people each week, as well as his bestselling books such as “Total Money Makeover” and “The Legacy Journey”.

Fast forward to today, I’m actually Dave Ramsey’s Endorsed Local Provider for real estate in Murphy NC and Cherokee County! This endorsement is an incredible advantage for anyone buying or selling real estate in the local area. It means you can be assured that you are working with a team who takes Dave’s mantra of “serving with the heart of a teacher” seriously. And not only that, The Poltrock Team is also widely recognized as Murphy’s #1 Real Estate Team.

This endorsement serves as both a badge of honor and an assurance of excellence. Buying or selling property is one of life’s more significant transactions and having the trust of someone like Dave Ramsey speaks volumes about how seriously we take the responsibility of helping you buy or sell property locally. With a wealth of experience combined with the trusted endorsement from Dave Ramsey, you can be sure your real estate needs will be taken care of efficiently and effectively. If you’re looking for premier real estate services in Murphy NC or Cherokee County, give us a call today at 828-837-6400. We’re here for you!

John Poltrock – 828-837-6400

Selling your Real Estate or House in January in the Mountains of North Carolina

Posted by John Poltrock on

Are you thinking of selling your home in Murphy, NC? Now is a perfect time! January is an ideal month to list your house for sale. This time of year, buyers are out in full force shopping for new homes. With fewer homes on the market than in spring months, your home will get plenty of attention and have a greater opportunity of being sold quickly and at a great price.

When buyers start looking at homes in January, they already have an idea of what they’re looking for. Many will shop online to create their own “shopping list” from which they can choose when it comes time to buy. With fewer options available at this time of year, by listing now you could be giving them the option to select your home as their number one choice.

Selling during the winter months also has financial benefits. December is often a slow month for real estate sales due to the holiday season, so many sellers wait until spring or summer before listing their house on the market. However, by not waiting until everyone else lists their house you’ll be taking advantage of less competition and more potential buyers who may be willing to offer you a higher price for your property.

January is also a great month for staging and organizing open houses for prospective buyers. It’s easier to showcase a well-kept property during this time of year without worrying about overgrown grass or plants that need trimming due to changing seasons. Plus, with its mild weather throughout the month, Murphy makes it easy to keep energy costs low while showing off your home’s best features both inside and out!

Listing your house during January gives you all these advantages plus much more! By selling now instead of waiting until traditional peak selling times later in the year, you’ll have more opportunities for making profitable deals on your property sooner rather than later! Make sure to contact a Realtor with The Poltrock Team at RE/MAX today and start listing your house for sale while demand is still high—you won’t regret it! We’re here to help at 828-837-6400.

Change Your Radon Vent Fan Yourself!

Posted by John Poltrock on

Murphy, North Carolina is located in Cherokee County. Believe it or not, Cherokee County is among the two highest for radon in the entire state of North Carolina! It’s not a big deal and is usually an easy fix, you just have to know about it.

In this video, I change out the radon vent fan in our home that we have lived in for going on 6 years. It’s worn out and ready for a new one! I hope this helps someone who needs to change out their fan and just needs an idea of how to do it.

Good luck!

John Poltrock

Selling your home and storing your furniture in Murphy NC

Posted by John Poltrock on

When it comes to moving, let’s face it, moving is hard work. When you sell your house in Murphy NC, you want your furniture and furnishings to be safe from the elements. There’s nothing better than climate-controlled storage units. Your leather furniture, photographs, artwork, and more are protected from moisture and damage.

Storage Murphy is a great place to store your belongings for a short period of time or a long term as you locate a new home in Murphy or another area. Check out climate-controlled storage at StorageMurphy.com.  You can also call 828-888-9292.

Internet Services Providers Available In Murphy NC and Cherokee County NC

Posted by I Love Murphy on

Internet Services can be a huge consideration when buying a home no matter where you’re looking to purchase. When you’re shopping online for real estate, determining what internet speed is available is nearly impossible. When working from home is crucial, homeschooling is common, and simply wanting to watch a movie to relax is important, knowing what internet is available is vital.

Several companies have reached out to us wanting us to add their maps of internet coverage to our website. After we dug into them, we realized they had major flaws in being able to provide what properties have what type of internet. Because of that, we didn’t use them and decided to post this to give you insight as to what to expect.

Here are the types available here in Murphy NC:

  • Fiber Optic Internet – Provided by Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corp., this is the fastest option with no data caps. The base package is around $40 per month and download speeds tend to be 15-40 Mbps. Other packages are available. Finding homes with Fiber Optic is a gem – they are not common because our area is spread out and the cost of building the infrastructure is high. Thanks to a federal grant many years ago, the system was built out and is much larger than it once was. If you find a home with fiber optic, this is a huge plus.

