BLAKE & ASHLEY

A Real Estate Pro and Mortgage Lender Moving the Triad!

BY DENISE HEIDEL PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEJ PHOTOS

It’s no secret that the real estate market is on fire, but even with strong numbers—buyers and sellers need a strong team to support them. And when it comes to real estate pros, Blake Ginther and Ashley McKenzie-Sharpe are a dynamic duo who can guide, advise, and educate on all aspects of real estate—from start to finish.

“Blake and I have been working together for years,” said Ashley. “These days— my agency averages 150 – 200 loans per year from Blake’s group of real estate professionals. As a result, we’ve developed a great synergy to support the families we serve.”

“Agreed,” chimed in Blake. “It’s a known truth that the real estate industry is booming, and coupled with great interest rates, many are looking for new homes. The Ginther Group has a great deal of trust in Ashley and her team, so we refer our buyers to her all the time.”

All great partnerships start with great business, though. And The Ginther Group of Keller Williams Realty Elite and The Sharpe Mortgage Team of Fairway

Independent Mortgage Corporation are no exception.

The Ginther Group of Keller Williams Realty Elite

“I have been in real estate for 18 years and opened The Ginther Group eight years ago,” explained Blake. “Real estate is a field that is very intriguing to many, but like anything, ‘one size does not fit all.’”

“My approach,” he continued, “Is rooted in listening. No two real estate transactions are ever the same, and the search for the perfect home starts with listening to a person/family’s needs and wants. Then, I present my clients with their options.”

Blake shared, “One of the things I’ve noticed in real estate is that some realtors hesitate to talk to their clients about re-sell of a home, or they are so fixated on closing the deal, they don’t present the buyers with the best solutions to their unique needs. My team’s approach has uniquely positioned us to be the top-selling team in the Triad. We aren’t out to sell a house just for the sake of selling a house. We genuinely want our clients to find a home that fits them.”

“We also want our clients to trust their decision. That’s one of the reasons we love referring business to Ashley. She can look at the numbers and help our clients feel confident in their purchase. She’s honest about affordability and always goes the extra mile to find the right loan to fit their needs. Ashley and her team aren’t just about teaching them how to buy a home, but coaching them through the financial overview of the process.”

The Sharpe Mortgage Team of Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation

“People often assume that my business is all about the numbers,” said Ashley. “And yes—to a large extent, that’s true. However, the foundation of my business is all about relationships, and you can’t have strong relationships without trust. My team and I do not take it for granted that we are working with individuals and families during one of the most strenuous and stressful times in their lives. We’re dealing with the largest purchase most people ever make, which causes tempers to be short, anxieties to be high, and fears to be real. “Our job is to help our clients feel at ease…. We don’t want them to worry about the paperwork. The paperwork side of our job is extremely overwhelming, but we deal with it every day. We are familiar with the ins and outs of the everchanging mortgage industry. We know lender requirements and the products available for home buyers. When we can take the ‘fear’ out of the process, we know we’re doing our jobs well.”

Ashley continued, “Of course, it starts with the real estate agent. By the time the client comes to us, Blake has already done an exceptional job of building a rapport with them, and they trust him. Because they trust him, and he trusts me, the lending process can start from a good place. My team and I are thankful for the trust Blake gives us to take care of the purchase loans and help his clients navigate this part of the process as quickly and painlessly as possible.”

Industry Pros & Repeat Business

Blake and Ashley are noted professionals in their respective lines of work. “While we share an industry,” Blake said, “We approach things from opposite ends. I’m on the front end working the sale, while Ashley is on the back end closing the deal. Both of us have worked hard to get where we are doing what we love doing.”

Ashley shared, “I couldn’t agree more. We are helping people make a purchase so they can make a life and a home. There’s a weighty responsibility that comes with that. I’ve spent 17 years in the business, and at this point, we have a lot of repeat and move-up buyers. That business is incredibly rewarding, as I know it is for Blake too.”

“Absolutely,” Blake said. “It is a tremendous honor when clients come back. We know they have options, and their repeat business is the best kind of endorsement we can get. These are the clients who not only trusted us once, they’ve trusted us again. And sometimes again after that!”

Blake and Ashley are both committed communicators who seek to serve. “We can’t be good at our jobs if we don’t communicate,” said Ashley. “It’s a signature component of why Blake and I work well together.”

“We definitely communicate well, and that just adds to our trust-equity in the eyes of our clients,” said Blake. “Ashley is an extended part of our team, and we are thankful that we can co-serve our clients through the process...from start to finish.”

