Unique Mountain Properties specializes in locating large tracts of land, predominately in the Western North Carolina Region, for discriminating buyers whose interests range from Conservation to Development, Family Compounds to Boutique Inns and B&B’s, Vineyards to Equestrian sites or Land Banking to Logging.
We live here, we play here and we take pride in knowing first-hand the charm and challenges mountain land ownership provides.
Our unique team of professionals bring individual talents which allows us to consult and advise clients on a wide range of topics.
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Bill May - Bill@UniqueMountainProperties.com
SEE OUR NEW VODcast Video - Introduction to Bill and Unique Mountain Properties
Bill founded UMP in 2001. He has thrived as a real estate broker in Western North Carolina since 1999, brokering more than $100 million in large tract transactions over the past decade. He has handled a diversity of transactions, from ½-acre lakefront home sites to expansive 4,000-acre tracts. He has a versatile client-base of both landowners and buyers including developers, private wealth individuals, land bankers, conservancies and non-profits, logging firms, vineyard interests and state universities. Bill is truly passionate about the land in the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains. He views the property here as art, created by nature, on which people can realize their dreams of living here in the mountains.
Bill’s extensive client-base is a direct outcome of his belief in listening intently to the client’s needs. He goes to great lengths to fully understand the requirements, parameters and conditions that are paramount to the acquisition. His conviction and philosophy is that the better one listens and fully understands the client’s needs, the greater the chance of a successful closing.
Bill resides in Sylva, North Carolina with his wife Grace, a professor at Western Carolina University, their two children Marshall and Gracie and their two dogs, Domino and Shug. His many outdoor hobbies include boating, fishing and exploring the Smokies from his houseboat “Adrift”, where you may find him on Fontana Lake on a cool, crisp autumn weekend.
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Lee Barnes- Lee@UniqueMountainProperties.com
Lee is our resident Ph.D. and professional outdoorsman (having backpacked more than 4,500 miles, including the entire Appalachian Trail). He is most at home in the forests and mountains of Western North Carolina, assisting our clients with land evaluations from the perspective of the property’s natural characteristics including the geology, soils science and hydrology of a particular tract of land. Lee is also skilled at map making, aerial photography and topographic analysis, which he combines with his keen, on-site observational skills to enhance the evaluation process from which each client benefits.
He is also the owner of Land Stewardship Consulting, which he began in 1995, and has been an active real estate broker in North Carolina since 1999. He is the author of the 1994 book “Smoky Mountain Hiking and Camping”, a contributing editor to the Katuah Journal: The Environmental Newsletter of the Southern Appalachian Bioregion (1989-1993) and a continuing advocate for bioregional education and regional agriculture. He has been active in horticultural consulting and environmental education in WNC since moving to the area in 1988. Lee continues to write articles on regional topics of interest including outdoor recreation, natural history and permaculture design, regional weather and mountain microclimates, seed saving, medicinal plants, old-growth forests and water well dowsing.
Lee earned his B.S. in Biological Sciences from NCSU in 1976, his M.S. from NCSU in Horticultural Science in 1978 and his Ph.D. in Environmental Horticulture from U. Fla., in 1985, where he specialized in the study and propagation of rare and endangered plant species. Lee Barnes is our resident scientist and fulltime outdoorsman that brings a valued technical approach to the evaluation of land parcels. He conducts mapping studies and aerial photography analysis to assist in quantifying and qualifying various attributes of the tracts and then expands that analysis through on-the-ground, detailed property investigation of the topography, soils, surface waters, geology, flora and fauna.
Anne Schneider- aeschnei@hotmail.com
A native North Carolinian, Anne has been an active Real Estate Broker since 2005 in Western North Carolina. A member of the North Carolina Board of Realtors and Asheville Board of Realtors. Anne serves on the Zoning Board of Adjustment for the Town of Marshall.
Originally from Chapel Hill, she is a Tar Heel born and bred. Since moving to the mountains from the coast of NC, Anne has been exploring the alluring charms of land and home ownership for her clients. Anne has a natural ability to listen intently to what her clients desire and focusing on their priorities. She makes it her business to know the real estate market and keep aware of new possibilities emerging.
An explorer at heart, her passion for the outdoors and wildlife keeps her actively involved with nature. From the fascinating streams deep in the forests, to the captivating charms of the small towns spotted in the surrounding areas of Asheville. Anne will work hard to help you locate your place here in the magnetic region of the Western North Carolina Mountains.
After working closely with Unique Mountain Properties owner, Bill May, on closing a historic tract of land in Weaverville, Anne joined the team at Unique Mountain Properties. Anne lives in Marshall with her husband, Thomas, their dog Knox, a cat Momma, Giovanni, Elton, and Gaultier... a couple of friendly goats. |
