Just don't do it
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4/8/2019
I was born in a neighboring county and have lived in western North Carolina for all of my life. We currently own a home in Asheville. The unfortunate part is that people are flocking to Asheville in droves, which causes the housing prices to skyrocket. An influx of affluent people has also caused a great gentrification of Asheville; the middle class does not exist in Asheville anymore. Many of the people I graduated from college with have 4 or 5 roommates and are working 2-3 jobs and barely making ends meet.
I wish that we could move away from Asheville. If you would like a revealing and depressing real estate exercise, search for a 2,000 sq ft house for $300k in Asheville and then try searching with the same parameters in other NC cities (Charlotte, Raleigh, etc.).
The good news is that the housing bubble of Asheville has to burst at some point. I feel like Asheville is currently en vogue, but, once the trend passes, there are far too many high-priced apartment complexes and hotels for Asheville to sustain long-term.
Before you move to Asheville, secure a well paying job (good luck), childcare, and affordable housing. IF you are able to secure all three, then you can buy your Subaru and decorate it with a "keep Asheville weird" bumper sticker.
Whitney | Candler, NC