My experience apartment hunting... (Charleston, North: fit in, section 8, to rent)

[Rockmysawks]

I love Charleston, but I know exactly what you mean OP. It does leave for something to be desired, but for me, the positives of the area far outweigh the negatives.

[skyegirl]

Originally Posted by Rockmysawks

I love Charleston, but I know exactly what you mean OP. It does leave for something to be desired, but for me, the positives of the area far outweigh the negatives.

I am in agreement as well. My husband and I wanted to move to an artsy niche of a city after the kids leave for college, or at least that was the original plan. However, we have fallen in love with Charleston and figure that Mt Pleasant has a lot of wonderful things to offer as well, so, although the artsy niche "phase" isn't completely gone, we think we would be very happy living there permanently. (and fly to NYC ot LA if we need a dose of "big" city life)

[drshang]

Originally Posted by Chromekitty

based on your words here. You have no appreciation for this city, it's elegance and history. And, sure doesn't seem to the the place for you.

IMO your post is an extremely rude and condescending response to a pretty valid point and argument.

The point that the OP is trying to make, basically, is that real estate prices in Charleston downtown are out of whack with incomes in the area and with what someone who is a working, productive member of the Charleston community can make with a job IN Charleston.

His post has absolutely nothing to do with the history of Charleston or with "appreciating its elegance and history" and has everything to do with an out of whack real estate bubble perpetuated by greedy landlords and old money or "tourist money" bought in from incomes produced from outside the area.

[CharlestonHelp]

Automated, don't fret! It sounds like you're pretty down...Why did you move here in the first place (forgive me if you already stated and I didn't see it)? It just seems like this city is not a fit for you, and you may be here but don't want to be? Job transfer, spousal move? The reason why I ask is because there's a lot of "young professionals" that I've seen that live downtown. How long have you been here? It may take a little bit to meet the type of people you want to. Remember, you're in South Carolina. I've lived in other big cities and if you're coming in from a big metro city, it may be difficult to get into the groove here. Sorry, about the high prices downtown, but the prices are where they are today because of those buying in Charleston from out of state. Most people buying in Charleston are from out of state, so you know why our prices downtown are high (they are willing to pay the premium). Home values are based upon what buyers are willing to spend, and that is what has driven the prices to where they are today. Same goes for renting.

Think of it from a local's perspective...It used to be affordable, but now it's not. A lot of the locals have been pushed out because of the influx of people from out of state. *Cough*

[Chromekitty]

Originally Posted by drshang

IMO your post is an extremely rude and condescending response to a pretty valid point and argument.

The point that the OP is trying to make, basically, is that real estate prices in Charleston downtown are out of whack with incomes in the area and with what someone who is a working, productive member of the Charleston community can make with a job IN Charleston.

His post has absolutely nothing to do with the history of Charleston or with "appreciating its elegance and history" and has everything to do with an out of whack real estate bubble perpetuated by greedy landlords and old money or "tourist money" bought in from incomes produced from outside the area.

No it isn't rude nor is it condescending....

Downtown Charleston is ALL about it's history, the whole area is. Anything other than that is all gravy. The real-estate bubble is not what makes the prices in Charleston in downtown what they are.....Unless you are a student, Downtown Charleston has always been for the more affluent. It isn't meant to be affordable. That is part of it's beauty.

Being from Pasadena you may not know that though.

[itchin2move]

I think the south in general was a bad idea for you OP. Some people just really jive with that big city feel and don't do well outside of that. I live just outside of Dallas which is obviously a huge city and we (in the suburbs and in the city) are still very car dependent. I actually can't think of any southern big cities that aren't car dependent. Of course, I could be wrong.

Some friendly advice: NYC would be a terribly difficult place to forget, but try to stop comparing downtown Charleston to one of the biggest cities in the world and just try to find that Southern charm people move down here to find! You might be pleasantly surprised!
And the suburbs aren't so bad

[drshang]

Charleston, SC real estate price graph courtesy of our own City Data for zip code 29401 which is DT Charleston.

Median income in DT Charleston zip code is ~50k. About 15% of households make more than 200k. Even 200k can not afford a million dollar house, much less a 2 million dollar house. That graph sure doesn't look like a bubble to me...

Apparently economics was not your strong subject in college.

[Chromekitty]

Originally Posted by drshang

Charleston, SC real estate price graph courtesy of our own City Data for zip code 29401 which is DT Charleston.

Median income in DT Charleston zip code is ~50k. About 15% of households make more than 200k. Even 200k can not afford a million dollar house, much less a 2 million dollar house. That graph sure doesn't look like a bubble to me...

Apparently economics was not your strong subject in college.

My question to you is:

Are you that dumb??

The people who own these homes aren't a factor in this *graph*. LOL!!!

[Kman0010]

I would like to know where are these student slums downtown you are speaking of? North of Cannon or Morris? Surely not north of Calhoun as Warren street is far from a student slum. Also west of Coming street below Calhoun is also very nice, around Bull, Montague and Wentworth streets but not too ritzy as you may find south of Broad.

[automated]

<i>I would like to know where are these student slums downtown you are speaking of? North of Cannon or Morris? Surely not north of Calhoun as Warren street is far from a student slum. Also west of Coming street below Calhoun is also very nice, around Bull, Montague and Wentworth streets but not too ritzy as you may find south of Broad.</i>

Too much to respond to, but very quickly- it isn't that the neighborhoods themselves are slums- though some are- it's that the student demand (created by the fact that CofC doesn't provide housing for over 80% of it's student population) allows landlords to charge absurd rents for apartments that are poorly maintained, not renovated, ect- student ghetto slumlords. This makes it unfeasible for young professionals versus the surrounding areas, which are very affordable and very nice if you don't mind suburban car-based lifestyle. I've lived in affordable non-NYC areas where I parked my car on Friday and didn't touch it until Monday b/c the downtown was so vibrant.

I'm moving here for a job. I don't expect NYC, but Albany, Buffalo, ect downtown alternative culture would be pretty great. And it was one thing that my employer sold Charleston on- a vibrant, youth-oriented culture downtown (north of Broad). We're not finding that- we're finding homes trashed by college students going for $700-$800/room, in areas with frequent break-ins.

Chrome- your desire to be a member of the Charleston upper class is admirable, but no amount of defending them will get you into the kingdom. Sorry. And you might want to fact-check who did the work to build those homes the upper crust are inhabiting.

DrShang- Thanks for some support here to suggest that these are in fact over-valued properties. There are just a lot of places that are treated with little respect by both the property owners and the inhabitants. A few of the brokers I dealt with suggested (like Chrome) that I look outside downtown b/c I'm not as lucrative a tenant as a student would be, despite spotless credit and a respectable job. Landlords won't budge off their asking price for good tenants, which is foreign to my experiencealmost everywhere I've lived...they seem to have "a take the money and run" attitude toward renters.