Moving to Fort Mill in July, any words of advice? (Union: assessors, homes)

[Jackiev]

Originally Posted by FLRich

Hi Hackie, don't know where in Florida you sell but 2 months longer ? The entire state by what I have heard has come to a complete standstill!! I have real estate agents in Jupiter and in Vero Beach trying to sell my homes and my Mothers and not even a bite in more than 4 months. I did sell 1 home in Jupiter Farms in 7 days but only because I had something no one else did, a 1600 square foot garage you can park a bus in.

We have settled in and the Fort Mill Rock Hill area is nice depending on your lifestyle. What will kill you is Personal Property Tax, I just had to pay $120 for my wife's truck which is a plane jane Dodge 1500 Pick up from 98' with 190K miles on it, that is in addition to Title and Registration. My 2000 Harley which has 4K miles on it and is worth about $15K would have been roughly $500 in tax plus everything else. This goes on year after year after year then eventually reduces but the way I look at it is that it's a 98' truck why should I keep on paying extra taxes for something that is almost at the end of it's lifespan!

You can e-mail me off list yourbt@yahoo.com and I can fill you in on all the specifics but Baxter is nice and if you go just over the border to Ballentine that is REALLY nice. Coming from Delray you should be able to afford Ballentine but it will not be on the water.

Hey there. I specialize in South Palm Beach County, Boynton to Boca. While the market has slowed down in general, the average home in Palm Beach County is still only taking 3-4 months to sell. This time last year we were looking at 1-2 months. Certain areas are definately slower than others that is for sure. Are the homes you currently have for sale in Vero and Jupiter new construction? Are there other similar properties also on the market in those areas? Do not be discouraged. While things have slowed a bit they certainly have not "stopped". We just got very spoiled with last years market. What we are seeing is a return to conditions we experienced maybe 4-5 years ago.

As for the taxes, we look at it as our "Hurricane Tradeoff". Over the last 3 years we have repaired our house/roof once and our entire landscaping three times. Not to mention we had to buy a generator (all three times we were without power over 12 days)plywood, supplies, etc. and don't get me started on the lost work (both my husband and I are self employed). Then there is the homeowner's insurance issue. We are just worn out! Funny thing, the concept of moving to the Charlotte actually came up when we were staying with friends last year after Hurricane Wilma hit (they had power, we didn't). We were sitting around trying to think of a place we could move to that didn't have hurricanes, but still had a mild climate, a lower cost of living and was a wonderful place to raise a family. We did look at the Ballentine area but it was priced a little higher than we wanted to spend. Besides, we loved that Baxter had such a great family atmosphere and so much to do.

Uh, ok! I will email you privately. I just keep going on and on. Sorry guys!

[lovethecarolinas]

Hey there all!

-I might add that while Ballantyne (South Charlotte) is nice (I have family that live over that way) it is more expensive (home-wise and car-wise....North Carolina has property taxes on vehicles too, that happen to be more than they are in SC...and in addition you also have to pay for a yearly car inspection in NC). While I admit I was taken aback a bit by the yearly vehicle property taxes....I also have felt that the trades offs (coming from CA) have far outweighed this.

[sweet-t]

I too noticed how what would be catigorized as "bad areas" are mixed all through Upstate SC. Much like what I think FLRich is referring to. We just returned from the Greenville/Spartanburg/Boiling Springs area and too did alot of driving around off the beatin' path, ending up in areas that we clearly shouldn't be in! Then coming to million $ homes right down the road. It's a bit odd, compared to what we are used to in northern IL 'farm country' (everything's more compact I think) I guess it's something to adjust to. All in the name of our Carolina Dream! We did like the Duncan, SC area, but will still check out the surrounding rural area, Campobello and such.
We'd like to stay just over the boarder in SC due to taxes and schools. NC seems to be strugling greatly with their very large school districts.
We did check out Charlotte/Clover/Tega Cay back in Feb. too. Nice areas, but too far from mountain/foothill areas for me. Fort Mill definitely booming with growth, both in housing and retail. Also, did Asheville/Hendersonville/Brevard, love Asheville (a bit $$ though), Henderson quite quaint as is Brevard.
For now, we wait for a new buyer for our current home, this time one with credit please! tick, tock...my nerves are about shot!
Keep up all the great feedback please, for all us who are arriving soon!

