I stumbled across the house we ended up buying while online in Nov. 2011 and met Blake through the Keller Williams Realty website. From the beginning, Blake Simons was warm, personable, easy going yet very knowledgeable and professional. He knew the Asheville/Hendersonville area well and zeroed in on our wants and desires as far as finding a vacation home that someday we could retire to. He listened closely to the type of town we wanted to live in and the kind of home we were looking for, and then tried to match us up to properties fitting those parameters. From day one, we were in love with a particular home in Hendersonville, and Blake spent countless hours researching the property for us to find out everything possible about it: why they were selling it; why it was on the market one year; what amenities it had. He got another Keller Williams agent to take numerous photos of the interior so we could see what the home looked like inside. We made plans for a trip down to North Carolina and made an appointment with Blake to tour some homes for sale. As soon as we saw the home in Hendersonville we had been tracking online for several months, we loved it and put in a bid. Our first two bids were rejected but number three was finally accepted. Blake walked us through the negotiations and then lined up the various inspectors. Every inspection turned up major flaws in the home... things that were fixable but very costly to repair and that involved the safety and soundness of the home and foundation. Our agent Blake then re-negotiated the contract with a very difficult, uncooperative seller to include some of the repair costs. At every turn we found problems: a defective title that needed to be corrected, lawyers not in office due to personal issues, seller's real estate agent out of town, etc. etc. This contract bid and subsequent negotiations from start to closing was a virtual nightmare! There were so many times we could have (and should have) walked away from all the headaches and heartaches, but Blake Simons knew we loved the house and truly wanted it, and he asked us to trust him to eventually deliver the property to us and to hang in there. He constantly had to reassure us and explain all aspects of the real estate process. We have bought and sold homes before but never run into so many roadblocks, problems and twists! My husband and I physically saw the house on May 16th and bid on it. This was a cash sale with no financing, yet we only closed on the property June 28th and did not receive the keys to the house until July 20th! Even after the closing, Blake had to track down the keys sitting at a lawyer's office and have them shipped to us! I must say Blake Simons at Keller Williams Realty was thorough, completely professional at all times, focused, determined, relentless in pursuit of this home for us. Yet he is super nice and personable with a great sense of humor. We are thankful he represented us in the largest and most difficult financial transaction of our lives! We now own a beautiful home in North Carolina that is a dream come true. It ticked off all the boxes on our wish list, and we cannot wait for the years of enjoyment we hope to get out of it! If you need a fabulous real estate agent in the Asheville area who will steer you to the right property at the right cost and work tirelessly for you, look no further than Blake Simons at Keller Williams Realty at 86 Asheland Avenue in Asheville, NC. He is our real estate agent but has also become a valued friend. We would highly recommend him to ANYONE seeking a property in the Asheville area!