The Elegant Augusta Real Estate Blog

Lydia Taylor December 27th, 2007

I get this question every now and again, ‘Why does an Augusta Real Estate website have such a strange domain name? Isn’t Augusta south and west of the Savannah River??’ Well, the answer to the question is more personal than professional. Here are a few reasons:

• Originally I intended this domain to service North Augusta, which is North of the Savannah River.
• The Savannah River is an important part of the Augusta area historically, geographically, and economically.
• I live in North Augusta - and love it!

I thought up the name while brainstorming names for a real estate site to focus on the North Augusta real estate market. However, the market there compared to Augusta is much smaller, and there are a few well-established agents in North Augusta that make it tough on younger real estate professionals to get started. Later on, during site development, I decided that focusing the website on a much larger market was a better use for my marketing time and money.

The peculiar domain has had a few side effects, the most bizarre being a front page ranking for Savannah GA real estate on Google. The big G has just now caught on to that and moved me back to the 3rd page of results. (Thanks guys).

The sensible thing to do would have been to choose a domain name that is easier to spell, has something to do with houses, and is shorter, but I do love my ‘pieces of flair’ (Obscure Office Space reference?)

For me the domain name is a way of being unconventional and giving my site a little bit of myself. It does seem to be easy to remember, and it’s worked so far. If you have trouble you can always try www.ElegantAugustaRealEstate.com - that works too.

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Lydia Taylor September 18th, 2007

OK, now that I got you going with that title, I’m going to have to put up or shut up. (Hint: Since I’m filing this in the ‘fun stuff’ category, I think I’m safely off the hook.)

I found this website www.directhomefind.com that appears to have absolutely no real value, but hidden away I found a link that let me do this:

OK. Now that you know how my dream home would look, let me see yours!

You can design your own dream home here.

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Lydia Taylor September 11th, 2007

This just in - we want to assure our loyal readers of the Elegant Augusta GA Real Estate Blog that we attempt to remove all unexploded ordinance from our homes before we sell them.

This is a service we provide to our clients at no charge.

Now you may be thinking to yourself right now, “What is she talking about? What home comes with explosives?” That is an excellent question. Take a look at this WIS-TV news story - you’ll see that some homes DO in fact come with live hand grenades.

This is where the Elegant Team takes over. Yes, we take the time to actually read those seller’s disclosures just in case explosive content is mentioned by the homeowner… It’s hard work - but someone has to do it. Sometimes the seller chooses to ‘forget’ about the problem. But when our inspector jots down ‘2000lb bomb in basement’ - hey, we read the home inspection reports too. So you’re covered. We promise.

Unless you want your house to be da bomb. Then we certainly CAN help you find the right house.

This was a deliberate attempt at humor. While the content of this post was carefully checked for humorous content, some errors may occur. Not all humor works equally funny. Check with your doctor or medical professional if your sense of humor is missing.

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Lydia Taylor August 28th, 2007

Michael Acciardi of Saddle River, New Jersey, is not very happy with his latest home buy.

He bought a 2.6 million dollar house, at auction, without ever stepping inside. Turns out the house was filled with animal feces. There’s always one ‘cat-house’ in the neighborhood, and this one was it. I’m not talking about the fun kind of cat house either.

There were two inches of manure in the tubs, and 23 dead cats in the garage. Oh, and did I mention the 100 cats and dogs still living there?

Acciardi lives next door to the catastrophe he paid $2.6 million for. He went inside for the first time on Thursday. “It was so bad inside that I became violently ill,” Acciardi said. “Just the scent on my clothing. I had to go home and change.”

If you ever wanted to avoid entering into a real estate transaction without representation, remember Michael.

A cardinal rule when buying a home: Always get a home inspection. Even on new construction!!

Consider hiring a real estate professional to guide you through your next real estate transaction. You never know - it could have saved Mike almost 3 million, and a whole lot of cleaning supplies to boot. In this case, it looks like he wants to lawyer his way out of the deal. Good luck Mike! You’re going to need it!

Reference: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294610,00.html

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Lydia Taylor June 16th, 2007

1. Meeting new people.
2. Looking at houses in general.
3. Being in my car.
4. Not being strapped to a desk.
5. A good challenge.
6. Shaking someones hand after they have bought their new home.
7. Seeing someones eyes when they have found their new home.
8. Negotiations.
9. Looking at the newest (even old and outrageous) trends in decorations and finishes in homes.
10. Doing what I do best.

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Lydia Taylor June 15th, 2007

The Augusta area has lots to offer for attractions. There are a ton of things to do and many of them can be done on a limited budget!

• Outdoors
  The Greenway
  The Augusta Riverwalk
  Clarks Hill Lake
  Hamilton Branch State Park
  Modoc Campground
  Redcliff Plantation
  Baker Creek State Park
  Savannah River
• Sports
  Augusta Southern Nationals Dragboat Race
  The Aiken Steeplechase Horse Race
  Masters Golf Tournament
  Nike Peach Jam Basketball Invitational
  Tons of Golf
  Augusta Greenjackets’ Baseball
  Indoor Football with the Spartans
  Lynx Augusta’s Hockey Team
  Dirt Track Racing (Modoc)
  Jackson Drag Strip
  USC Aiken sports (baseball, basketball, etc)

• Museums
  Augusta Museum of History
  Morris Museum of Art
  Natural Science Center’s Fort Discovery
  Georgia Golf Hall of Fame and Botanical Gardens
  The Cotton Exchange
  The Augusta Canal Interpretive Center at Enterprise Mill
  Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame

• Events
  Arts in the Heart of Augusta Festival
  Boshears Skyfest
  3 County Fairs
  Battle of Aiken Reenactment
  PeachFest (Edgefield)
  Wine & Shakespeare Festival in The Gardens
  Aiken Lobster Races
  Bell Auditorium, James Brown Arena, Riverwalk Amphitheatre
  First Friday in Downtown Augusta

• Things of general interest
  Ezekiel Harris House (2nd oldest structure in Augusta)
  Boyhood home of President Woodrow Wilson
  Augusta’s Haunted Pillar
  Meadow Garden - Home of George Walton (one of the three signers of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia)
  Sacred Heart Cultural Center
  Confederate Monument

• Tours
  Augusta Canal Cruise
  Augusta Ghost Tour
  Ware’s Folly (also known as The Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art)
  Historical Aiken Tours and Carriage Services

This is just the tip of the ice berg of things to do in the Augusta Area. Quit sitting at home and get out there and see what the area has to offer!

If you would like more information about any of the things that I have listed, please let me know.

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