The Elegant Augusta Real Estate Blog

Lydias Assistant January 30th, 2008

• Country Music Hall of Famer Brenda Lee attended North Augusta Elementary School.

• Martintown Road follows the path of an Indian trail leading from Fort Moore to the Saluda Ridge. Traders took this route on their way to the Cherokee Nation.

• Jim Nabors, famous for his vocal recordings and roles on the Andy Griffith Show and Gomer Pyle, once lived in North Augusta. He was a member of the Grace United Methodist Church choir, and his aunt owned an establishment on Georgia Avenue called the White Midget Restaurant.

• North Augusta once boasted a stop on the longest urban trolley in the world. It started in Augusta, crossed the 13th Street Bridge into North Augusta, and continued on to Aiken. The fare from North Augusta to Augusta was 5 cents, but it took a quarter to ride from North Augusta to Aiken. The trolley made it’s last stop on July 8th, 1929. The motorman took a job as the North Augusta Police Chief, retiring in the early 1950′s.

• The man at the top of the Confederate Monument on Broad Street in Augusta is Barry Benson, who was captured as a POW, escaped Federal custody, returned home, and never surrendered his rifle at war’s end. He spent his life after the war as an accountant and is buried in Sunset Hills Cemetery.

• The land on which North Augusta now sits once belonged to the Chikasaw tribe. The Indians received 21,774 acres as part of a land grant in 1723.

• Ty Cobb stayed in North Augusta during spring practice in the 1920′s. He boarded at Rosemary Hall at the center of Carolina and Georgia Avenues; and Pine Heights, on Georgia Avenue.

• Former North Augustan Lt. Colonel Jimmy Dyess was the only American to win both the Carnegie Medal and the Medal of Honor. He lived on West Avenue from 1909 to 1926.

• Charlie Britt, who appeared on local TV for many years as a news anchorman, had some other careers. He played NFL Football for the Los Angeles Rams, the Minnesota Vikings, and the San Francisco 49ers; and was also on the Ozzie and Harriet TV show.

• Frank Wills, the guard who discovered the Watergate break-in that ruined the career of a US President, lived in North Augusta.

• Charlie Waters graduated from North Augusta High School and went on to earn 5 Super Bowl rings playing in the NFL.

• H.G. Rosier was a local resident who enjoyed stock car racing. He raced a car several times at Darlington and even competed in the Daytona 500.

• John D. Rockefeller and Harvey Firestone spent much of their time vacationing in North Augusta at the Hampton Terrace Hotel. On the weekends they would travel by buggy to the Beech Island Agricultural Club for barbeque lunches. The Club still meets today.

• Marshal Watson was the first policeman in North Augusta, hired at the 2nd City Council meeting ever held in 1906. The City provided him a badge- Watson had to provide his own uniform, a gun, and a horse. At the 3rd Council meeting that same year, he was fired for being drunk on duty. At the 5th meeting he was rehired, on the provision that if any city resident observed him drinking alcohol he would be fired again.

Source: Selected items taken from a list of trivia questions distributed at ‘Centennial Trivia Night’, held 1/18/2006 at the North Augusta Community Center.

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Caroline Ashe Your Source in Augusta, GA Real Estate January 28th, 2008

I have the privilege of having another guest correspondent on the Augusta Real Estate Blog today. Lauren Ferguson of Wells Fargo Mortgage sent in the following post about getting pre-approved for a home loan. Lauren and I work often together and I really enjoy working with her. If you need a mortgage specialist, I heartily recommend giving her a call.

Before beginning your home search with a Realtor, I highly recommend getting pre-approved for a loan first. It accomplishes two tasks: it outlines for you what price range you should be shopping in, and gets a jump start on the mortgage paperwork. The pre-approval process can be quite confusing for many people. Here is a simple outline of how the pre-approval process works from beginning to end.

There are several ways to getting pre-approved: from doing an internet application, communicating over the phone & fax, to a face to face interview. It is usually much easier to just give me a call and I’ll be happy to sit down with you. I prefer my clients to bring in their last two months bank statements (on all accounts), thirty days worth of paystubs, the last brokerage account statement (you receive this on a quarterly basis), and your previous two years W-2’s.

Those items are standard items you will need to obtain a mortgage, so right away you are ahead of the game by getting pre-approved. Please be aware your lender might require other documentation based on the loan program and your credit rating. Allowing your lender to review your documents prior to searching for a home saves lots of headache down the road. Many people have debt ratios very close to guidelines, and a few dollars can make them not qualified for the loan. As Lydia pointed out in a recent blog post, the new Georgia real estate contract makes it very important that you are able to secure a timely loan once making an offer on a home. Getting pre-approved helps get the ball rolling so that when you need to get the financing, your mortgage broker already has most of what they need to secure the loan.

