$30,000 buys a mansion in Mexico, but that doesn't make it a bargain. Home values are relative to the income one can earn by living in an area. In Silicon Valley, six-figure salaries and seven-figure houses are the norm. In small-town Texas, $9/hour jobs and $50k houses are the norm. Building materials and land are minor factors. Income is everything.
The question is whether you could earn a decent profit on a lifestyle in Asheville and hit FI quickly. Maybe you could get the same pay in an area where housing costs half as much, such as OKC or St. Louis? Maybe you need to pay even more to earn NYC or California wages? It probably depends on your profession.
Various affordability calculators on the internet might help, but they usually fail to account for the nuances. For example, an area might not be considered affordable because so much of the population is low-wage, but in your profession you could live like a king while saving 2/3rd of your income.
Build a spreadsheet with your estimated cost of living at some standard and salary.com wages for your job at that location. If Asheville looks best, just do a rent vs own calculation (many posts on this board) and pick your path.