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Looking in a few years to relocate to South Carolina and purchase a full time home. I would like to get some advice for the best areas to move to that would fit my criteria:
1) Walking distance to beach
2) Area with mostly homes amongst other homes (i.e.; not overshadowed by condos, hotels/motels or "too commercial")
3) Less touristy area away from the main business center or busy section of town - do not mind having to travel a bit for groceries, gas, etc.
I plan on taking mini vacations over the next year or two and staying in different towns (motel, B&B, rented home, etc.) for a week in different places that might jibe with my desires to get a feel of the areas and see what may fit my needs. I actually may drive down for a month or so and "town hop", staying in one place then checking out after the week and proceeding to another town to check in for the next week, etc.
Also, since I am retired I am not very concerned about daily traffic congestion or normal daily travel issues on the roadways but would like NOT to live close to any main drags or highways.
I would check out Edisto Island if I were you, or the surrounding areas. There are some condos in Edisto, but its a lot of beach homes. Every time I've gone its been relatively quiet (I haven't been in a few years unfortunately though!) and there is a grocery store, some restaurants, shops etc. on the island. Not much though. Pretty quiet.
There are some of the islands near Charleston you might want to check, some are gated, so they stay quiet most of the time. Wild Dunes is a really nice community.
Check out Pawley's Island too, it is a little closer to Myrtle Beach.
Do any of these towns - Edisto, Folly, Pawley's Island or Isle of Palms get worse flooding than the others? And, if anyone is aware, what is their height above sea level.
As you can probably tell, I am very concerned about having to deal with flood insurance, especially in the future when the Feds. will not subsidize it any longer and rates will supposedly skyrocket.
I have seen some real estate listings in some of the areas mentioned where it says "certified non-floodplain"...assume that is a selling point and the reason they go through the trouble to mention it.
I've used VRBO successfully but others have been scammed. If you go this route make sure you check the people out that you are renting from. Through a Google search you may be able to verify the owner's name, etc. If you want to avoid VRBO because of the scams that have been reported on it...you can book directly with Litchfield Beach. We stay with them every time we go to the beach. Always a comfortable stay for us. We don't like crowds and felt uncomfortable in Myrtle. Litchfield is just north of Pawley's Island.
Litchfield is another great spot. In the Charleston area you get the most value at Edisto, Folly, Isle of Palms and then Sullivan's Island. A lot of people live downtown, Mount Pleasant, West Ashley or James Island and drive on average 10-20 minutes to get to the beach.
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