After you receive your pre-approval letter, and the lender has an opportunity to review your standard documents, the lender may require additional information to secure the loan. In some cases underwriters may call for more documentation during the process, but it is nothing to be alarmed about. Your pre-approval letter tells you exactly how much you are qualified for- that way your Realtor can show you homes you can comfortably afford.

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Lauren Ferguson grew up in Jonesboro, Georgia where she graduated with honors from Jonesboro High School. After graduating she attended Presbyterian College on an academic and tennis scholarship. In 2004, she graduated with a bachelors degree in sociology and mathematics. During her time at PC, she was a member of countless clubs and served as captain of the women’s tennis team. After graduating from college Lauren accepted a position with Wachovia Bank as a financial specialist. All the wonderful experience and training at Wachovia allowed her to move to Wells Fargo Mortgage to specialize in doing home loans. Lauren is currently involved in the Red Wagon Society, Augusta Business Development, Mortgage Bankers, and is an active member of Trinity on the Hill.

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Caroline Ashe Your Source in Augusta, GA Real Estate January 26th, 2008

Thinking about buying a large multi-family investment property? Multi-family investment is a large commitment above and beyond rental homes. Before embarking into real estate sales, I spent six years managing multi-family units across North and South Carolina. I had thousands of tenants- many of my apartment complexes housed a hundred or more residents. The secret of my success? I made absolutely sure I had great on-site management teams at every property. While I know that it can be a full time job looking after these types of investments, I’m also fully aware of the income potential.

First and foremost you have to decide what your expectations are when investing in multi-family housing. Are you going to collect a check, or are you going to try to break even?

If you are in search of a monthly check to put in your pocket, then you have to really work to purchase the property at the right price, factor in all expenses, and have a little set aside for the unexpected. Then you should be willing to manage the place yourself. This means collecting rent, handling capital projects, renting units, general maintenance, managing a separate escrow account for deposits, and doing all of that within a budget.

On the other hand, many investors buy apartment complexes with the goal of ‘breaking even’. Confused? Let me explain. Think of the apartment complex as a long term investment. Keep all your income generated invested in the property, rolling it back into the business. Allow the property to build equity over time and provide a tax write-off for you. Eventually when it comes time to sell, your tenants have built up equity on the mortgage and you walk away with a nice check! Even better, most people who choose this way allow a management company to handle the affairs of the property. They step away, allowing the management company to take care of day-to-day operations. Measured against leaving your money in a bank making simple interest, or sinking your money in a mutual fund, this is a retirement plan that can offer manageable risk with higher rewards than conventional methods.

Decide from the start if you are willing to get a new management company, run the place on your own, or just avoid buying it in the first place. To protect your investment, good management is essential. The good news is that a poorly managed property can be identified pretty quickly.

As a regional manager, here are some of the things that helped me evaluate on-site management:

• First make sure that the entrance sign is clean, not faded, has no chipped paint, and is readable. If the entranceway has flowers or landscaping, make sure that they are not overrun with weeds and dead plants. This is important because the entrance is what gives the first impression to all prospective tenants. If management cannot get that right, then there will probably be many more problems to come.

• Look for trash laying around the property – especially old trash that appears that it has been sitting there for a long time. This is a sign of two things: 1) the people on the property don’t have respect for the place in which they live, and 2) management is not on top of making sure that trash is picked up in a timely and effective manner. Even the best managed properties will have trash thrown on the grounds. Well-run places will never allow trash to linger.

• Check to see if there a lot of ‘do not’ signs (i.e. ‘do not walk on grass’, ‘no loitering’, ‘don’t litter’, etc.) This usually means that the office has lost control, or is reluctant to confront tenants about the issues that they are posting signs about. Signs should be kept to a minimum, because prospective tenants do not want a place littered with signs telling them what and what not to do.

• Look at the grass and see if there are bare spots where foot traffic is walking. This can be a sign of people not caring about the place they live in. However this can also be a signal that management is not taking control of the property. If there is an area that is missing grass due to the lawn being a more convenient path to the mail, office, or amenities, then management needs create a sidewalk for the residents. The goal is to make the place somewhere they want to live, and the least that management can do is prevent damage to the grass and give the tenants a nice walking path.

• Exterior paths that people might use to enter the property on foot need to be closed off. This is for the peace of mind and safety for the residents. Prevent strange people from walking onto the property as a short cut. This can be accomplished with a fence and strategically placed thorny bushes. If these types of measures are not in place, with fences missing or in disrepair, you will need to plan on implementing them.

