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You said "it is not more expensive to live than PA".
As someone moving from Philadelphia (which is much more expensive than Pittsburg), Charleston is dramatically more expensive. From your list, Charlotte is your only choice.
To the OP ..Id suggest you go to CNN Money ..cost of living calculator...based on BLS and US census data....as of Dec 2015 and compare Pittsburg to Charleston metro's ... youll find its 2 % overall more expensive to live in Charleston... lower in all categories except for real estate ..and before taxes which are dramatically lower in South Carolina.
As an aside ... Philadelphia is 16% more expensive on the same basis than Charleston .
Sorry I cant seem to get the direct link to CNN ...to pop up.. responding to this thread on my fone might be the problem.
The cost of a house to start. In the Philadelphia suburbs with good schools, a 4 bed, 3 bath, 2500-3000 sq foot house can be had be had for 450-550K. That same basic house in the the Charleston area (i.e. Mount Pleasant, only place with good schools) is ~600-700K.
Yes property tax is lower in Charleston, but the insurance is higher and it all washes out. The car insurance is actually similar, the cost for electricity, the cost for basic internet, water and cable is higher in Charleston.
Was actually very surprised. I was expecting things to be at least similar but the cost of living (at least in MP) is dramatically higher than I expected.
I do get the feeling that things are very different off Mount Pleasant! When I was looking at North Charleston/Summerville, I was amazed at the price difference!
Last edited by dougalmanitou; 07-12-2016 at 10:43 AM..
Mt Pleasant would be considered a beach / easy beach access community .... try to find a similar upscale suburb in the northeast on or near the beach for the price you've cited.
My nephew and his family sold their 2300 sq ft home on a postage stamp in CT 4 miles from the closest beach in CT for 860 k...bought a 3500 sq ft home in MTP on half an acre.. for 490k..just over the connector.. and went from paying $11k in taxes to $2300 in MTP.. big difference!
And to an earlier posting ... I agree with you regarding store bought food ..no big difference... but triple A in its weekly gas price survey ... found the cheapest gas in the nation was in South Carolina ... which is not unusual since the gas tax here is very low.
In general ... no one would consider Charleston to be inexpensive.... but if you come from either coast .. its a bargain....from most of the flyover country .. not so much.
Also to say "Mount Pleasant, only place with good schools" is just incorrect. There are good schools on James Island, in West Ashley and of course Summerville as is well known. Mt P is one of the most expensive suburbs of Charleston. Compare that with similar areas around Philly and you'll come to a different conclusion.
Also to say "Mount Pleasant, only place with good schools" is just incorrect. There are good schools on James Island, in West Ashley and of course Summerville as is well known. Mt P is one of the most expensive suburbs of Charleston. Compare that with similar areas around Philly and you'll come to a different conclusion.
On places like Zillow most of the schools in West Ashely fall in in the 1-6 range (out of 10), Summerville is 6-7, same is true of James Island.
What are considered the good schools on James Island, in West Ashley or Summerville?
Mt Pleasant would be considered a beach / easy beach access community .... try to find a similar upscale suburb in the northeast on or near the beach for the price you've cited.
My nephew and his family sold their 2300 sq ft home on a postage stamp in CT 4 miles from the closest beach in CT for 860 k...bought a 3500 sq ft home in MTP on half an acre.. for 490k..just over the connector.. and went from paying $11k in taxes to $2300 in MTP.. big difference!
And to an earlier posting ... I agree with you regarding store bought food ..no big difference... but triple A in its weekly gas price survey ... found the cheapest gas in the nation was in South Carolina ... which is not unusual since the gas tax here is very low.
In general ... no one would consider Charleston to be inexpensive.... but if you come from either coast .. its a bargain....from most of the flyover country .. not so much.
I tend to think of most of the Charleston area as a beach community.
CT is very different than PA, as you have the NYC crowd. Heck, in Hoboken, NJ, you see houses with 2500 sq ft for 500K with 25K in taxes! Everything is relative.
With that said, all I was saying is that for someone living in PA, like the OP, I don't find the Charleston area (Mount Pleasant in particular) to be less expensive than PA.
