South Carolina Or Florida???? (Columbia, Charleston: real estate, insurance, condo)

[Jakaleo]

Hi. I am currently looking to move south within a year(currently live in mass). My husband can relocate to either Florida or S.Carolina. I have 3 children ages 8,5,& 6 months so schools and safe neighborhoods are VERY important to me. Does anyone have any insight? Any thoughts or info would be great! thanks

[southerngentleman]

I have lived in both SC & FL. IT depends on which city you are looking into in these two states, and what you are looking for in a city!Both states have areas that I would recomend,and areas that I would avoid!

[Jakaleo]

Thanks for responding! If we choose SC it would either be outside of Columbia or Charleston(husband has offers in both). Fl would have to be outside of the Tampa area. A commute under 45 minutes or so to these cities would be ideal. Any opinions?

[southerngentleman]

Ok Between those cities, I would chose Charleston. I must in full disclosure tell you that we are in the process of relocating there ourselves!I like Mt Pleasant, It is a nice area,Lot's of shopping and restaurants. The Beach is a few min. drive away. There are great schools. There is even a public charter Montessori school in Ion. We have a 4 year old son, and he is the reason we chose Mt Pleasant. There are several neighborhoods that have pools and clubhouses,one even has a water park. It is a quick drive over the bridge to Charleston, for all the amenities that a historic town has to offer. The people are friendly,and Family oriented. Ion,which is where we have chosen has events for kids,like a summer camp. So there are things to do with your neighbors.
North Charleston does have some high crime areas , but that is a long way from Mt Pleasant,and a few bridges.Mt Pleasant is a safe area to raise your family! Also Mt Pleasant is redoing the coleman road area making a walkable town center that is going to be beautiful!!!
If I can answer any questions, just ask!
Good Luck

[Jakaleo]

Thank you so much! That is a great starting point. Hey, who knows maybe we will be neighbors! lol. Thanks again.

[Tommy1981]

The downside to Charleston will be your housing cost (including insurance). Charleston is a fairly popular place for 2nd homes/Vacation homes. There are quite a few folks that may have a primary residence somewhere else, but have a house/condo/townhouse in Charleston. This extra "competition" in the housing market drives up the prices. Also, being that close to the coast would probably have slightly higher insurance rates. Its been more than a decade, but Hugo in '89 did quite a bit of damage to the Charleston Area, and Insurance companies remember better than anybody.

Columbia is close to Charleston (1.5 - 2 hours depending on which part of town), so if you really like the area, you can weekend there. I've got a friend that seems to spend 1-2 weekends a month down in Charleston. Dollar for Dollar you'd get a bigger house in Columbia, and pay lower insurance rates being far enough in-land to escape the hurricane wories. There are some really nice neighborhoods in Columbia with Great schools. Lexington, Irmo, North East, etc. You can find great neighborhoods and good schools in just about any area of town.

[imperieux]

We originally had serious plans to move to Florida a few years ago. We have family there that wanted us to join them, but now they are actually looking to move out of the state because of the many problems Florida is dealing with currently. They are in West Palm and Palm Beach Counties though, not the Tampa area. We eventually decided against it and moved to SC instead. 2 years later, we love it here and have no plans to return north. We relocated from NJ.

While I agree that Mt Pleasant is a wonderful place to live, we chose Summerville instead, about 30-40 min from downtown Charleston and the beaches, depending upon traffic. And we chose it specifically because of what Tommy1981 has mentioned. We wanted to be a bit more in the country, further away from possible hurricane damage and housing costs/insurances are a bit lower as we're not as close to the coast. (We're about 25 miles inland) We feel very safe living here, our taxes and mortgage are a fraction of what we used to pay and we're very impressed with the schools.

I think it's great to have job offers in all of these different places. Your choices can be based upon which area "fits" your family the most. Of course, I'm partial to Charleston, but my advice would be to research and visit as much as time and money will allow, in any or all of the different areas, so that you can discover first hand which one will best suit your own family's needs.

Good luck with your upcoming move and I hope you will enjoy your new location as much as we do.

[Jakaleo]

Thanks so much to everyone that responded. I was leaning towards SC, and it seems that is the overall choice. Housing costs up north(mass) are extremely high. I've been researching the housing market, both outside Charleston and Columbia, and the prices almost seem to good to be true. Are they? Also, how much does the real estate tax differ from the suburbs of Charleston and Columbia? I just want to weigh all my options. Thanks again!

[Tommy1981]

Housing is just that much cheaper down here. There are some lower end builders that cut corners to get their prices low, but that's generally <200k price range. In Columbia, most nicer places go for around $100 / sq ft. If its way less than that, its probably got a reason (like being too close to the airport, or adjacent to a loud factory).

As for taxes, I'm about to close on a house around $200k in Lexington County (I believe lexington co is cheaper than Richland Co), and the estimated taxes on the house will be about $1200 / yr.

Maybe somebody else has the numbers for you on rates in Charleston.

[southerngentleman]

USCJOE posted this on another thread http://www.sccounties.org/research/P...ertyTaxPub.pdf (broken link)
it's 2007 but it should help