• Check to see if there are broken down cars and lots of oil stains in the parking lot. Broken down cars send a bad message to prospective tenants, frustrate good tenants, and invite people that have no respect for their surroundings. Oil stains on the parking lot are something that should be monitored. Oil eventually eats up the parking surface and good management will want to prevent extensive damage to the asphalt. See if they let it happen or if they clean oil up with sand or kitty litter quickly. The techniques to make residents stop parking their oil-hemorrhaging cars from parking on-site are very simple.

• While looking at the buildings, check to see if there are numerous broken blinds. This is a tenant issue having to do with care and respect. It ends up being a major headache for managers. However, this can be one of the simplest problems to correct and the most damaging if ignored. To me, this is even worse than not picking up trash (and not picking up trash is an apartment complex sin). The blinds are important because this is something everyone can see from a distance. There is a major apartment complex on a highway in Augusta, and every time I pass by I see junk hanging from the windows and numerous broken blinds. They are broadcasting to every person that drives by that anything goes and they are not fixing things!! This is definitely not a good impression.

• Porch lights should always be in place and working. If there are missing lights we have a liability for the complex owners. If a tenant gets attacked in a dark area because the maintenance staff or management failed to replace a light bulb or fix a light fixture, litigation is sure to follow! Good management makes sure that the property is well lit and that all lights are functioning. Things will happen – regardless of the light – however management has to make sure that the apartment complex itself is not a contributing factor.

• See if there are large groups of people hanging out in the parking lot. Loitering is a problem most apartment complexes have to deal with. However, if there are persistent groups hanging out in areas not intended for public gathering then there is a major issue with management. Groups like this are inviting trouble. People are less likely to harass other individuals on their own, but there is a group mentality in loiterers that encourages people to get in to trouble. For the safety of other residents these groups should be dispersed and encouraged not to come back.

I’ve tried to list some simple indicators I used when evaluating multi-family properties. Hopefully you can use these to identify potential investment opportunities worthy of further interest. Though most of the problems I listed are minor and easily corrected, consider that if the site management and owners can’t get the easy stuff right, there are certainly more major problems yet to be found.

Like any investment, going with multi-family properties is not a fool-proof way to make money. However, if you have the right attitude, carefully evaluate the property before buying, and establish achievable goals, then it is difficult to go wrong with investing in multi-family units. If you think of real estate as a long term investment over time, property appreciation and a focus on building equity will reward you. If you are interested in multi-family housing investment, the links below might help you in your search for a good property. Good Luck!

Multi-family properties for sale in Augusta

Multi-family properties for sale in Richmond & Columbia Counties

Multi-family properties for sale in North Augusta

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Caroline Ashe Your Source in Augusta, GA Real Estate January 22nd, 2008

I try very hard to be a competent and hardworking Realtor. I try to provide the best service possible – and I try to go the extra mile for all of my clients.

However sometimes grace leaves my side and things go a little pear shaped.

I was meeting with some pretty important clients and we went to tour some homes they were looking to invest in. Typically I drive my clients around. In this case one of the clients wanted to go in his truck. So, I piled into the back of the work truck and we were off.

I was trying very hard to impress them with my enthusiasm and knowledge. By my scale I thought I was ROCKING IT, however that would not be what I would be remembered for on this day. We toured the homes and then it was time for me to be dropped off and go back to the office. Whether what happened next was caused partially by my high heels is still up for debate – as I stepped out of the truck my pant leg caught on the hook that secures the back door. It was like slow motion… I could see there was no stopping me from falling to the asphalt below! As gravity took hold, my pant leg that had been caught helped swivel me around, to fall on my back at the last second.

I landed right on my back in downtown Augusta in the middle of Broad Street.

Suspect wanted for questioning?

So there I lay… purse in one hand… my files in the other… and my leg stuck on the door of a truck a good 3 feet above my head! The sight was so unusual it brought people out of a nearby restaurant to stare.

As I lay there laughing, I was wondering how in the world I was going to manage getting up. To assist, my client graciously unhooked my leg. But I still had nothing to grasp onto to get off the street. So I continued to lay on the asphalt laughing in embarrassment.

Finally, realizing that I was not going to pick myself up – my client decided to do it for me. He bent over, put his hands under my armpits and placed me like a little doll right back on my feet. Speechless, I just stood there laughing. He looked at me with concern and asked if I was alright. I looked at him and said, “No, I am embarrassed.” That was the truth – I had not a scratch, bump, or bruise to me physically – but my ego had been shattered.

Trying to regain my composure, I said, “Grace is not my strong suit, but I am always memorable and good for a laugh.” My client said I was either the klutziest person or the most brilliant salesperson he had ever met – because of all the real estate agents he had worked with, one thing was for sure…he would never forget me!

