Timing is crucial to keep in mind when checking out land.
The time of day, week, or year has a large impact on how a property shows and the first impression it has on buyers. A road may be passable on a beautiful day in summer, but during winter freezes a car might not make it back down the mountain. Neighbors might be hidden while leaves are on the trees, but everything shows when the leaves come down in fall. The wind might blow the smell of the Canton paper mill away from the property one day, but toward it the next.
Augmented reality apps are one useful workaround that will help you get a complete picture of a property. The SunSeeker app shows a camera overlay of where the sun is in the sky at different times of the day and year. A property might be bathed in sunlight in the afternoon, but a large mountain to the east could mean that the first rays of sunlight don’t come over the ridge until 9am. This app is great to see the hours of solar exposure a homesite will get through the seasons and where sunrise and sunset views will be.
Another useful app is Peak Finder. Several of our listings are up at 6000 ft on Mt. Lyn Lowry in Balsam, where sometimes you can see for miles and other times you can’t see your hand in front of your face because you’re in a cloud! PeakFinder allows you to point your camera at a view and it will paint a picture of which mountains you are looking at. It can also give you a sense of how expansive (ex. 120 degree, 180 degree) the view is.
In any case, your best resource is a broker knowledgeable about the area. Add technological aids to a real estate agent with deep experiential knowledge of the mountains and you have a great recipe for finding the perfect piece of land!
For more help in finding the right land for you in WNC, contact:
Ben Bogardus
Altamont Property Group
email: bogardusbenjamin@gmail.com
call or text: 828-793-0464
