We made our visit and found many interesting areas in or around Asheville. I would highly recommend to anyone interested in a summer location to look in this area. A few communities to highlight are: Kenmure - a golfing centric community near Hendersonville, the Hendersonville area in general - very nice downtown, avoid Asheville city - property taxes are double and you get nothing for the higher taxes that you don't also have access to by living outside the city, Weaverville - about 10 miles north of Asheville, Fletcher and Arden - two "suburbs" on the south side of Asheville near the airport.
House prices in the area area higher than the Villages which was already substantially higher than what I was used to in central Michigan but others coming from high property value areas would have less sticker shock.
Thanks for the advice provided. We are seriously considering moving from central Michigan to the Asheville area for the summers. We would probably choose to rent for 2-3 months first to make sure we like the area. This is what we did in the Villages and that worked out well
Rented in the Villages from Jan-Mar, 2014, decided we liked it by Jan 10, 2014, found a great house by Jan 15, 2014, bought it and moved in on March 1 throwing the last month's rent away (sunk cost, can't get it back so no big deal).
G'day,
Vinish