People who recently moved to Charleston (real estate market, 2009, homeowners insurance)

[csurch]

joe -
our price range is quite open, of course if we could find something perfect for 500k we would be happy but we are also realistic in our expectations. as for the beach my husband would love to be able to walk to it but i am a bit concerned about the safety of that with the whole hurricane thing.

can you explain to me a bit about the difference between the sound vs the beach? can you swim in the sound? there are a couple of houses right on hamiln sound that are great but if you can't actually go in the water then paying that much money doesn't make sense to me.

being as my husband is from australia and loves surfing, kayaking, etc. i think he wants to find as much of that as possible and he wants our kids to have all of that growing up as well.

[USCJoe]

Anything on the beach, particularly on the Isle of Palms in the 3000 sqft. range will be in the $900,000+ range. If you want to be minutes to the beach by car, I would suggest looking into a home in the town of Mt. Pleasant. You can certainly find a nice home in the $400,000 to $500,000 range. There are plenty of areas for kayaking in the area, although you may be disappointed with the surfing in Charleston, particularly relative to what you would find in Australia. I have posted a number of photos of the Mt. Pleasant area on this forum and most good Realtor web sites should have photographs of neighborhoods, amenities and attractions both in the beach front communities as well as in Mt. Pleasant. as has been pointed out on this forum many times, you can certainly get a lot more home for the money further away from the beach such as in the Summerville area. However, you do give up the convenience of being relatively close to the beach and the historic district. Hamlin plantation is a super community and you can certainly find a 3000 sqft. home in the $500,000 range. However, the homes would not be on Hamlin Sound, but rather a block or two away. Swimming will be confined to the beach area such as the Isle of Palms, Sullivan's Island and Folly Beach and not the Sound. Here are a few photos of Hamlin Plantation, to give you a feel for this convenient community which is located about a 10 minute drive to the beach.

[csurch]

joe -

thanks for all of that.

i must say that i have been going back and following this and many other posts for some time now but the information gets a bit overwhelming at times. i have pages of notes and print outs of schools, sub-divisions, etc. but even with all of the leg work i've been doing, i figure it is best to ask some specific questions in order to get answers that i feel pertain to our situation.

as for the sound, is there any real benefit to living on it? why do these houses cost so much more? in the pictures you posted what are all of the bodies of water in them? i know the wando is a river but is there any swimming in it? it looks slow moving in a lot of pictures but i can't tell about the cleanliness.

the wording in some of the mls listings, "great water views", "deep water access", "marsh view", etc. are all very confusing and i can't figure out which are preferable and why. i'm sure that different people have their reasons so i would love to hear them.

we really just want to be able to enjoy all that SC has to offer and the more we can incorporate into our everyday life the better!

thanks for the help!

[USCJoe]

The advantage for many who have views of Hamlin Sound or any body of water is the rear privacy that it affords them and the view itself. Those living in Rivertowne on the Wando, a Mt. Pleasant subdivision, have spectacular sunsets in the afternoon.(Link to an aerial view of this subdivision) The downside of living right on Hamlin Sound in Hamlin Plantation is the substantial increase in the cost of flood insurance and a moderate increase in home owners insurance by being east of highway 17. A lot on the Sound in Hamlin Plantation may carry a $250,000 premium over a comparable lot across the street. The body of water in the second photo from the top is Hamlin Sound.(Link to aerial view) You will find individuals swimming and water tubing in the Wando River, generally as part of their boating activity, but I am not an expert on evaluating the water quality. Here is a view of the Wando from a home in Rivertowne on the Wando


You will also find some great fishing in Charelston area waters to include the Wando. There are a number of public boat ramps and marinas in the area but it is certainly nice to have your own direct water access. Charleston is a lovely area, particularly those areas near the water which many are willing to pay a premium.



One of the community docks in Rivertowne on the Wando

[Dr. John D]

I may be moving from Maryland to Charleston and am considering living in Mt. Pleasant. My job would be at MUSC. What is the traffic like in the AM over the bridge? Thanks.

[USCJoe]

Dependent upon where you would be living and what time you would drive into the city, your travel time could be between 15 minutes and 35 minutes on the average.

[csurch]

joe -

what other subdivisions provide access to the wando like rivertowne on the wando?

thanks.

cari

[USCJoe]

Some of the communities that have direct access to the Wando River are Dunes West, Rivertowne on the Wando, River Reach at Remleys Point and Paradise Island. Keep in mind that the highway 41 bridge restricts access to the Wando River to certains types and sizes of boats. The following link to an aerial view of the Wando in the area of Rivertowne on the Wando should give you a feel for the area and the communities adjacent to the River.

[csurch]

i've been looking at homes on john's island and have found some beauties - rushland plantation looks really nice but the schools there don't really get a passing grade - why don't they fix this problem?? back in mt. pleasant, dunes west looks good and the schools score fairly well. do you know if the homes in fosters glenn are close enough to the airport that the planes passing overhead cause a bit too much noise?

hmmm...

we will be heading down as soon as we can arange a sitter for our kids.

[USCJoe]

With regards to the Foster's Glen community. It is a gated development of 23 home sites. The homes are on well and septic and the public schools connected with the subdivision were graded below average(Elem.) and unsatisfactory(Middle and High School). I also note that the list prices for the least expensive home on the market in Foster's Glen is $630,000 fr a 3000 sqft. home. If you want to stay in the $500,000 range, Foster's Glen may not work regardless of the other potential issues. Foster's Glen is very close to Johns Island Executive airport so I suspect there may be a small noise issue at times. Here is a link to the location of Foster's Glen relative to the airport. Much of Johns Island is a lower income level than some other areas of Charleston and I think generally there is a direct relationship between family income and school test scores.