Pat Bennett was born in Miami, Florida, where his family arrived by covered wagon as one of the original settlers in 1892. It was a wonderful place to grow up with salt water fishing, pleasant climate, and his family living nearby. Pat graduated from Coral Park High School and went on to Miami Dade Junior College and on to graduate from University of Georgia with a BS-ED in Education with a history minor.
He returned to Miami to begin teaching. As he sat in bumper to bumper traffic, traveling to work one day, he decided times had changed and he wanted to raise his children in a different environment. So after spending many summers in western North Carolina outside Cashiers, he knew just where he wanted to be.
In 1975, an opportunity arose to become the Personnel Director for western North Carolina Department of Transportation. He learned a lot about politics and the mountains in that position. He lived in Maggie Valley and eventually purchased the IGA grocery store in town and operated it for several years with his Mother, before selling it to his brother.
It seems that much of the family had gotten the same idea and had relocated to the mountains as well. Pat settled down and started raising a family with two daughters Rachael and Sarah.
Once Pat went into real estate in 1977, there was no looking back. He sold the grocery and ended up buying the real estate office he worked with, REALTY WORLD – Heritage Realty. This is probably the oldest operating real estate office in Haywood County.
Since those early days, Pat has seen a lot of real estate trends come and go:
- the high interest rates of the 1980’s followed by the Savings and Loans crash induced opportunities for creative financing,
- the origination of the MLS and then the internet have changed real estate forever,
- the addition of Rental Management (Carolina Vacations)
- and its growth to the largest rental management company west of Asheville, the building of REALTY WORLD – Heritage into one of the top producing companies in the county, and
- he knowledge gained in building eleven (11) residential developments from the ground up, in an ever changing regulatory environment.
Times have changed, and he has learned from each experience.
Pat is focusing on the development of Katua Falls at this time. New construction of homes in Katua Falls is next on the agenda. He has sold his interest in Carolina Vacations and REALTY WORLD – Heritage to business associates.
His extensive experience is a benefit to any project or investor with whom he is involved.