Relocation to Mount Pleasant area from Long Island (Charleston, Summerville: transplants, real estate)

[MM17]

Hi - I'm new to posting to this site, but have been reading through some of the various threads in the last few weeks and have found it to be very helpful!

So, we are strongly considering a relocation from Long Island to the Mount Pleasant area. We love New York and Long Island, but with a growing family with 3 young kids, and both of us working long days in order to pay for the increasingly rising cost of living here, we are finding it difficult to have any sense of a good quality of life. We have heard wonderful things about the Mount Pleasant area, and are planning on taking an exploratory trip in about 2 weeks to see if it might be a good fit for us.

So, I was looking for feedback on the following:

- How is the job market in the Charleston area? My husband is an accountant with about 10 years of experience. The plan would be for me to not work for a while, but I may go a little crazy being a stay at home mom! So I may want to look for part time or consulting opportunities. I am currently an IT project manager for an asset management firm. Any feedback on job market for this field?

- It seems that most of the area is comprised of developments. Are there any good resources out there that would give us an idea about these developments? I like the idea of a gated community (reading about Dunes West), but am concerned about the restrictiveness of it. I've also been trying to research Park West - - but I know there are many more so any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. I guess what we are looking for it a development that has a solid HOA (I translate this to better maintained homes), but aren't extremely restrictive. Amenities are also important to us - i.e. - pool, playground, etc. If we were to move down, we'd likely rent for a few months to get a better feel for the area, and buy shortly after. We'd be looking for a 4-5 bedroom house, 3000+ square feet, on at least 1/3 of an acre. We would definitely want an area which feels "neighborhood-y" - that is, that has lots of families with young kids. Also, it might be nice to be in an area that has transplants such as us, to make it an easier transition

Not sure what other requirements we might have yet, but I expect that will be better defined as we become more familiar with the area.

- I've read overall, that Mount Pleasant has good schools, but any feedback on some of the specific schools and any differences, specialties, etc, would be great.

- While we will likely be focused on Mount Pleasant, I've also come across some threads about Summerville. I haven't researched much on this area, so any feedback on some of the major differences between the 2 would be great.

We would be especially interested in feedback from those who have made the move from the NY area, and what their experience has been. How was the transition? How have you found the cost of living? Are you generally happy that you made the move? Any major negatives?

We have our trip booked, but haven't yet made specific plans on what we will be doing while we are there. Any suggestions on how best to "take in" the area would be great!

We are cautiously excited about this potential move - and we are so ready for a change! Thanks in advance for any feedback!

[PapaJim]

I have been there and both Dunes and Park are terrific. If you are from LI my bet is that you will like Mt. Pleasant better. It is close to beaches, shopping, & Charleston

[jthon12]

MM17 - Mt. Pleasant is closer to Charleston downtown and the beach.

Summerville is a little more out towards the inland, with a country setting. About 35 mins from downtown, 45-1 hr to the beach.

I am looking at moving down with my girlfriend next summer and we have decided Mt. Pleasant will be where we go. We'll be taking a trip down in August so maybe we'll see you down there!

[OleTomCat]

Summerville is not an hour from the beach unless you are going to Kiawah.....

35 Minutes from Main Street at Hwy 78 to Sullivan's Island station 28.5, I know I drive it all the time.....

20 minutes to DT without traffic.....

[MM17]

Thanks for the feedback so far. In just reading through other people's "processes" for determining which areas to look at, we are definitely leaning toward Mount Pleasant. Seems like the schools are also better there as well, though we do want to keep our options open, and so far, we have just done more of the online research. Hopefully we'll have a better feel for things when we go down there next weekend.

