Moving to Florence area for work (Columbia, Marion: real estate, house, to buy)

[cingirl]

My husband is concidering taking a job at the McCloud Hospital in Florence, and we are trying to find the best area to live in. My guess is outside of Florence, but I am not certain. We have two young boys ages 8 & 10, so school is our number one concern. We used to live in Columbia (5 years ago) but we have been in AL for 5 years now. We are looking for a house in the 230,000 - 250,000 price range. We are willing to commute 40 + Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[CBrown6885]

My husband and I moved to Florence area about 4 years ago. My husband is originally from this area, but we have lived in the Memphis area ever since we were married, approximately 38 years ago. I think you will find anywhere in this area is a great place to live. It just depends upon your preferences. We live about 12 miles out of Florence and we are in a very secluded area but still close to everything in town. I think if you go to the City of Florence website you might find some helpful information. I don't think you can get in a "bad" area, and I think the county schools are a lot better than the city schools. This is just my personal opinion from comments I have heard from parents with school age children. If you are looking for a house in your mentioned price range, I don't think you will have any problems as real estate here is comparably low due to other areas. If I can be of any other assistance just let me know.

[cingirl]

THanks so much for your help.

[augusto29556]

Hey ya'll and welcome to the Pee Dee region of SC! I'm from the Pee Dee region which Florence is our major city. I could tell you with that price range, you should be able and I highly recommend that you give West Florence a look. When you are in West Florence, you are pretty much near to all of the amenities. Their schools are the best compare to the other areas such as South Florence, Central Florence, and rural Florence County (school districts 2-5). Florence County is divided by five school districts.

For West Florence, City of Florence (downtown), & Effingham (a rural town outside of Florence)
here is the website: Florence School District One The district's title is Florence School District 1

For Hannah-Pamplico (another rural town outside of Florence), here is the website: Florence School District Two - Homepage The district's title is Florence School District 2

For Lake City, Coward, Scranton, & Olanta here is the website:

Welcome to Florence County School District Three The district's title is Florence School District 3

For Timmonsville (another small town outside of Florence), here is the website: Florence County School District Four The district's title is Florence School District 4

For Johnsonville (another small town outside of Florence) here is the website:

Florence County District Five Schools The district's title is Florence School District 5

Here is the website to the SC State Department of Education's report card 2009 State of South Carolina Education Accountability Act Report Cards - South Carolina Department of Education (http://ed.sc.gov/topics/researchandstats/schoolreportcard/2009/ - broken link)

On this website it has the school's stats in terms of a school meeting their AYP, the number of students who are succeeding academically,the number of teachers who have their advanced degrees, the number of teachers who are employed with provisional or emergency licensing, and the number of students who are suspended. This website has pretty much everything you need to look for as far as data concern so that you could make a decision that could benefit your children.

I leave by saying if I have kids (hopefully if I meet the right woman to be my wife), I would most definately would send them to West Florence schools in Florence School District 1 because my kids would have much more opportunities as well as the best teachers in those schools compare to the other schools in Florence School District 1.

[randredge]

For 230,000 you should be able to buy a mansion anywhere in Florence, Marion, or Darlington counties!

[cingirl]

Thanks for your help. We should be up in the area in the next week to take a look. A mansion? Are home prices that low?

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Originally Posted by CBrown6885

My husband and I moved to Florence area about 4 years ago. My husband is originally from this area, but we have lived in the Memphis area ever since we were married, approximately 38 years ago. I think you will find anywhere in this area is a great place to live. It just depends upon your preferences. We live about 12 miles out of Florence and we are in a very secluded area but still close to everything in town. I think if you go to the City of Florence website you might find some helpful information. I don't think you can get in a "bad" area, and I think the county schools are a lot better than the city schools. This is just my personal opinion from comments I have heard from parents with school age children. If you are looking for a house in your mentioned price range, I don't think you will have any problems as real estate here is comparably low due to other areas. If I can be of any other assistance just let me know.

Note that it looks like this person actually lives in Florence, AL. Not Florence, SC. So take the information listed with a grain of salt.

[cingirl]

lol I kinda thought they maybe wrong. We did some research and found we are in good shape, but I am not looking to by a mansion anytime soon.