Love/Hate living on Hilton Head? Please advise. (North: real estate, apartments)

[inquiring minds]

My husband and I are thinking of retiring on Hilton Head. Have only visited there but it appears to be just our cup of tea (sweet tea of course). We currently live in Atlanta and want out! The only concern I have is the traffic. It appears to be horrendous. Is this the case. Is it this way all year or just in the summer? What's it like living around alot of tourists? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[cdcdguy]

The traffic on Hilton Head has increased a lot since I lived there. Especially in the summer. It really isn't that bad the rest of the year, but summer it can be pretty bad. Also remember HH is a big island. So traveling one side to the other can take awhile. You can limit traffic by living in a gated community. The tourists won't bother you either. I think you can make HH whatever you want it to be. It is a real nice place. But no,in summer the traffic is hard to avoid.

[GJBenn85]

I am amused when people complain about traffic on Hilton Head, it is nothing compared to most cities (and Atlanta has by far the craziest drivers I have ever come across). It takes 15 minutes at most to get from one end of the island to the other regardless of the time of the year. The only time it might take longer is if there is an accident.

cdcdguy is right that you can escape the tourists by living in some gated communities. Keep in mind though that Shipyard, Palmetto Dunes, and Sea Pines are tourist havens. Sea Pines has by far the worst traffic and congestion between pedestrians, cyclists, and cars, especially during the Heritage. You could not pay me to live in Sea Pines for those reasons.

[inquiring minds]

Thank you both for your reply. We were thinking of HHP.

[GJBenn85]

HHP has a lot of amenities including a private beach on the sound. It has features a lot of other neighborhoods do not, including free access to Sea Pines (stops at 1:30 am, not sure what time it begins). It is the second largest plantation on the island. The biggest downside is simply the age of most of the homes but that holds true in most of Hilton Head's neighborhoods (Indigo Run and Palmetto Hall are the newest).

[HHIslander67]

Having lived in Atlanta and Wash DC, there is no such thing as "traffic" here in HH. The only time it gets even remotely crazy is on switch-out saturdays or during the evening when everyone is driving out to eat. And this is ONLY during summer when kids are out of school.

I have to laugh when I hear people complain about the traffic.

About the only thing to complain about here is the high cost of real estate.

[Columbiadata]

Hilton Head lost population from 2007 to 2008. I'm a native South Carolinian who has never been there. Maybe the retiree thing has about played out since they lost population. Or maybe they live in the suburbs of HH?

[GJBenn85]

Originally Posted by HHIslander67

About the only thing to complain about here is the high cost of real estate.

Despite higher than average real estate costs, Hilton Head is still cheaper than many less desirable cities, particularly those in the North and West.

[HHIslander67]

"less desirable" is somewhat subjective. this is a great place to live, but its overpriced.

one only has to take a look at the massive beating this island has taken in the past 2 years to get a good understanding of how overpriced HHI has been in the past.

and only one the hundreds of the real estate agents that have been screaming "bottom here, its time to buy!" for the past two years would dispute that.

[GJBenn85]

That is the case virtually anywhere in the country. HH has not been hit as hard as say, Florida and California.

What are still greatly overpriced despite the drop in values are all of the apartments...err, condos.