To Rent or Not to Rent? (Charleston, Summerville: for sale, real estate, apartments) - Charleston - North Charleston - Mt. Pleasant - Summerville - Goose Creek - City-Data Forum

TiGator · 06-11-2011, 12:04 PM

Looks like I'll be working for Boeing by the end of next month. I accepted a job offer with them yesterday and am now just waiting for all the paperwork and background checks to be completed. Currently I live in Florida so I'll be moving up to Charleston really soon....

Problem is I've got a house down here that I won't be able to sell. We're upside down in our house at least $75K to $100K - includes both 1st and 2nd mortgages. Had the house built 5 years ago in a nice area of St. Augustine. But like everywhere else things tanked a few years back.

I'm not a big fan of apartments/Townhouses/Condo AT ALL. But I need to live somewhere up in Charleston area. My son starts High School this fall, so that is going to be a big driving force in where we decide to put down roots. I'm looking at living out of an Apt for about 6-12 months just to make sure the job works out AND so that my son can finish his first year of football/high school in familiar territory. Then all 3 of us will move up North.

With all that said, what are some of the more reasonable yet nice areas in the Charleston area, with good schools, that we might want to look at up there? Looks like I'm gonna have to rent, but I'll consider a lease to own depending on the situation.
Keep in mind also that I am retired Navy and I was born and raised in Louisiana - so it's not like I'm a Yankee/Northerner who has never experienced the southern lifestyle before coming in to this blind.

Any realtors or locals who can give us a good idea of what to expect would be most welcomed. Thanks

OleTomCat · 06-11-2011, 01:29 PM

Traditions and Vista Sands in Summerville are nice for and they are not that expensive, close to the interstate too....

Lots of Navy in Summerville too, like me, ET1/SS

accufitgolf · 06-12-2011, 06:57 AM

I can perform an airless start....figure that one out....LOL

OleTomCat · 06-12-2011, 08:53 AM

Gator, I forgot to tell you my wife is a coonass too....

DavidWertan · 06-12-2011, 09:45 AM

Good to hear that you are moving to Charleston. You are going to love it here just like we love St Augustine, all the history and beaches, etc, and we have the exact same weather so you will be used to the beautiful fall, spring and winter and the hot summers.

As for a place to live, I have been selling real estate for 28 years and have found that to combine the commute / schools issue that Mt Pleasant is probably your best best. You can find a place off of Long Point road putting you close to work and in the Wando High School district. Prices average about $250 to $350k for an average home, or rent in the $2000 per month range.

If that is too expensive for you than Summerville gives you a good option, go with what we refer to as area 61 which is lower Dorchester County, that gets you the good schools but still puts you within a reasonable drive time to work, entertainment, shopping, dining, etc.

Let me know if you have any detailed questions you can send a PM, good luck and welcome to Charleston !!

TiGator · 06-12-2011, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OleTomCat

Gator, I forgot to tell you my wife is a coonass too....

LOL

I'm the Registered CoonAss in the family. My Wife's from Southern California - San Diego area. Talk about a class of cultures when we got married back in December of '85 !

MustangEater82 · 06-12-2011, 11:04 AM

Do you know what price range you are looking for...

Just a heads up I am renting a house in the Summerville area for $1100, there were places in the $950-1050 range.

I didn't look too hard at apartments, but there are plenty of for sale, not selling houses up here, that people are renting out.

Alot of Floridians coming up, myself included.

Just a suggestion to consider, on the uprooting thing. Might be a good time to pull the bandage clean and do it now, before the son gets rooted in Highschool down there and comes in mid Highschool instead of as a Freshmen with everyone else.

Just a suggestion, but I have an 8 month old, so I have never dealt with any problems like that

TiGator · 06-12-2011, 11:42 AM

Mustang,
Not really sure yet. Probably something around $1000 or so. A lot is going to depend on what Boeing offers me for moving and such and how I can fit a rental there and a mortgage down here into the budget. I can't sell the house here, so my 21 yr. old will live in it for the time being.

I'm hesitant to just pack up and go, unfortunately.. The last time I had a job that was going to entail us moving only lasted a few weeks and several thousand dollars out of my pocket. Playing it a little safer this time. A bit gun shy after the last incident. We'd like a house, but I'll consider a Townhouse. Rental is going to likely be the way we go also, at least at first.

We'll probably move after football season ends. He's a good kid both in and out of the classroom (14yrs old and is 6'5" tall), so if we did move him mid-year I'm not TOO overly concerned about him acclimating. The big deciding factor will be how well the job works out. Besides he starts school on August 22nd. Not sure when the high schools up there start.

So much to do and think about and not much time. Ya GOTTA love stress!!

Thanks for the suggestions.

clanaxberg · 06-16-2011, 08:40 AM

Hi Gator :-)

You know better than anyone what your Son can handle as far as when/where to transfer schools, we are an AF family, so we know how often our kids move homes, States, schools (even Countries) My youngest (18) just graduated from Wando in Mt.Pleasant, it is a great school and the area is pretty and safe (expensive too) After he graduated we moved to N.Charleston, we have a great house (rental) in an area close to CAFB and Boeing, hubby works on base and he is loving the average 10 minute drive to work now, it used to be 40 mins from Mt.P! He even comes home for lunch!

Our rental is $1.000 a month and we love it, it was almost 1.800 in Mt.P (yikes) but we chose that area for the school and it was worth it for the year we were there. There are good schools in Summerville, as has been mentioned, in Dorchester 2 district, I would definitely look for a rental in that area, we looked at Westcott Plantation, it was nice, but roads can get hectic there at rushour. Vista sands and Alexon Welbourne village were good apartment homes, but we really wanted a house/yard etc. feel free to email me and I will pass on our property agents details, they were very helpful when we were looking.
Good luck to you and your family!

noahcat · 06-16-2011, 11:08 AM

We live in Summerville just off Ladson road and my fiance works at Boeing. He usually has about a 15 min drive to work. He found a cut-through from Ashley Phosphate to Ladson road that helps. His hours 5am - 1:30pm most days make the drive to work easier too. If he was 8-5 it would most likely be a much longer drive.
We are renting a pretty nice 3 br house for $925/mo. We are lucky to have great landlords who don't use a management company. We treat their house like it is ours (at least within reason) so they are really great about quick responses to needed repairs and such. There are good and bad property management companies around here. I heard really bad things about R&B but others have said they are ok.
We used a rental agent to find our house too. He even helped draw up the lease for us. We will be using him again for sure.
Good Luck! My fiance likes working for Boeing. Hope you will too.