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Hello
My family and I are seriously considering relocating to the Myrtle Beach area from upstate NY. My husband and I are a relatively young couple and have three children; a baby and two young school aged kids. My parents recently relocated to Carolina Forest. I like the subdivisions, but am not sure if I like how they are all off of one main street (Carolina Forest Blvd). Maybe that is because where I grew up I used to be able to walk to a corner store. restaurant. and the ball field, etc. It's just... different. It seems like everything is all highway around there. Maybe that's just because I don't know the area well. We've also looked at Surfside Beach (loved it there) and Murrel's Inlet.
So my question is this: Where is the best place in those areas for us? It's hard to tell just by 'looks' of a neighborhood. Is there another area you recommend? I'm a registered nurse, so being near a hospital would be a plus. My husband is in construction. We would like to rent first, and then buy. Our price range for a home would be around $175k-200k. We would like a family friendly neighborhood with great schools. An area where there are many families with children would be nice. Low crime, and not in the middle of all the touristy things is also important. A beach within short driving distance is a plus.
The amount of researching I've been doing is so overwhelming, and the information is so conflicting. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to hear positive and negatives about the areas I've mentioned, and also about other areas that I may be interested in that I don't know exist! Please help!
Both Wilmington and Myrtle beach are great areas. Wilmington is a bit more family oriented where Myrtle Beach is a tourist atttraction throughout most of the year. If you live in Wilmington keeping in mind you can always go to Myrtle on a day trip. However SC taxes Are cheaper then NC. I have family on the outskirts of North Myrtle where it isnt so busy. If you go with Myrtle keep in mind there will be a Drastic price difference if you buy a home on the "other" side of hwy17. Even though you are still blocks from the beach the difference in price for just crossing that street is HUGE. There are alot of subdivisions that are not on Carolina Forest. That is kinda just the center. You could branch out to North Myrtle that my not be as new but still has the ocean and beach Right there and tourist season is still busy but not as much as Myrtle. Since you have kids I would look into the school systems and what is best for you. I know North Myrtle Beach is in Horry County. I am not familiar with the rest. Hope I was a little help at least. I have a family member who actually sells realestate in the Myrtle area and has been there for over a decade if you have any hard questions. Let me know if you want his info.
Thank you SO much for your response! We drove through North Myrtle, and it looked nice. I guess my main concern down that way is getting on the highway just to go anywhere. It's just different from where I grew up, where there was a corner store at almost every corner, and a park right across the street, the ball park around the corner. There may be areas of Myrtle that have that, but I haven't driven through all areas; and it is very hard to know the living lifestyle just by visiting! It seems as though schools are very touch and go around there.. some rate very well and some rate very poorly. We've also considered surrounding towns, such as Surfside, Murrels Inlet, Forestbrook area. We have never been to Wilmington, but I like that is a coastal town, and also a day trip drive to Myrtle. Do you know how the jobs are there? I hear Myrtle has a high unemployment rate. Decisions decisions! I am new to this message board, but will be checking it frequently; no better way to get the real info than from people who live in these places! Thanks again!
Unfortunately, there are not very many places around MB where you're able to walk to the corner store, park, etc. I almost think of the area near the coast as one big strip mall and the area away from the coast as almost farm country. However, you might check out Market Commons...it's near Surfside, it's planned so that everything you need is close by although not always in walking distance depending on where you buy. And it's a short drive to the beach. Insurance is going to be higher because it's on the "wrong" side of the intercoastal waterway and you'll also pay a premium on houses for the convenience.
When we move to MB, we rented a house in The Villages at Arrowhead. You should check it out...it's a large development in Forestbrook (near Carolina Forest) but was built so that each section feels more like a neighborhood. You still can't walk to the corner store but they do have a small park for kids and and community pool. We just loved it there but couldn't find a house that suited us when we were ready to buy.
We ended up building the The Park @ Forestbrook. You should look at that too...small community (49 houses when completed) with a community pool (to be built). Close to everything but not in the tourist area and nothing like the traffic in Carolina Forest or 501. And it's on the "right" side of the waterway for insurance purposes (as is Arrowhead). There's a park and ball fields a couple of miles away. The library is a couple of miles as well. Schools are very good by SC standards.
I would suggest that you visit MB in "finding a place to live" mode before deciding to move here and just explore. It's a great place to live but vacationing here and living here are two totally different things.
If you need a rental person, PM me and I'll give you the name of the person who we rented from. He's also a real estate agent if you want to look at houses to buy. If you want more info on The Park, PM me as well.
CT, thanks so much for your suggestions! We actually just got back from MB, we spent 10 days there. I think I drove my husband a little crazy making him drive through a lot of different neighborhoods We went through the Forestbrook area somewhat, and really liked what we saw! It definately seems more neighborhood like. I will be looking into it more, thanks! Also, what do you think about Surfside, Murrels, NMB, and Little River? We drove through parts of those areas as well. Thanks again
We looked at Little River as well but it seemed a little too far away from MB to us. We like to go to the summer concerts in downtown MB as well as events/concerts in Market Common and it would be a 20-30 minute drive from LR as opposed to the 10 minute drive we have now. If we didn't spend as much time as we do in MB, we might have considered LR although most of it is more rural than what we were looking for.
Just like you, we love Surfside but the cost of insurance and the inability to avoid tourist traffic during the summer months made us decide against it. We almost rented there instead of Arrowhead but after we moved here and found out more about Surfside traffic (I worked in Surfside at the time), we were glad we chose Arrowhead. On Saturday afternoon, traffic on RT544 backs up from the beach all the way past bypass 17.
Murrells Inlet is nice. Traffic can sometimes be a problem there but it depends on what part of MI you live in. There are a few people on this message board who live in MI who can probably comment better than I can. We liked the area...just seemed a little far for our tastes.
NMB...to be candid, we had trouble finding housing in our price range. It seemed that there were lots of condos and townhouses but not many houses (again, in our price range). And if you end up in the northern part of NMB, it's the same issue as LR...it's quite a hike to MB if that's where you want to spend some time.
We made several trips to MB in house hunting mode before we moved here and looked everywhere from LR to MI and into Conway. After living here for 2 years and considering our life style and what we like to do, the Forestbrook area ended up being perfect for us. For folks looking for a different lifestyle, it may not be the right area...you really have to determine what's important to you and where those important things are located relative to where you live or are looking to live. Then you can choose the right neighborhood.
With the new roads, interstate/like highways, 31 and 9, etc....you CAN get around without having to use US 17 exclusively! It can save you time, but maybe not miles!
We are in Barefoot Resort, and can cut off 10 mins or more by taking the back entrance to 31 and zipping down to Main Street. Yes...it adds about 3 miles to the trip, but is sooooo much faster!
CT, is Forestbrook part of MB, or is it it's own town? I haven't even taken into consideration the cost of insurance in coastal towns. You've given me a ton of very useful information! Thank you so much!
cb at sea, really? It's good to hear that! I'm sure you learn some back roads once you live there. Thanks!
Forestbrook is an area within Horry County just outside the city limits of MB just like Carolina Forest is an area...neither is a town in its own right....just a part of the county and follows county rules. SC is different than many northern states like CT where I moved from. In CT, every town abuts another town...there is no county government or unincorporated areas. In SC, most of the state is unincorporated with towns interspersed.
I concur with cb that 31 is the best way to get around from north to south. However, it cuts what would be the better part of an hour drive from LR to MB to 20-30 minutes... still longer that I like to drive. But it is an improvement!!
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