So, for my Realtor friends who read my Elegant Blog (and everyone else that works with the public), remember that falling down on the job is not always a bad thing!

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Caroline Ashe Your Source in Augusta, GA Real Estate January 21st, 2008

News Flash: Georgia decided to change the Purchase and Sell Contract, effective January 1st, 2008…

As a Realtor, I see changes to forms often and it is usually nothing to alert the public on, because they have changed wording or a blank has moved. However recent changes by the State of Georgia to real estate contracts have a significant effect on both sellers and buyers. Some of the old standards of what closing costs can be paid by the seller and buyer have changed, as well as inspection, mortgage, and appraisal contingencies.

Closing costs in the old contract were pretty generically handled and even if the buyer did not request closing costs, the seller still had to pay for the deed transfer tax. That is no longer true. Now the buyer pays the deed transfer tax! The new contract states exactly what costs the buyer has to pay, and even when closing costs are requested from the seller, it is very specific as to what items the seller can contribute funds to. Under the old contract, buyers could request an amount from the seller to cover closing costs. That money was applied to pretty much anything that dealt with closing, including but not limited to: lawyer fees, taxes, pre-paids, escrow establishment charges, surveys, and insurance. The new contract is much more specific as to what costs it will allow that money to be used for. Any money left over, not used for the specific items in the list, remains with the seller. So gone are the days that the buyer can foist all closing costs on to the seller. Granted all things are negotiable, however it will take a savvy Realtor to point that out and make it a part of the offer from the very beginning.

Contingencies for inspections, mortgages, and appraisals are a little different then they used to be. In the old version of the contract, everything was included and they all could have different deadlines for completion. Now there is only one time limit for all activities, and that time period is for the property to meet the appraisal price, undergo inspection, and for the buyer to complete the mortgage activities. All these things must get completed in what is termed ‘the due diligence period’.

What this means for home buyers:

The bank has to get the appraisals done sooner. Which is nice! (Reputable and good mortgage lenders tend to do this in a timely fashion, however fly-by-night mortgage companies always wait until the last minute, which holds up closing. They can no longer get away with that stunt.) The appraisal contingency is now in a separate addendum that has to be added to the contract. Also, during the due diligence period if a buyer wants to get an inspection and negotiate repairs, this has to be done within the the specified period of time and there is a separate addendum for that. There will be some closing costs you simply cannot avoid. Lastly, buyers must get their financing in order before the due diligence period runs out. If they find out that they cannot meet the requirements (inspection, appraisal, or mortgage) to purchase the home, they can walk away during the due diligence period. That’s a good thing. However, if they discover that they cannot meet the requirements to purchase the home after the due diligence period has elapsed, then they lose their earnest money to the seller!

What this means for sellers:

When the home is under contract, the home will no longer be listed as pending until after the due diligence period has expired. That time is now termed as an ‘active contingency period’. The house is not technically off the market. You can’t walk away because someone else has made a better offer, however if the buyer does walk away then your house has not lost marketing time being a pending sale. One of the biggest pitfalls for sellers is that buyers now have an open pass to walk away from the deal during the due diligence period. Also, because so much has to be accomplished during that time period, the typical 10 days will now increase to 15-25 days for the due diligence period. The good news is that buyers have a set period to get their financing in order, and a severe penalty in your favor if they don’t. Lastly, you are protected from a portion of the closing costs.

My take:

The goal of the State of Georgia was to streamline the process and help everyone to be better protected in the process of purchasing a home. I have already worked with the new contract and I think they took some steps in the right direction. I think once everyone becomes acclimated to it the new contract will create better, cleaner deals, hopefully take out some classic Realtor mistakes, and help all of our buyers and sellers in the purchases and sales of their homes.

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Caroline Ashe Your Source in Augusta, GA Real Estate January 18th, 2008

 Sorry…this home is sold!

Wow do I have an opportunity to share a special opportunity with you! One of my real estate investors has a deal for a lucky buyer!

I was stunned when I first toured this property. Rarely do these types of listings come along. This 3 bedroom 2 bath home features refinished hardwood floors throughout the living areas and all new ceramic tile in the kitchen, breakfast area, and bathrooms. Sparkling clean and unused appliances are in the kitchen, along with brand new cabinets.

For only $129,900 this home is an amazing value. Located in a quiet cul-de-sac, the home has a fenced yard, two new decks, and tons of charm. If you are looking for a home that needs absolutely no updates in a quiet and established neighborhood, then you need to see this home today! The seller is even offering $3500 in closing costs. There isn’t a better home for the value in all of North Augusta.

Call me today to set up an appointment to view this property! There will be an open house this Sunday, January 20th, from 2-4 pm. Be the first to tour the home and make an offer – it won’t last long.

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