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Hello!
I have a dilemma. My husband and I have finally decided to move our family to the Summerville area. His family moved there about 8 years ago and it has taken me 6 years to get him to make this decision.
We will be in town next week for the holidays and plan to check out several new home communities.
Here is where the dilemma comes in... we are moving from MD where the prices of everything from property tax to sales tax to electric and water have just skyrocketed in the past 2 years and the word is the utilities will be going up yet again early in 2009. The tax bill came and it too went up.
So we want to decrease our expenses by moving to an area where 300k still gets you a house built for a large family. Did I mention we have 6 children- 4 will live with us while 2 of the older ones will visit often with their families. So we want 4+ bedrooms, a yard large enough for kids and a large dog to play, room for hubby to work ( will telecommute part of each month) and middle and high schools that can accomodate a gifted child and one with speech therapy needs... band and sports also play a big part in our lives as do DeMolay and Rainbow and church.
And we do not want to be in the heart of things, would prefer to be out of the way a little bit.
We have Cane Bay/Old Rice Plantation, Cypress Ridge, Blackberry Creek, LImehouse and Myers Mill on our list of places to check out while there.
Any other suggestions or input on where to best spend our time looking...
our relatives live in Bridges of Summerville and we like it there but it is a little too cookie cutter and homes seem a little small...
HELP!!! we want to move right after the beginning of the year!
Limehouse is just starting to develop and the lots are small and the homes are close together. There is only about 4-5 houses built in there right now. I really wouldn't recommend it as being ideal for what you have described. Are you against an older home? You will find the homes and the yards are roomier. I would recommend, Ashborough East, Legend Oaks, Pine Forest and River Birch as other possibilites.
scjj-
the problem we have is that we have a home to sell in Maryland so we are thinking about renting in SC while the house here sells, and looking at having a home built gives us the build time to sell the house here too. But the older homes most often need to be renovated or updated which could be more costly than starting with new construction. Have done both here in MD and both have pros and cons. For now we are looking at new and old homes and rentals... just trying to figure out where to look. Older homes... Kings Grant, Ashborough and ... just forgot the name... but they are all off Dorchester and a little more heavily trafficked than we wanted too.
Some of the neighborhoods you have chosen are nice but have their pluses and minus. Blackberry creek is nice however they have no amenities. It is nice to have a community pool when kids are involved. However Summerville has a very nice YMCA and you said your involved with church to that is another way to socialize. Also Cane Bay is not in the desirable Dorchester 2 school system.
Myers Mill and Blackberry creek are out there in Summerville. Nice floor plans but still rather cookie cutter. The builders like to ruin the neighborhoods by taking all the trees down.
Legend Oaks is nice, but not sure how much more building they are doing.
One for more thing, Make sure your Agent asks around. Some new constructions builders won't start your new home until your for sale home is under contract. Too Much Inventory.
Good Luck! Happy House Hunting.
Last edited by beachme; 12-18-2008 at 02:08 PM..
Reason: typo
Beachme- thanks for the info. I know there are a few builders not taking contingent contracts but some will as long as my current home is on the market. Will be putting on the market when get back from SC after new years.
Actually, most will take a contingent contract with a kick out clause, they just won't start building your home until you get a contract on your "For Sale" home.
There are some really nice neighborhoods out there I am sure you and your family will find a place to call Home.
Ok- now I have a question about schools. Ok- know the rep of D2 school district is that they are ver good... also know some Berkleley County schools better than others... but really is there gang activity or increased drugs or high drop out levels? When people say the schools are not good in district/county "X"- what is the reason?
Thanks!
Ok- now I have a question about schools. Ok- know the rep of D2 school district is that they are ver good... also know some Berkleley County schools better than others... but really is there gang activity or increased drugs or high drop out levels? When people say the schools are not good in district/county "X"- what is the reason?
Thanks!
My daughter graduated from Stratford High, which is in Berkeley County, and received a very good education. Berkeley County is rural compared to Dorchester and Chas. County. However that is changing with all of the new construction going on. She didn't see any gang activity while she was there, neither did I. I volunteered at the school all 4 yrs she was there. Drugs are at EVERY high school. You have to teach your children to stay away from them. One of my clients, his step daughter goes to Wando and she told her mom that noone can stop her from smoking marijuana.
Cane Bay High is a brand new beautiful school which only has 9th & 10th this year. Each year they will be adding another grade. I see you listed band as one of the requirements. Currently Wando, S'Ville and Stratford have the best band programs.
Also, have you looked at Lakeview Terrace and the Hamlets in Crowfield Plantation? They both have nice large homes in them.
I am a realtor and live in White Gables. It is very family friendly and a great place to live. We have a pool, tennis courts, walking or biking trails etc....
Also there is a great community Called Blackberry Creek where the prices are the BEST....
There are lots of great neighborhoods to choose from.
My advice is to try to live close to where you work.
The traffic is hard to deal with and some times of the day it is impossible.
The schools in the area are good as far as I know. Mine are grown.
Also, consider how far out from town do you want to be.
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Last edited by 2goldens; 12-20-2008 at 10:39 AM..
Reason: No Advertising/recommendations accepted with under ten posts on the forum
Thank you all... we have narrowed it down a bit to Wentworth Hall, Old Rice Plantation, Cypress Ridge and Tanner Plantation... there are a few others that we will probably look at enroute to these as well.
I have looked into the the various schools and do believe that you get out of school what you put in, but will continue to research once we decide on where we would like to be. Private school is not what we want to do, but it is always an option.
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Lw
