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        <title>Real Estate Blog, Augusta, Martinez, Evans, GA, Georgia, Ft Gordon, Christine May</title>
        <link>http://www.augustahomestore.com/blog/tags/new-homes/</link>
        <description>Christine &amp; Drew May Real Estate blog for Augusta Martinez Evans Ft Gordon Georgia</description>
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            <link>http://www.augustahomestore.com/blog/builder-wars-begin-in-ft-gordon-grovetown-georgia-area.html</link>
            <author>broker@augustahomestore.com (Christine May)</author>
            <title>"Builder Wars" begin in FT Gordon &amp; Grovetown, Georgia Area</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
&quot;Builder Wars&quot; begin in FT Gordon &amp; Grovetown, Georgia Area



While Animal Planet's Whale Wars take place in the icy Antarctic waters, the builder wars are just getting heated up in Grovetown and the Augusta area overall!

Since the arrival of Crown Communities&nbsp;a.k.a. Pillon Communities about 18 months ago in Augusta our real estate market has seen dramatic changes. While Crown captured a lion's share of the new construction business, it didn't go unnoticed. Local builders have adjusted construction methods and pricing while more &quot;out of town&quot; builders mainly from the Atlanta market have arrived on the scene. It's been very interesting to watch and the competition continues to increase especially in the Grovetown area targetiing the lucrative FT Gordon VA buyers.

Word on the street has Crown seeing less traffic in their neighborhoods and the pressure to sell homes is increasing on site agents. Crown builders came in real strong at the beginning but Augusta is in fact a small market where word travels fast among real estate professionals. The continual sales site turnover also includes some quality, household name REALTORS who without apparent cause are suddenly being removed from Crown sites and replaced with less capable ones. In addition they are offering a 5% buyer's agent commission on some existing inventory while the norm is often 3%.&nbsp; This is clearly a sign that they want quick sales results and move stagnant inventory by buying traffic from buyer agents.

JR Homes of Alabama is doing well in Grovetown with a sold-out phase 1 in Indian Springs and phase 2 well under way and selling craftsman style homes at a great price. In Reynolds Pond, also in the heart of Grovetown sales are doing well.&nbsp; JR Homes had purchased the lots from the local builder Joey Brush.&nbsp; Also in Grovetown, Crown has had very good success in Pamir Place selling well in the upper 130's to 170's range. Soon, Crown will also be launching a new Grovetown neighborhood at Chamblin Road and Wrightsboro Road. 

A number of other builders are heavily targeting the Grovetown military market and additional home sites are under development all around the Grovetown area.&nbsp; The latest player, Wilson Parker Homes based in Atlanta is a killer whale sized company that could be a game changer for Greater Augusta.&nbsp; Currently Wilson Parker Homes is building in 3 states and offering almost 3 times the number of floor plans as Crown.&nbsp;&nbsp;Rumors are they&nbsp;have purchased many local lots already and building dozens of homes.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 

Grovetown currently has 240 new construction homes for sale in the Augusta MLS.&nbsp; Statistics show they have been on the market an average of 4.86 months and average $80.00 per SF.&nbsp; Considering the additional homes about to be built, 2011 will be a very interesting year.&nbsp; Some new homes have been sitting on the ground vacant for 2 years and&nbsp;are offered for sale! The real question is whether there will be enough demand from buyers to absorb all the upcoming new inventory.&nbsp;&nbsp; 

How will this&nbsp;effect existing resale home&nbsp;values as we move forward?

Many questions...............few answers............stay tuned!
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            <pubDate>Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:49:18 -0500</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.augustahomestore.com/blog/new-construction-excitement-and-builder-drama-in-augusta-ga.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.augustahomestore.com/blog/new-construction-excitement-and-builder-drama-in-augusta-ga.html</link>
            <author>broker@augustahomestore.com (Christine May)</author>
            <title>New Construction Excitement and Builder Drama in Augusta GA</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
&nbsp;

For those of you who follow new home construction in the Augusta Georgia area, it's about to get very interesting. Although local builders have been hanging on through the somewhat slow times, a few new builders to our market have had an incredible impact. 

&nbsp;

Battle lines are being drawn as the new homes are being built at a much lower cost and are loaded with upgrades previously out of reach to average consumers. Over the last few years a couple of Atlanta based builders such as Trillium as well as R&amp;B Construction recognized Augusta as a great opportunity and started building. Although they were able to compete at a lower price point their homes were not substantially different quality than those of local &quot;production builders&quot;. When the market turned down they were left holding unsold inventory and suffered financial disaster.

&nbsp;

The latest entry in our new construction market is an established company building as Crown Communities. They are quickly becoming known as the &quot;biggest threat to local custom builders&quot; and the locals are becoming very defensive. Crown is currently building in or about to start at least four new communities at price points and features buyers can't resist. These include Willhaven in Richmond County and Iris Glen, Ivy Falls and Berkley Hills in Columbia County with more planned. 

&nbsp;

The first neighborhood in Richmond County just outside Ft Gordon, known as Willhaven Estates sold over 80 homes in just a few weeks. You must wonder why? Crown Communities believe in delivering a high quality product at a very affordable price, something that is difficult to find anymore. They have a zero defect policy in order to close while delivering a finished home in 4 to 6 weeks. Standard features other custom builders consider &quot;upgrades&quot; include granite countertops, judges paneling, smooth ceilings, tile backsplashes, crown molding, and coffered ceilings in formal dining areas. 

&nbsp;

In addition to smaller custom builders, the big locals such as Keystone Homes and Bill Beazley Homes are having to take notice and make adjustments to compete. In addition, those considering resale of existing homes will find buyers lured away by that high-value, &quot;new home smell&quot; and will have to be priced right. 

&nbsp;

It's going to be an interesting time in Augusta, Evans, Grovetown, Martinez and Aiken markets as the status quo is getting upset. Major players in real estate brokerage, like Meybohm, mortgage players including First Bank, local attorneys, and other related service providers are digging in and taking positions. Hold on for the ride. This feels like a small town when Wal-Mart decides it's time to build a Superstore! 

&nbsp;

As always, feel free to contact me with your questions about buying or selling real estate. 

Christine

706.869.9478 
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            <pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:10:17 -0500</pubDate>
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