Whether you’re shopping for a home or trying to sell one, contact Blake Ginther at The Ginther Group of Keller Williams Realty Elite, located at 1100 S. Stratford Road in Winston-Salem. Call 336-283-8689. Visit online at TheGintherGroup. com. Be sure to like or follow their team on Facebook (TheGintherGroup) and Instagram (@ginthergroup).

For trusted financial advice on your new home journey, contact Ashley McKenzie-Sharpe (NMLS #100776) at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, located at 2098 Frontis Plaza Blvd in Winston-Salem. Call 336-575-9448 or online at FairwayLoansByAshley.com. Be sure to like or follow Ashley on Facebook and Instagram. Copyright©2021 Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation. NMLS#2289. 4750 S. Biltmore Lane, Madison, WI. 53718, 1-866-912-4800. All rights reserved. Other restrictions and limitations may apply. Equal Housing Opportunity. Blake, originally from Ohio, was drawing houses from the time he was six years old. His heart has been in real estate since, literally, as long as he can remember... Although there were several years in between that Blake lived out his other dream as an actor in NYC! He and his wife, Tobi, met on the stage and eventually made their way down to NC. They share two wonderful children and the newest addition to their family, a Berniedoodle named Juneau. Blake feels very lucky to be a part of such a wonderful community in Winston-Salem doing what he loves the most!

What to Expect in Real Estate

Everyone continues to watch and wonder about the real estate market. The market is strong, despite the challenges of COVID. While inventory shortages remain low, Blake does not see a significant issue in the future and expects to see inventory level off by Summer 2022. Moreover, Ashley feels confident that the industry will remain strong. Lending is handled much differently than it was before the crash of ’08, and those added layers of the process are expected to help protect the industry as a whole. Ashley McKenzie-Sharpe is a Kentucky native who, for the last 30 years, has called North Carolina home! She and her husband, Zach Sharpe, have been married for 14 years and they share a home in Advance with their four dogs — Finley, Hutch, Birkin, and Boone. Before working in the mortgage industry, Ashely worked in retail where she developed a love for fashion that continues today. She loves working with her dynamic team, which includes her twin sister, Jennifer Kaydas, and her younger sister, Cara Zimmerman.

Breaks Ground on Reimagined Museum

Forsyth County Commissioners, Mayor Allen Joines, and local business and community leaders joined Kaleideum representatives to break ground on a new $43.5 million museum on August 19, 2021. The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners is funding $30.5 million, and the City of Winston-Salem is providing $2 million for development of the adjacent plaza. Kaleideum has raised $10.1 million of an $11 million capital campaign toward the remaining funding.

The new building is scheduled to open in fall 2023 and will be located at the corner of West Third Street and Town Run Lane in downtown Winston-Salem.

“In designing the spaces for the reimagined Kaleideum, we have responded to the wants and needs of the community,” said Elizabeth Dampier, Kaleideum Executive Director. “With the new museum, we are moving beyond the concepts of a singular children’s museum or science center to become a learning museum that blends arts and sciences while recognizing the value of both, not as silos, but as integrally connected tools that work together.

“The vision is to be an essential component in creating a community that values each other, fosters a passion for learning, and encourages problemsolving, communication, and creative skills that will help us all be more successful in our future careers and lives,” Dampier added. “With a strong focus on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) and a new emphasis on robotics, Kaleideum is ready to welcome our entire community to learn, smile, and create memories that last a lifetime.”

Dampier said Kaleideum will open with nine exhibitions that allow for multiple types of engagement and appeal to visitors of varying ages and development. These multifaceted, open-ended experiences will prompt visitors to test theories, seek answers to questions, think critically, shift perspectives, and explore at their own pace.

“After careful study and consideration, we selected the central downtown site for a multitude of reasons—the most important being that it is accessible to the entire community,” Dampier said. “Kaleideum will be a tremendous asset to our whole community for decades to come. The reimagined Kaleideum would not have been possible without the wisdom and generosity of our Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, the City of Winston-Salem and the generosity of the community.”