[FLRich]

JackieV never got your private e-mail.

sweet-t I agree, I have not been to the "real upstate" most people do not consider Rock Hill the upstate even though I do. Tonight I need to work out in the country west of Hendersonville NC along the Blue Ride Parkway and will be driving through Spartanburg briefly on my way up there. I will not get to see much since by the time I reach that area it will be dark.

As far as property taxes you may want to check that out again. Even though there are taxes all but one of my co-workers live in NC, our office is there. They warned me about personal property tax and what I will be paying yearly on my truck and motorcycle. They all said to think hard about which side to live on since I can live most anywhere I want with my job and that the taxes in NC on personal property is much lower even though they have a state income tax. A brand new MUCH more expensive truck than what I own in NC is only 2 times as much as my old beater in taxes.

Well I decided to go with SC and I am a) Paying a LOT for an old truck ($120 for a 10year old 192K mile truck) b) NOT registering my Motorcycle since I don't feel like paying $450 a year plus tag,title and insurance for just a few months of riding. AND to add insult to injury STILL paying NC income tax since they are using Charlotte as my work address on payroll. Some say I'll get that back at the end of the year but I'll believe it when I see it! I am fighting to get the address changed to our Rock Hill store since all that I have in NC is a boss nothing else.

All in all nothing horrible but just do exact research before making a decision on where you end up. All the little things that are hidden may add up to enough to push you over the border one way or another. I have just come to accept that in most areas everything is a big mix. I have concern as to resale value of real estate when it comes to a large brick home next to a old single wide mobile home but maybe it's not a big deal, people seem to deal with it all the time here. That is more research I will need to do while waiting...

Yes still have 2 BRAND NEW homes in Vero Beach Florida I will let go for a loss if anyone is interested in a good investment.

Rich

[baxtersc]

I've already posted this on a couple of other topics, but this is the last one. My wife and I are thinking about moving to Baxter (Fort Mill) from Orlando. My wife is from nearby Rock Hill. We have visited Baxter many many times. One morning last Christmas '05. I woke up early and grabbed some pictures of BAX....

http://www.newurbanphotos.com/photos...=9&parent_id=0

Due to the lack of dynamic information on-line about Bax,link removed..

Enjoy.

[Marks]

Baxtersc, thanks for the awsome photos! I wish others that have been to different towns in SC would post them for us that are so far away. It would give us a good look at them not being there.

Thanks again,

By the way what a clean little town!

Mark

[baxtersc]

Glad you like the photos. See the East Coast still has some innovation. Not everything cool is happening out west. Just kidding.

Actually New Urbanism is primarily a South Eastern concept. This is probably due to the cheap land and the really bad growth strategies of most municipalities.

[lovethecarolinas]

Originally Posted by baxtersc

Glad you like the photos. See the East Coast still has some innovation. Not everything cool is happening out west. Just kidding.

Actually New Urbanism is primarily a South Eastern concept. This is probably due to the cheap land and the really bad growth strategies of most municipalities.

Good going baxtersc! I was just over there this morning (YMCA). Not sure if you saw it but in today's Herald (www.heraldonline.com)...there (broken link) is an aerial shot of Baxter along with a small blip of an article about Fort Mill and its growth.

If your wife grew up in Rock Hill...I am sure she is very familiar with the Springs name (think textiles: Springmaid, Wamsutta, etc.). The property were Baxter now sits...was not only their land but thier concept as well. They have given alot back to this community (and still do) and I must also admit I am a huge admirer of Mrs. Anne Springs Close. Good luck with your decision process...curious though...what's holding you back?

More than likely you are already aware of it...but there is another site for Baxter too (www.villageofbaxter.com) (broken link). (of course not as good as yours though)

[baxtersc]

Finding a job that I'm passionate about and selling our current house is the only thing holding us back.

I'm glad you liked Link removed....

[TornadoAlley]

Originally Posted by baxtersc

I've already posted this on a couple of other topics, but this is the last one. My wife and I are thinking about moving to Baxter (Fort Mill) from Orlando. My wife is from nearby Rock Hill. We have visited Baxter many many times. One morning last Christmas '05. I woke up early and grabbed some pictures of BAX....

http://www.newurbanphotos.com/photos...=9&parent_id=0

Due to the lack of dynamic information on-line about Bax,link removed..

Enjoy.

I couldn't find anything. Where is it?