The Elegant Augusta Real Estate Blog

Caroline Ashe Your Source in Augusta, GA Real Estate August 29th, 2011

Building a home for most people (me included) is a scary task, especially if it’s your first experience with the home building process from the ground up. Probably the biggest hurdle and worry is choosing the right builder to work with. Worries like trust, budget, quality and customer satisfaction come immediately to mind.

Augusta, GA is lucky to have a trustworthy, budget-minded and quality home builder as Ivey Residential, LLC. Brothers and business partners, Matt and Mark Ivey formed Ivey Residential in 2004 along side their father, Jake Ivey who has served the CSRA (Central Savannah River Area) home buyers since 1984. The tradition continues with Ivey Residential where homes are built with pride, a 100% commitment to Energy Star Building and a watchful eye on resource conservation or green building for us trend setters.

Ivey Residential serves the Augusta and Columbia County communities in Georgia and North Augusta and Aiken communities in South Carolina. They build speculative, custom and semi-custom homes in some of the areas most popular communities including River Island, Riverwood Plantation and Bartram Trail.

Ivey Residential’s happy homeowners have given them a 97% satisfaction rating with Guild Quality an independent organization that helps businesses in the building industry survey their customers. Read what Ivey Residential’s customers have to say HERE !

Ivey Residential has been honored with many awards including Builder of the Year 2007 (Mark Ivey), 2008, 2009, 2010 (Matt Ivey) as presented by the Sales and Marketing Council for the Builders Association of Metro Augusta. Customer satisfaction is a top priority for Ivey Residential and that can be seen in their 5 straight wins of the Guild Master award. Complete list of Ivey Residential national and local awards HERE !

Deciding to build is the first step, searching for the right builder is easier than you think! Connect with Ivey Residential directly at www.iveyresidential.com or “Like” them on Facebook .

As a local Realtor, I have worked with Ivey Residential on many homes and I can personally see the pride they take in the home they deliver, if you are looking for some guided advice I’d be excited to help!

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Caroline Ashe Your Source in Augusta, GA Real Estate August 26th, 2011

Listen and you can hear the chirping of the morning birds, or the squirrels making their nest all along side the crack of a tee shot from the #3 tee! Bartram Trail has something for mom, dad and everyone in between offering the wooded and mature trees of the rolling terrain, the pristine and popular Bartram Trail Golf Club and nearby Patriots Park.

Named for one of America’s most noted botanist and naturalist, William Bartam. William Bartram made his way up the Savannah River and through Augusta documenting the beauty he saw. The Bartram Trail community strives to keep that beauty in mind and it’s residents and visitors live and play among the land and taking nothing away from it’s beauty.

Located just minutes from the Evans Town Center and a short drive to Augusta’s thriving downtown. Bartram Trail is perfectly located near Interstate 20, the major highway through Augusta, GA. (Google Map)

People looking to make Bartram Trail their home will find a variety of styles of homes, buildable home sites and existing homes available for sale. Residents will enjoy amenities including swimming pool, clubhouse and Bartram Trail Golf Course.

Bartram Trail Schools   Lewiston Elem   Columbia Middle   Grovetown High

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Caroline Ashe Your Source in Augusta, GA Real Estate August 24th, 2011

I think the heat has taken a toll on everyone I know and meet! People are beginning to think of cooler weather and the changing of the leaves that comes with the Fall season.

Fall brings beautiful colors, sweaters, pumpkins and FALL FESTIVALS! Those avid readers know I like to travel…whether it’s across the world or around the bend. I have compiled and few favorite Fall Festivals for Georgia and South Carolina.

Georgia Fall Festivals:

Shrimp & Grits: The Wild Georgia Shrimp Festival

Maysville Autumn Leaf Festival

Cotton Pickin’ Fair (one of my ALL TIME favorite!)

South Carolina Fall Festivals:

Newberry Oktoberfest

South Carolina Apple Festival

Fall Heritage Festival and Pickin’ Party

Make some plans as the weather begins to cool and the fall season settles in, these fall festivals will be sure to put you in the fall-festive mood!

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Caroline Ashe Your Source in Augusta, GA Real Estate August 17th, 2011

The nightly news is flooded with stories on the economy and the government in charge. I don’t claim to know what’s going on or have a quick fix solution. I do believe, however, we are on the road to recovery and the trip, while bumpy at times, is still moving forward with a lot of optimism from some…me included!

What I do know is those in the mortgage and real estate business that have weathered the melt-down which started in late 2007 are true professionals. We stuck it out…we are surviving. We speak promise and hope for our industry.

With interest rates at the low of lows and the fallen sale prices, it’s created a perfect storm for buyers to take advantage of one of the best buyer’s market we’ve ever seen.

I sat through a mortgage bankers lunchoen yesterday and these lenders outlined a few alternative loan options available to today’s buyer. The lenders below all do the FHA, VA and Conventional financing you are used to hearing about, but these are some options that may be new to you:

Augusta Mortgage:

Ga Dream Home Loan - qualified buyers with income limits of up to $82,000 and loan amounts less than $250,000. Down payment assistance may be available.

USDA Home Loan – home bought must be in a targeted area. 100% financing available

Suntrust:

Doctor Loan   100% financing with no PMI for physicians and residents     Must have a 680+ credit score    Loan limit $650,000

First Bank and Georgia Bank and Trust:

Lead the area in construction lending

Augusta First:

Construction Perm Financing. This type of loan is an option when building a home and the buyer holds the construction loan and permanent mortgage instead of the builder. This usually requires 10-25% down payment. The popularity in Construction Perm loans is it’s a one time close, meaning you save a lot of money in closing cost.

Regions Mortgage:

97% Construction Perm in under developed areas. This is also a one time close, but only requires as little as 3% down payment.

There are also options for credit rebuilding and repair through local reputable agencies like:

 These loans and options my give you a way to take advantage of the current buying market, maybe you thought you couldn’t buy a home….now you have options to consider and maybe you can buy that new home after all.

Don’t be scared to ask questions of me or a mortgage lender…we would love to make the dream of homeownership come true!

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Caroline Ashe Your Source in Augusta, GA Real Estate August 15th, 2011

Enjoy a piece of paradise on me. Hawaii is always thought of volcanoes and beautiful beaches, which there is plenty of, but Kauai is so tropical and this photo is a road we traveled daily to the south side and Poipu Beach where we were staying. It’s Hawaiian name means peaceful road and it was just that…a peaceful way ‘home.’ I was in awe our entire trip!

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