November 5th, 2007
Posted by Charlene Overturf & Roy Hill 11.06.2007
Did you know that The Coastal Real Estate Group has an office in Darien, Georgia - a tiny coastal town about 60 miles south of Savannah in McIntosh County? We’re located close to the river in a renovated 19th century fisherman’s cottage.
Since Darien is Georgia’s second oldest planned city, it’s packed with history. For example, in the late 16th and 17th century, Darien was the site of a mission established by Spanish Franciscan monks. In 1721, 12 years before General Oglethorpe founded Georgia, the English erected Fort King Georige. In 1736, Darien was settled by Scottish Highlanders under John McIntosh Muhr. During the American Revolution these Scotts provided many troops to the revolutionary cause. General Lachlan McIntosh, Colonel William McIntosh and Colonel John McIntosh were heroes of the war.
In the early 1800’s the old Bank of Darien was the strongest bank south of Philadelphia. In the late nineteenth century, Darien served as the leading international timber center on the east coast. By the 1940s, Darien was home to Georgia’s largest shrimp boat fleet.
The deep rooted traditions of Darien continue to this day in the incredibly popular Blessing of the Fleet festival, 
which is held every April. Darien is also known for its really cool old coastal houses, the spectacular fishing and the best seafood on the Georgia coast. This little town offers tranquility and affordable waterfront access and living. Also, nearby there is the Harris Neck Wildlife Refuge and Sapelo Island National Estuarine Sanctuary -McIntosh County is a fantastic eco-tourism destination! With all of this natural beauty and history, I have to include a shameless plug for a new development that we are going to be marketing in Darien-Indigo Harbour.
Located on the Cathead River, Indigo Harbour will be an environmentally low-impact development. With a combination of residential and commerical dwellings, it is being developed on over 18 acres. Check out indigoharbour.com to take a peek at the development site plans, building renderings and to see computer-generated images of what this Planned-Unit Development (PUD)will look like.
The community will have 225 residential units configured as mid-rise condominiums, attached townhomes and detached cottage-style homes. In addition, there will be 28,000 square feet of general commercial space, a general store AND a restaurant. It will quickly become a favorite destination in Coastal Georgia.
Building in such an historically significant and environmentally pristine spot can be tricky…but the developer (who has been working closely with the local Darien authorities) and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, is creating a unique community that falls comfortably within the environmental guidelines and the Georgia Green Growth Guidelines.
Less than an hour from Savannah and Jacksonville, Darien is one of those true “breaths of fresh air” that we so rarely stumble upon and is definitely worth the drive. Take a walk along the waterfront, read the historical markers and then eat some really yummy seafood at one of three famous restaurants in the area: The Buccaneer, Pelican Point and Skipper’s.
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October 17th, 2007
Posted by: Charlene Overturf on 17 October 2007
This morning I was sitting at my desk, researching property sales, recently listed properties and regional sales trends when it hit me - the market is not THAT bad. I mean look at what is going on (or should I say not going on) in New England, Nevada, and South Florida! Those places are laying off people in the mortgage, housing, and real estate industries by the hundreds. In Savannah, homes are still selling…people are still buying houses. The economy here is still growing, as is our population but it seems to be a lot more complicated than it used to be.
So I stop to ask myself…what is really going on here?
I have a great source of information on mortgages and what is going on with that business - Carolyn Glenn (cglenn@darbybank.com) - she’s a mortgage loan officer at Darby Bank . Carolyn enlightened me as to what is going on.
Certain markets in certain places (specifically South Florida and California) have gone flat resulting in increased foreclosures. The increase in the amount of foreclosures has thus caused the mortgage industry to tighten the underwriting rules on mortgages. The mortgage companies - mostly the Wall Street based companies - have done away with many mortgage programs as a result of the tightened rules. Many of these “tossed aside” programs were ones that once allowed a larger portion of the population to qualify for loans.
What the heck does this all mean? Well…less people are being approved for home loans and the ones that are being approved are taking quite a bit longer to go through.
For those of us here, working in the real estate business, it just means a whole lot more waiting.
