Can't decide where to go? (Columbia, Charleston: crime, mobile home, schools)

[Rapture]

Hello,

I've been looking for a house in the Myrtle Beach / Conway are for months with no luck finding what I'm looking for. I've considered going to the Charleston area but I'm not as familiar with that area being I have only been there once. I'm looking for at least an acre lot, two / three bedroom house within a half hour of the beach and hour of the airport.

Please tell me which town would be the best to look at for a large lot under $200,000 - Summerville, Ladson, Goose Creek etc...

Thank you

[scjj]

An acre lot and home for under 200k could pose a bit of a problem. Any of those areas could fit your requirement as far as size, but I'm not so sure about the price. Extend your search up to Moncks Corner and see if you find anything. Good Luck!

[salatheel]

That's exactly what I was looking for in the areas I started out looking. Now I am looking farther inland because you get so much more for your money. I am going down for our 4th visit in 15 months this time to check out the Charlotte and Columbia areas which have tons of properties like you have described. In the areas you are looking you will only really find mobile homes.

[anonymous]

you're definitely going to get a lot for your money in inland areas away from water. But I think that figure is realistic in the I-95 corridor - mainly around Florence, Sumter, Manning, and the Santee-Cooper lakes. Around Charleston, maybe Hollywood or Ravenel would have something in that price range? I don't know.

[salatheel]

There are some in that range in those areas but crime and schools became issues for us. Our realtor in the Charleston area called me today again. He is a very honest guy and he said that there is no way he would send his kids to school anywhere in the Charleston area besides the Dorchester2 district or Mount Pleasant. Summerville and Goose Creek appear to be the only good choices around there. I kinda liked Moncks Corner but the schools there were an issue as well. If you don't have kids maybe you could find something.

[Rapture]

Thanks for the information - I'll check out the towns mentioned.

[zonkgirl]

We are relocating to South Carolina. I was looking into a home in Hollywood. I was wondering what city in FLorida could you compare it to? We are currently a city in West Palm Beach. We have lived in Pembroke Pines, Hollywood,Tampa and jacksonville (all in Florida). Can someone shed some light on this city Hollywood SC for us? First time living out of state.

Looking for a house around 250k to 300k at least 3 bedrooms 2 baths fenced yard prefered nice size yard 1/2 to 1 acre

Hopelessly Lost

[scjj]

Hollywood, SC is not even a city, it's a town and a small one at that. Rural, poor and mostly black. I can't even think of a town in Florida to compare it to. Charleston itself doesn't even really compare to those places you mentioned.

[anonymous]

Originally Posted by zonkgirl

First time living out of state.

I'd recommend that you visit first. spend 3 or 4 days in the Charleston area, and check things out. Florida - particularly central/south Florida - is different in a lot of ways compared to SC.

Of all the places you mentioned you lived, Charleston is probably most similar to Gainesville/Jacksonville/St. Augustine. But Hollywood, SC doesn't compare in size to the other places you've lived. It's significantly poorer, too.

populations (by area):

Tampa - 2.5 million
Jacksonville - 1.3 million
Pembroke Pines - 150,000
Hollywood, FL - 140,000

Hollywood, SC - 4,000

[salatheel]

After searching for so long I decided that even though I wanted to be as close as possible to Myrtle Beach and Charleston the corridor between Columbia and Charlotte had the most to offer for the money. Also it was the safest overall choice. Lexington,Lugoff,Rock Hill, Fort Mill, all very nice towns.