looking for something reasonable (Charleston, Goose Creek: apartment, house, neighborhood)

[manowar2u]

The Charleston area is so large that it can be a chore to sift good from bad. We will be looking for a home around $160's maybe $180's, 3 bed, 1500 square feet. My wife loves mt pleasant but I just do not see us finding that type of home there.
I would like to be no further than a 15 20 minute drive from a family beach and prefer a well kept, family neighborhood (i like the idea of kids playing ball or whatever and I have two sons). Can anyone give me an idea of what zip codes I should look in? (I have been trying to poke around on realtor.com but I have no idea how to narrow things down a bit).

Any help would be appreciated

manowar2u

[jesposito]

Goose Creek is probably going to be your best bet...not nearly as far out as Summerville and has some really nice communities that will work well in the price point you're targeting...probably more like a 20-25 minute drive to the beach. Tanner Plantation in Hanahan would also work

[beachme]

Since you have children, I would still consider Summerville (29485,29496,29420 heres a few zipcodes)and/or DOR2 schools system some of N. Charleston. Yes, it is a little further from the beach, but you have better schools for your boys.

What ages are the boys? You may also consider cainhoy/wando area, but schools aren't so great unless you can get into DI school with a waiver. That would be the 29492 zip code. There isn't much curently in that price range-but a few under 180K and about 15-20 min to the beach at the most.

I did a quick search and you can't get much for less than 200k in MT Pleasant. But you can get a nice newer home in the areas I mentioned above.

[NS_Highlander]

Beachme is right! Don't let the tail wag the dog on this one. Being close to the beach is nice, but you are better off in Summerville. Check out Weatherstone park, it is in the new Cane Bay school area, has homes in the price range you are looking for and it is as close as you can get to the I 26. From there you can be in downtown Charleston in 20 min.

[OleTomCat]

Cane Bay is not Summerville, it is Berkeley County.

29483 and 29485 are the main Summerville Zips.

If you are anywhere North of the Lowes on 17A you are in Berkeley County and will attend those schools.

[NS_Highlander]

Originally Posted by OleTomCat

Cane Bay is not Summerville, it is Berkeley County.

29483 and 29485 are the main Summerville Zips.

If you are anywhere North of the Lowes on 17A you are in Berkeley County and will attend those schools.

I never said Cane Bay was in Summerville. Ever! I said that some of the Weatherstone kids go to Cane Bay High.

Weatherstone is Summerville (29483) and is in Berkely county. The High school aged kids in Weatherstone go to Cane Bay. Weatherstone though in "Berkeley" county is in the incoroprated town of Summerville and has their Police, Fire, Garbage and Water services.

To avoid any confusion this is where Weatherstone is on the map

Your web browser and the Maps site are incompatible

[manowar2u]

Thanks all ... James and John's Islands okay? It looks as if the home may be in my price range there but I have yet to spend much time there. We will get an apartment for the first year but I would like to have the search narrowed down a bit.
Looks like Wando may work but everything there seems a little "Edward scissor hands" at least on the web. Summerville looks great but I know that if I'm more than 15 20 minutes from the beach I won't really ever get there. For me, no beach and I might just as well stay where I am.

West Ashley? I've heard it's a drive. We can probably handle a private school for a couple of years if need be, we really just try to live beneath our means.

[emilybh]

Don't go by the asking prices. Some of these homes have been sitting for years on the market and the asking prices are outrageous. But if the owner only payed $30K for the place many years ago and may not have even updated it since the 80's 70's 60's or 50's, he certainly should not EXPECT to get top dollar for it and maybe he doesn't NEED to get the 2006 price that is the asking price on the house and would take a lot less. I bet lots of people are frightened away by the asking prices when they shouldn't be. Don't be afraid to make a lowball offer of 40% below asking price or so. If you find a motivated enough seller, you might just be able to buy yourself a house without overpaying for it and even price in future price decline. After all the expert economists say that prices will have to reach what they were in the mid 90's before bottoming.