Living the Good Life on A Fairview Farm
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Fairview Farm is the lifelong dream of high school sweethearts Eric and Jessica Ward. For years, they talked about wanting a family farm that their children could grow up on with animals and a garden. They knew it would be hard work, but whatever it took to achieve that goal, they were willing to do. Eric, in addition to owning Triad Heating & Cooling, is a licensed real estate broker. In order to maintain that license, he is required to attend Continuing Education programs each year. He attended one such training in 2015 at The Exchange in Asheboro and was one of the last people to arrive, so sat down in the only available chair next to Emily Smith. They chatted throughout the day, and Eric mentioned that if she ever had a farm come up for sale with approximately 50 acres and a house on it that needed work so it would be a good deal, he’d be interested. Two weeks later Emily texted him at 10:30 pm on a Saturday night, having just left a listing appointment for the very thing that he had described he was looking for. She was going to list it on Monday but told him to take a look on Sunday and see if he was interested. He and Jess drove out and walked the entire property line
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down to the river on Sunday afternoon, all around the 52 acres for over three hours, envisioning raising their family there. Eric had already been to a local lending institution and gotten prequalified for a loan, so he was able to make an offer on the property that afternoon. When things are meant to be, good things happen. While the original financing fell through two weeks before the closing because the home was in such disrepair, through a ton of phone calls and meeting with people, Eric was able to secure the money he needed in a shortterm personal financing deal to buy the home and 52 acres attached to the property. He spent the next 16 months renovating the house for his family, and when he paid off that personal financing and refinanced it with the original lending institution, they valued just the house and the five acres it sits on at $40,000 more than he bought the entire 52 acres for! Talk about serendipity. The property had a chicken house on the lower side that they use for hay storage, stalls for the animals and Eric built a beautiful, enclosed area for their store and event space. Another had burned down, and he cleaned
