Questions about rentals (Charleston, North Charleston, Goose Creek: apartments, condo, student loans)

[kytosc]

I've spent a lot of time on here (and other sites) researching our upcoming move. My husband and I will be moving to Charleston in mid-July for me to start at MUSC. We are extremely excited because we've heard nothing but great things about it! I just want to make sure everything I've taken in is fairly accurate so I thought I'd request some feedback. Any information is greatly appreciated.

1) We are hoping to rent a 2BR condo/apartment/townhouse/duplex that accepts small dogs. It seems like our options are West Ashley or James Island. We want to be fairly close to MUSC and live in a decent neighborhood. This move is going to be a tremendous jump in the cost of living (we pay $665 for a 2br, 2.5ba townhouse in Kentucky!). I think we could pay up to $950/month but even that's going to be a stretch.
My general understanding is: Mt. Pleasant is too expensive/too far a drive; North Charleston is a little sketchy, Summerville, Hanahan, Ladson, and Goose Creek are all too far/have bad traffic and that downtown will be too expensive. Is this correct?

2) I've been looking a lot in the newspaper and on Craigslist because I don't have a strong feeling for the complexes down there. I looked on one of the apt ratings websites and it seems most places have extremely mixed reviews about the area or management companies. I understand that sometimes only bitter, jaded individuals post on there so are there any complexes that we should not be overlooking?

3) This is going to sound like a crazy question but how do realtors work? I see that some apartments are through realtors. Do the potential tenants pay a fee to them or do the landlords? Would it be better to go through a realtor? I'm getting nervous about trying to find a place with only two real days to look!

Finally, we are driving down this weekend to find a place. Anything we "have to" do/visit this trip?
Thank you so much!! This site has been awesome!

[Jim3310]

1. You may need to go up to $1k a month.
2. Having a pet cuts your selection by over 50%. Just an FYI.
3. With the price of gas, it may be better to pay a bit more in rent than drive.
4. Most certainly read those ratings with an open mind.
5. Realtors get paid by the property owner/management/listing office. But it's typically around $50 to $100, before taxes, gas, time spent researching, etc.
In other words, we lose money on it, but some will help if they think you would be a potential future client.

Look in these places:
Concord West of the Ashley
Ashleytowne Village
Seagate
The Peninsula
The Meridian

jim

[irisheyes12]

I rent a 2 BR, 2 1/2 BA townhome in West Ashley for $960 a month and yes, small dogs are allowed. We are 10 minutes if that from MUSC and it's SO easy to get to from here it's ridiculous.

[kytosc]

Thanks for the help! I'm just getting nervous about our trip down this weekend because we have to sign a lease on this trip. I'm trying to narrow it down as much as possible to make this as efficient as I can.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is any way that we are going to be able to go up to $1K. We already may have to take out student loans due to the huge adjustment in cost of living (I'm discovering that Kentucky is extremely cheap!).

So far we have a few appointments set up with a complex on Johns Island (The Grove at Fenwick Park) and in West Ashley (Sabal Palms, The Oaks, and Plantation Oaks) and some townhouses I found advertised (James Island and West Ashley). I will also look into the areas you mentioned. I have seen stuff for Seagate and Ashleytowne Village and liked the looks of both of those. The others I hadn't seen yet. I will feel SO much better at this time next week!