The cost of a house to start. In the Philadelphia suburbs with good schools, a 4 bed, 3 bath, 2500-3000 sq foot house can be had be had for 450-550K. That same basic house in the the Charleston area (i.e. Mount Pleasant, only place with good schools) is ~600-700K.
Yes property tax is lower in Charleston, but the insurance is higher and it all washes out. The car insurance is actually similar, the cost for electricity, the cost for basic internet, water and cable is higher in Charleston.
Was actually very surprised. I was expecting things to be at least similar but the cost of living (at least in MP) is dramatically higher than I expected.
I do get the feeling that things are very different off Mount Pleasant! When I was looking at North Charleston/Summerville, I was amazed at the price difference!
When I moved into Mt Pleasant 2 years ago there were plenty of 2500 sq foot houses for under $500k, some of which being brand new builds, and others fairly new and under $450. If you want to live in the Old Village than sure. I think the prices are pretty comparable to the North. You will probably have a smaller yard though.
I find other "overhead" costs to be pretty similar as well. I never had home insurance but it doesn't seem bad, and my car insurance is actually lower. Cable and internet is the exact same. If it is $100 more a year are you considering that a "much higher cost of living"?
And yea, looking at Summerville would be like looking at Latrobe compared to Pittsburgh. It isn't comparable.
Also, no one said it was less expensive, but you said it was "dramatically more expensive" which just doesn't seem to be the case unless you move from a tiny suburb and a $200k house.
On places like Zillow most of the schools in West Ashely fall in in the 1-6 range (out of 10), Summerville is 6-7, same is true of James Island.
What are considered the good schools on James Island, in West Ashley or Summerville?
As a Realtor, I'm not allowed to give a personal opinion on specific schools but I'd say most of the Summerville schools in the dorchester 2 district are highly regarded... In West Ashley you'll see that Orange Grove elementary, Drayton Hall Elementary, and St Andrews Math and Science are schools that are highly regarded on the forums and elsewhere... on James Island, Harborview Elementary, Stiles Point Elementary are rated just as highly as the highest rated Mt P schools on GreatSchools.org and Murray Lasaine Elementary has recently transformed into a public Montessori school which is a rare thing in public school systems though SC seems to be one of the states leading the charge on public Montessori. (I am a fan of Montessori)
First of all, I am overwhelmed by the number of responses and the discussion this topic generated over the last 2 days. So far here's what I have gathered from everyone's feedback which in many respects falls in line with my findings:
- home prices are in my opinion higher than in the Pittsburgh greater area, but not by much. The Pittsburgh (and suburbs within 15-20 miles) housing market has a large number of homes built in the 60s and 70s that are coming on the market with minimal updates since they were built. This is what is keeping prices down. Homes built in the last 10 years in similar areas are cheaper here but not by much. Pittsburgh has become a price location for home flippers for this reason to my knowledge.
- your regular expenses (utilities, cable, internet etc) could be a bit more in Charleston, but not to the extent that would persuade me either way; have not done a home insurance comparison but I'd expect PA to be cheaper.
- schools, I'll be honest with you, it's all relative from a non-real estate perspective, I'm more interested in discipline, safety and accountability. Being a responsible parent, doing homework every night with your kids, teaching them what the teacher wasn't able to cover will hopefully make up for it.
- you don't have the big city venues and activities, but you make up for it in being close to the water and what comes with that, friendly people, more relaxed life.
It's the job market that worries me. Yes, I am happily employed making enough now and I can take my job with me anywhere I go. But it's a risk if I'm thinking long term. And if the teaching opportunities for my wife are few and far between, it's a bigger issue.
So based on some comments I read, I need to educate myself more about the cost of home insurance and the cost of vehicle tax which is a concept I had never heard of.
In terms of other relocation options, it sounds like there aren't many. I will definitely look into Raleigh and maybe even take a trip there (linkedin in shows tons of jobs in my field) and I am disappointed to hear the feedback on Jacksonville. Simply looking at the map there aren't really other options unless you go further down south to Orlando. Have I missed anything? It's tough because in between the baby coming in 6-7 weeks and the house going on the market next February, I have a few months to make a decision.
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