With all that mortgage loan stuff being said, it’s fun to take a look at what is selling. There have been 86 houses sold in the historic district since June 1, 2007. The prices range from $62,500 all the way to $1,900,000. In Savannah, not counting the district, 281 houses have sold - ranging from $25,500 to $766,985. Many are properties that are in need of renovation but the majority of the houses selling are sold to people relocating here from other areas - mostly from hurricane-distressed Florida and the frigid Northeast. Savannahians are not the people applying for mortgages and putting houses under contract - it is definitely the out-of-towners who are keeping the real estate industry alive in Savannah.
To keep up on what is selling in Savannah, check out the local Business Report & Journal. It’s published weekly, it has good articles about recent housing news AND for all of the nosey neighbors: it lists the top property transfers for the previous week, including address, seller & buyer’s names, and the amount of the sale.
For an even more in depth look at the local housing market, check out this interesting article for more fun with numbers.
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October 12th, 2007
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October 9th, 2007
Posted by Charlene Overturf on 10.09.2007
It is that great time of year…the weather has started to cool (by only 2 degrees, but it is a decrease) and Savannahians are starting to roam around outdoors again. Every weekend there is some fun event going on. The end of the month saw the Savannah Jazz Festival and this past weekend there was the return of Picnic in the Park, a super fun event where people converge on the green of Forsyth Park and listen to classical music.
My sign that the seasons are actually changing was the “start of ticket sales” for the annual Savannah Film Festival. Every year I get excited about the Film Fest because it is a chance to see great, independent films in Savannah, films that ordinarily would not make it here because they are not mainstream enough.
In addition to wonderfully enriching cultural events, we are also gearing up to make money for a good cause. The 5th annual Mutt Strut is November 3rd! This dog walk around Forsyth Park starts at 10am and registration begins at 9am. People who are interested in raising money for the Humane Society should go to this website and start their own money-generating webpage.
The Humane Society needs a lot of money to continue operations and care for all of the doggies and kitties that need homes. You can start your own team of walkers or you can join up with another team. All amounts of money are welcome, from .10 to $10,000!
So go out and get your cultural-fill and walk for the dogs, it is also a great opportunity to see our fair city and get some fresh air too!
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September 24th, 2007
Posted by Charlene Overturf on 09.24.2007
Today is September 24, 2007 - the first day of Autumn and with that we begin the weekly CRG blog. This blog is mainly going to be about real estate news in and around Savannah and the Georgia coast. We plan to attempt to keep our readers informed about the current housing market and happenings around Savannah. There always seems to be fun things going on in this city…and we are usually out partaking in them!
In addition to today being the first day of Autumn, it is also our managing brokers’ birthday! Happy Birthday Roy! Roy celebrated his birthday weekend with a group of friends on board the boat of our other broker, Ellie Titus.
The following is a synopsis of their trip: (written by Ellie Titus)
Day One: Today was filled with the beauty of this region and a reminder to us why it is called The Golden Isles, -golden marsh grass, shore birds, numerous eagles, alligators, protected barrier islands, and no docks ( no wake zones ) south of Savannah . Our plans to anchor for the evening, in time for a sunset and a fabulous grilled meal, were aborted due to pending weather concerns. We were able to seek shelter at a marina ironically enough on the only developed barrier island on the Georgia Coast, which is Jekyll Island.
Day Two:
Pristine settings along Georgia’s waterways and the lands the Federal Government has saved to help balance the impact of the Industry. We then cruised along the Northern Florida coast line from Fernandina to Jacksonville. Our evening was spent docked at the Jacksonville Landing enjoying a Chris Cagle dockside concert.
Being real estate brokers, Roy and Ellie checked out the development that is taking place on Georgia’s coast. Along with Indigo Harbour, which is a large multi-use development that is going to be built in Darien, Georgia to be marketed by CRG, there is also a new development that is going to be going up on Jekyll Island. You can read all about it in the recent article from the Atlanta Journal and Constitution: Jekyll Development.
I promise that I will not give you a traveler’s journal everyweek, but I thought it was pretty cool that they just returned from seeing our gorgeous coast by boat. What a way to check out the coastal Georgia real estate market!
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