Charleston (Folly) as a snowbird destination? (Mount Pleasant, Summerville: rentals, house, to buy)
Charleston areaCharleston - North Charleston - Mt. Pleasant - Summerville - Goose Creek
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Wife and I, mid 50s and retired, plus our trusty lab just spent two weeks on Folly Beach in early May and had a great time there and out and about, using FB to work from.
We have opportunity to rent the same very nice house at a good rate for the entire month of February and we're very much considering it. How would FB (and extended into/around Charleston) be in February? Looking at historical weather data it seems nice with avg well into the 60s, many days in the 70s, a few even low 80s, and of course a few in the 50s. Other than weather, Charleston extended seems to have everything we need to satisfy us for a month. Would spend much of time looking around to see if it's where we might like to buy a home for the future.
Some people "I know" there suggest IoP might be better to work out of but we don't have advantage there of a house we know and a price that's very right.
A cousin of mine who has her own Bluegrass band in Canada comes down to Folly for a month nearly every May. February can still be cold (especially for walking on the beach) but as you noted, it can also be very nice. No way to predict our coming Feb but there's usually some nice weather mixed in within a month of stay. Even in colder weather, it's nice to be at the beach.
Come to Folly this year and scope out IOP while you're here for following years. Folly is likely to be less expensive than IOP at any time of year.
Wife and I, mid 50s and retired, plus our trusty lab just spent two weeks on Folly Beach in early May and had a great time there and out and about, using FB to work from.
We have opportunity to rent the same very nice house at a good rate for the entire month of February and we're very much considering it. How would FB (and extended into/around Charleston) be in February? Looking at historical weather data it seems nice with avg well into the 60s, many days in the 70s, a few even low 80s, and of course a few in the 50s. Other than weather, Charleston extended seems to have everything we need to satisfy us for a month. Would spend much of time looking around to see if it's where we might like to buy a home for the future.
Some people "I know" there suggest IoP might be better to work out of but we don't have advantage there of a house we know and a price that's very right.
Any thoughts or advice from the experts? Thanks!
My wife and I manage properties on Folly Beach, Isle of Palms, and Sullivan's Island, which are the main three beaches here in town. Most of our owners are out of state owners who come down once or twice a year and rent the properties when they are not using it. If you were actually planning on living in the property for half the year, I would recommend the southern part of Folly Island as it's more full time residents as opposed to the northern end which is almost exclusively short term rentals. Of course, budget is going to mean a lot on the barrier islands as the closer you are to the ocean the higher the price.
Sullivan's Island has restricted rentals on it's homes to longer than 30 days only. So if you found a home on Sullivan's Island, it's favorable for you if you plan on living there as there's less turnover but not good if you want a short term rental investment.
Also worth checking are Edisto Beach, Kiawah, and Seabrook Island.
If you want to be closer to the action during your visit, I'd recommend staying on Sullivan's or Isle of Palms as they are a little bit closer to shopping/downtown and there's more selection for restaurants etc.
For rates, I like vrbo.com as their interface is very user friendly and they are easy to book with.
My wife and I manage properties on Folly Beach, Isle of Palms, and Sullivan's Island, which are the main three beaches here in town. Most of our owners are out of state owners who come down once or twice a year and rent the properties when they are not using it. If you were actually planning on living in the property for half the year, I would recommend the southern part of Folly Island as it's more full time residents as opposed to the northern end which is almost exclusively short term rentals. Of course, budget is going to mean a lot on the barrier islands as the closer you are to the ocean the higher the price.
Sullivan's Island has restricted rentals on it's homes to longer than 30 days only. So if you found a home on Sullivan's Island, it's favorable for you if you plan on living there as there's less turnover but not good if you want a short term rental investment.
Also worth checking are Edisto Beach, Kiawah, and Seabrook Island.
If you want to be closer to the action during your visit, I'd recommend staying on Sullivan's or Isle of Palms as they are a little bit closer to shopping/downtown and there's more selection for restaurants etc.
For rates, I like vrbo.com as their interface is very user friendly and they are easy to book with.
Thanks.
The house on FB we are considering renting is just a few blocks west of Center. We found it a perfect location for access to everything yet still in a quiet community setting.
If we were to buy here I doubt we'd be looking on any of the beach areas. We'd rather be in a residential area with quick and easy access to boating and fishing and also under 30 mins to the beach. We liked Summerville but that probably doesn't meet either of those two criteria right off the bat.
The house on FB we are considering renting is just a few blocks west of Center. We found it a perfect location for access to everything yet still in a quiet community setting.
If we were to buy here I doubt we'd be looking on any of the beach areas. We'd rather be in a residential area with quick and easy access to boating and fishing and also under 30 mins to the beach. We liked Summerville but that probably doesn't meet either of those two criteria right off the bat.
For fresh water fishing, Summerville has plenty of possibilites. If you're looking for a more salt water experience, I would recommend looking into West Ashley, Park Circle, Mount Pleasant, and the barrier islands like James and Johns Islands.
My father and I used to bass fish in Lake Moultrie all the time and we lived on James Island, it was about a 45 minute commute at 3am when we liked to go. I personally own a little skiff and spend most of my time in the Ashley River and tidal creeks around it and down near the old Navy Shipyard around Drum Island and Shipyard Creek.
Mostly inshore saltwater but if we can trailer boat an hour and get into fresh that's great. Ideally we'd have boat at high and dry maybe 15 min drive but we could trailer it around too no problem. We sold our 21' bay when we sold our place in the OBX but expect we'd buy a 18' or so skiff if/when we buy a place at the coast.
When we were there we looked at a couple of developments along the Stono that were nice.
I'm on James Island and fish inshore salt out of a kayak. There's multiple places I can launch less than 10 minutes of my house. Some of the West Ashley developments along the Stono have community boat ramps (assuming you can't afford waterfront with your own dock).
I'm on James Island and fish inshore salt out of a kayak. There's multiple places I can launch less than 10 minutes of my house. Some of the West Ashley developments along the Stono have community boat ramps (assuming you can't afford waterfront with your own dock).
Thanks. A month there and we'll have some time to really dig into the area.
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