During the groundbreaking ceremony on August 19, Kaleideum officials thanked the present and past members of the Junior League of WinstonSalem for their extraordinary vision and hard work in the creation of Kaleideum’s predecessors, SciWorks and the Children’s Museum of WinstonSalem. Planning for the new building began in 2016 after SciWorks and the Children’s Museum merged to form Kaleideum. At the groundbreaking, Kaleideum said that it had received gifts of $2.25 million from the L. David Mounts Foundation, $2 million from Novant Health, and $1 million from Wake Forest Baptist Health. Kaleideum has also announced additional gifts from many generous donors, including Reynolds American Foundation, a supporter who wishes to remain anonymous, the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, the John Wesley and Anna Hodgin Hanes Foundation, Scottie and David Neill, the Duke Energy Foundation, Dr. Steven Feldman and Leora Hankin, First Citizens Bank & Trust, the James G. Hanes Memorial Fund, the Sam N. Carter and Pauline H. Carter Fund, The Winston-Salem Foundation, the Twin City Development Fund, and Wells Fargo Foundation.

Frank L. Blum Construction Company is the general contractor for the project. The architects for the new Kaleideum are Gensler and Stitch Design Shop.

“The building’s design is a response to the mission and character of the museum blended with the vibrancy of the City of Arts and Innovation,” said Brad Burns, Design Director, Gensler Raleigh. “The design provides an efficient framework to support the museum’s ongoing operations with back of house spaces at the lower level, flexible rooms at the main level for events of various sizes, and exhibit spaces distributed from the main level up to the roof.”

ABOUT KALEIDEUM

Kaleideum was formed by the merger of The Children’s Museum of Winston-Salem and SciWorks in July 2016. Kaleideum Downtown (formerly The Children’s Museum) was founded by the Junior League of Winston-Salem and opened its doors in 2004. Kaleideum North (formerly SciWorks), also founded by the Junior League of Winston-Salem, opened its doors as the Nature Science Center in 1964. The two museums merged into a single organization with a new mission: “Inspiring wonder, curiosity, and lifelong learning in our children and community through interactive play and discovery.”

Dry eye is a problem that millions of Americans suffer from. It’s uncomfortable and leads to itching, burning eyes, as well as eye fatigue. It’s estimated that up to 15% of the population struggles with the issue – so much that Google reports that the search term “dry eye syndrome” doubled between 2010 and 2020.

The condition leads to so much more than discomfort. It can cause eye redness, problems with light sensitivity and make it harder to drive at night. Causes of dry eyes can come from hormonal changes, allergies, aging, medications and even certain autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and thyroid diseases. Additionally, excessive screen time can also contribute to eye dryness.

Dr. Juawana Hall hears it all the time from patients who struggle with dry eye symptoms. An eye doctor who is always looking for innovative solutions to common eye issues, she recently shared about the latest treatments that have come out to combat dry eyes.

“One of the easiest ways people can treat dry eyes naturally is with fish oil,” Dr. Hall explained. “A high-quality omega-3 fatty acid supplement is proven to support eye health, including the promotion of healthy tear glands, which are designed to ensure that our eyes get enough moisture to function correctly. Not all fish oil is created equal, so be sure to discuss with your doctor which supplements will best meet your needs. We also treat our patients with Eysuvis, a new short-term prescription that includes a corticosteroid. These drops help target the immune responses that can cause flare-ups of dry eye symptoms. These drops can be used for up to two weeks, and we’ve found that patients who have used them have much less swelling, which helps eliminate the pain associated with dry eyes.

“But some cases of dry eyes need a little more help,” Dr. Hall continued. “One of the newest treatment options was FDA approved in April of this year. OptiLight IPL is a new technology that goes beyond treating the dry eye symptoms by also addressing the inflammation that is often a contributing factor to the problem. This procedure can actually help to regrow tear structures, which is really innovative.”

Beyond these options, Dr. Hall shared, “Alcon has introduced a new suite of products that have been super helpful for severe dry eyes. The Systane iLux is an in-office treatment that significantly improves evaporative dry eye, the most common type. This treatment helps patients reduce severe symptoms within two weeks to mild to normal range.”

As we move into fall and winter, dry eyes become more of a problem. “Because of cooler weather and indoor heating, dry eye symptoms are worse during the fall and winter,” explained Dr. Hall. “But there is no need to suffer. Certainly, we don’t want patients rubbing their eyes for relief and making things worse. Artificial tears bring some relief temporarily, but newer treatments look to do more. Dry eye is treatable, but like any medical condition, it should be handled under the supervision of a medical professional. I would encourage anyone who struggles with dry eyes to schedule an appointment with us, so we can figure out the best solutions for their unique needs and lifestyle.”

Book at appointment with Hillcrest Vision! They are located at 2431 Winterhaven Lane in Winston-Salem. Call them at 336.760.2020, visit them online at HillcrestVision.com and be sure to “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Instagram.