Possibly relocating to the Columbia area (Rock Hill, Irmo: HOA fees, low crime, hotel)

[lancastermom83]

I live in Lancaster now (obviously) and my family wants to try out Columbia before we purchase a home (lived in Rock Hill for a while too). My husband works in Charlotte, but only has to drive in 1 day a week, works from home the other days and I work from home as well while taking care of our 2 year old. We are interested in nice neighborhoods closer to 77.

If anyone has any suggestions of what areas would be good to live in, they would be much appreciated. Also, any idea of price range for at least a 3 BR 2 BA house in a good neighborhood? Thanks.

[Brandon Hoffman]

NE Columbia would put you closer to Lancaster and Charlotte. What kind of area are you looking for? Downtown scene, suburbia, etc?

[Moving From Kentucky]

My spouse and I recently moved to Columbia, and love it! We have vacationed here for several years and house hunted for one year. I would highly recommend Denise Johnson with the Irmo South Carolina Coldwell Banker. She is a real pro and only showed us homes that met our profile. Plus, she was very honest and direct when we asked her questions about the area. She even took her Thanksgiving weekend and showed us around the city of Columbia. During our move, our truck broke down in Kentucky and had to be towed to Knoxville, Tenn. Denise went out of her way to make sure our hotel reservations in Columbia were cancled and that we were taken care of while on the road. When we finally arrived, our closing date was moved from the date that was offically given to us and Denise even paid for two nights in a hotel. I could not say enough good things about her! She helped us find the perfect house! If you contact Denise, tell her Fred sent you.

I would suggest the Irmo area as it is ten minutes from downtown Columbia and right next door to Lexington which has an award winning hospital. Irmo has a small town feel while being part of the city. Plus, your sitting right there by Lake Murray which is beautiful. Irmo has low taxes, low crime and is easy to get around to the whole Columbia area due to it being next to two interstates that surround Columbia.

We purchased a home in Whitehall and just love it! Your close to everything! I know that there is the big shopping area of Sand Hurst over on the north side of town but, that area of town does not have the quality of living that the Irmo area has and Irmo also has one of the best school districts in the area.

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by lancastermom83

I live in Lancaster now (obviously) and my family wants to try out Columbia before we purchase a home (lived in Rock Hill for a while too). My husband works in Charlotte, but only has to drive in 1 day a week, works from home the other days and I work from home as well while taking care of our 2 year old. We are interested in nice neighborhoods closer to 77.

If anyone has any suggestions of what areas would be good to live in, they would be much appreciated. Also, any idea of price range for at least a 3 BR 2 BA house in a good neighborhood? Thanks.

Being that your husband only will need to commute to Charlotte 1 day a week, I wouldn't limit my options exclusively to NE Cola. Lake Carolina is a very nice community as the previous poster just mentioned, but it is also a lot more expensive than most other areas. And there are a lot of other nice areas in the northeast beyond just Lake Carolina. However, your husband would only have about 10 minutes or so more added to his commute were you to live in Forest Acres/SE Columbia which I-77 goes through. You could easily find a nice, newer home there w/3 BR/2 BA for $130k-$150k.

Bottom line, I wouldn't limit myself to just one neighborhood as a newcomer to the area. When we were relocating here, everyone was like the 'northeast is the place to be', however, after visiting a few days, seeing all the traffic during rush hours, and despite looking at 90% of the houses in that area, we chose the southeast because it wasn't as bad traffic wise, got a little more house for our money, HOA fees were lower, closer to downtown, and we had easy access to I-77. While a lot of the neighborhoods in the northeast look 'close' to 77/20/277 on maps, you'll find it takes a lot longer w/all the morning/evening traffic, traffic lights, etc. You may love Lake Carolina or Irmo or you may not, but I wouldn't limit myself to just one or two small areas b/c there are a lot of decent neighborhoods in the metro. Really the only 'bad' area that we've found to avoid is north Columbia.