I thought of some more questions that I would be grateful to get feedback on. We are trying to get a realistic feel for cost of living down there, as compared to Long Island. I've been able to get some ideas on how much insurance and taxes are....but not sure yet about housing as there seems to be a broad range on what houses can cost, and am hoping to get feedback on where we would land given the requirements that I posted in my initial post. What kind of income does a family need to bring in in order to live comfortably in Mount Pleasant? We are not big spenders - but we aren't big coupon cutters either. This is a concern because we are not only going from 2 salaries to 1, but we also know that the salaries in SC will be lower than in the NY area. We are also trying to determine what expenses we have on LI that may not be applicable in Mount Pleasant - i.e. - commuting costs would be lower, and certain things that we pay people to do because we both work, we may no longer need.

Also, if anyone has any recommendations of a realtor who would be willing to spend some time with us in showing us some developments and houses, please let me know! I have a couple of people that I will be reaching out to, but not sure yet of their availability and whether they actually do that sort of thing. Also, recommendation for recruiters would be great - I think this would help give us a sense of the job market so we can set some realistic expectations.

Also - a couple of other more "minor" questions - from most of the house listings that I've seen so far, I haven't found that people have private pools, which has been surprising to me. Is there a restriction on having private pools in some of these developments? Or do people just take advantage of the pools within the developments as part of their amenities? Also, I see many of these houses have a FROG room - how do people typically use this room? as an additonal bedroom, or more of a playroom or media room? Lastly (at least for now ) - are there restrictions on building out for a mother-in-law suite or - preferably - apartment? If things go well, there is a possibility that my in-laws would want to move down as well - at least part time, and we may want to potentially build something out for them.

Thanks again!

[pokrplr]

Originally Posted by MM17

Also - a couple of other more "minor" questions - from most of the house listings that I've seen so far, I haven't found that people have private pools, which has been surprising to me. Is there a restriction on having private pools in some of these developments? Or do people just take advantage of the pools within the developments as part of their amenities? Also, I see many of these houses have a FROG room - how do people typically use this room? as an additonal bedroom, or more of a playroom or media room?

For me the FROG is my wife's off limits room ... Its been converted to mini-vegas. Poker table, slot machines etc... I've also got some sports memorabilia up there, flat screen/media and computers.

You can choose to do what you will to it... Lots of options...When we purchased this home it was a MUST for me!

[MM17]

Nice! Might have to go on the requirements list for us !

[DJShymansky]

Haha...it's a fair tradeoff...most married couples I show homes to openly declare that the closets are hers, the FROG is his. Though a routine visit a few months later confirms that that's not -entirely- true...

Neighborhood restrictions on pools are rare, but they can happen. Neighborhood restrictions on building out another dwelling, especially something that can potentially be rented out, are very likely though. Every neighborhood is different, so a thorough examination of its covenants and restrictions is certainly recommended early in the process. I've moved quite a few families down from the NY/NJ area, and Mt. Pleasant does seem to serve them well. I can't comment on Mt.P's complete affordability though, going from 2 to 1 salary is tough enough, doing so in a state that generally offers lower salaries in general (compared to LI) would make it much more difficult.

[MM17]

Thanks for the info. The cost of living is definitely something we hope to have a handle on with this upcoming trip. Fortunately, when the economy went down a couple of years ago, we were very diligent and went into save mode, so we don't have any credit card debt or car payments - really just living expenses - and once we sell our house here on LI, we should have a fairly decent down payment to put on a house. I'm hoping that these factors, along with the lower cost of living, will help to offset the combination of going from 2 incomes to 1, and the lower salaries in SC...but like I said in my original post - I might go crazy as a stay at home mom with 3 young kids, when I've been working my whole life so I do want to leave the option open for trying to get some part time or consulting work. Just don't know what the job market is down there for my field (asset management technology).

[jake4c]

Hi... You might want to check out Daniel Island. It is a great community and very family/kid friendly...and lots of transplants from NY & NJ...we LOVE it here and moved about 18 months ago from Boston. I can also give you the name of the real estate woman that we used...who really was amazing to take the time to show us the area...if you are interested I will send her name to you.