 

  • SkyTek Internet (now River Street) – this is a local company that offers point-to-point internet and is largely found in homes that are higher up in elevation with views or unobstructed views to their repeaters. It works through Blue Ridge’s Fiber Internet Service and covers folks who don’t have fiber directly available at their home. It also has no data caps and plans start around $40 per month as well but are slower speeds than fiber. They do have higher-level packages that come close to the speeds of fiber and can be around $70 per month. This is what I personally have at my home and have been very satisfied with their service. The customer service is great, the owners are very good, hard-working folks, and I love that we support a local business in the process. They can do a site visit to any property and tell you whether service is available.

 

  • Cable Internet – Provided by Murphy Cable, they offer TV services and internet with no data caps. They have excellent speeds in our experience and do a good job. Their region is largely confined to being close to town so properties that are far out are unlikely to have this option available. They’re cost-effective and speeds are quite fast. Their speeds can vary widely based on distance from their stations so you are best to contact them IF cable TV is available at the property to see what you can expect from their services. 

 

  • DSL – Provided by Frontier Communications and/or AT&T depending on where you are in Cherokee County, DSL generally offers 3 MBPS download and up to 512 KBPS upload speed with no data caps. It can stream YouTube and other services but does tend to buffer especially in times of high usage. It is important to note they are out of ports in many parts of the county so if you buy a property that has active DSL services you want to continue that same service, be sure to have the seller set up for a transfer of the port rather than canceling service. If you don’t, you may find there isn’t a port available.

 

  • Satellite Internet – this is usually available in areas where none of the above options are. The two main companies we see folks use are Hughesnet and Viasat. We’ve heard the best feedback on Viasat from our clients. Most of their packages have caps on data usage and different plans are available based on your needs. Check out their website by clicking the name for more details.

Have a specific property in mind and need to know what it has available? Do you require a certain type of internet? Give us a call at 1-866-687-7496 and we can help you find out what there is so you can find the perfect home! Search all available properties online here!

Please note all information provided herein is based on personal experience, speed tests, customer feedback, and more. All info is subject to change, package pricing changes, location differences, and more. If the Internet is very important to you, we highly recommend you independently verify it will suit your needs prior to purchasing a home.

Bring the Train Home to Murphy NC! A record is made in the Guinness Book of World Records!

Posted by I Love Murphy on

On October 5, 2018, Downtown Murphy NC had thousands of residents on the square whistling and singing a custom version of “She will be coming round the mountain when she comes!” and signing a petition with the goal of bringing the train back to Cherokee County. It would stimulate tourism, commerce, and more. Watch to see what it was like to be in the crowd!

It was a great event led by many of our area’s leaders including: Mayor of Murphy NC Rick Ramsey, Mayor of Andrews NC James Reid, Representative Kevin Corbin,  Jim Davis, and more. It shows our community spirit here in Murphy NC. We are proud to be here!

Murphy NC is Safe from Damages of Hurricane Florence

Posted by I Love Murphy on

I spoke with a great customer of ours and I heard rumor many folks from out of state are not coming to the mountains of Murphy NC because of the damage caused by Hurricane Florence. While it is true many of our eastern towns and cities of North Carolina have been severely damaged, our mountain city is safe and sound. Not only that, Murphy is the perfect safe haven when retreating from natural disasters around the United States.

Hurricane Florence was rough on the Carolinas, and you can see from the map, we are over 500 miles inland. Other than rain, we received no flooding or damaging winds. Murphy was the perfect place for those forced to evacuate! In fact, many of our clients did just that. We had folks escape from Myrtle Beach, SC and many more.

In the event you’re holding back coming to Murphy, you should come! The great news is we’re safe and sound and October is one of the best months to be here: changing leaves and fall festivals are just the beginning. 

Our home in the Appalachian Mountains is quite sheltered from natural disasters. The mountains break up tornadoes, hurricanes are rain by the time the reach us, flooding is rarely an issue especially for those on elevations above the river. Because of this insurance is quite low! We’re working on a transaction now on a creek and the annual flood insurance is $260 for the entire year. An average home owner’s policy can be as low as $400 for the year to $1,300 depending on “add-in” coverages. The normal range I see is $600-900 annually.

Love the mountains and want to have your get-a-way? Our Team is here to help you! Feel free to Contact Us and let us know what we can do to help plus use our Free Online Real Estate Search. Plus, we’re only a call away at 1-866-687-7496.

Radon Testing and Mitigation in the Mountains of North Carolina

Posted by I Love Murphy on

It’s true! The Appalachian Mountains, which are in Murphy NC, can yield high levels of radon in homes. The great news is it is an easy,  and beneficial, fix. A simple remediation system can quickly remove radon and even excess moisture from your home; I have one in mine! Did you know it is the second leading cause of lung cancer? Only cigarette smoking is worse. An inexpensive test will find out if you have it. We recommend them when you are buying a home in the mountains to ensure your family’s safety.

Watch our video below to learn more about radon, what a remediation system is,  and how it functions. Visit the EPA’s Radon Page to learn even more. Need a remediation expert? We’ve got them! Our Gotta Guy List of Recommended Contractors is here.