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In two weeks, my wife and I will be driving west from NJ to seek a better, slower pace. In a couple of years I plan to retire and am looking for a new location to settle. We are basing ourselves in Sevier Co. in TN b/c I thought that might be where we could retire. Made or reservations and started looking at RE sites. We were also planning to come over the mountain and look in the Clemson area, from there traveling east to Spartanburg and then north to Asheville and back.
Property seems to be less expensive in SC than TN and we actually found a property in Seneca that we are considering containing the realtor.
Finding current demographics seems to be the challenge; most data is 2 or more years old. So housing values, crime logs etc are not current.
Since all the statistical data in the world is not as good as old fashion Q&A. I would like to ask for real American opinions.
Locals are the best to ask. If you ask me what I think of NJ, I will tell you the taxes are 8-10 times what they are in SC while property values are only 2x for a similar property.
Gun laws are 180 degrees from any sane state!
Southern NJ is a conduit for Philadelphians to get to Atlantic City!
Please share your thoughts and concerns about the area including weather conditions. I want to leave the snow blower behind. So I am not looking for a mountain retreat. Best and worst areas, high and low crime info, etc.
I appreciate everyone’s time and want to thank you in advance.
In two weeks, my wife and I will be driving west from NJ to seek a better, slower pace. In a couple of years I plan to retire and am looking for a new location to settle. We are basing ourselves in Sevier Co. in TN b/c I thought that might be where we could retire. Made or reservations and started looking at RE sites. We were also planning to come over the mountain and look in the Clemson area, from there traveling east to Spartanburg and then north to Asheville and back.
Property seems to be less expensive in SC than TN and we actually found a property in Seneca that we are considering containing the realtor.
Finding current demographics seems to be the challenge; most data is 2 or more years old. So housing values, crime logs etc are not current.
Since all the statistical data in the world is not as good as old fashion Q&A. I would like to ask for real American opinions.
Locals are the best to ask. If you ask me what I think of NJ, I will tell you the taxes are 8-10 times what they are in SC while property values are only 2x for a similar property.
Gun laws are 180 degrees from any sane state!
Southern NJ is a conduit for Philadelphians to get to Atlantic City!
Please share your thoughts and concerns about the area including weather conditions. I want to leave the snow blower behind. So I am not looking for a mountain retreat. Best and worst areas, high and low crime info, etc.
I appreciate everyone’s time and want to thank you in advance.
The Good!
The Clemson area will get snow each winter but not as much as NJ. Greenville for example may get one or two snows each winter that disappear within a day or two. You should be able to put away the snow blower. If you have no interest in the mountains then you will want to look at places like Charleston or Columbia SC. Housing in SC is very affordable when compared to most areas around the country. The upstate area is clean, quiet, family oriented and offers enough restaurants and shopping to keep most people happy. Property taxes are lower in SC than most other parts of the country. On an over 3000 square foot home my property taxes in Greenville used to be $1200 a year....last year went up to $1500. Regarding crime I have never experienced any while living in the upstate region of SC (not saying that it does not happen because crime is everywhere). My impression is that crime is not bad, especially when looking at other areas around the country.
The Bad!
The number of job opportunities and the type of job opportunities are not good in SC. It is a low wage state thus the reason that housing is so cheap. This should not be an issue for you and your wife since you will be retired. During my time living in Greenville found that food in the supermarkets was just as expensive as the food in NYC supermarkets. The same with my utility bills....my electric and gas bills in SC were comparable to here in NYC. On several occasions my relatives would come for visits from NYC expecting that food would be cheaper than where they lived and to their surprise it wasn't. Get ready for vehicle property taxes.....the newer the car the more money you will pay. Car dependent and your car will be your lifeline in SC (like most parts of the south) because public transportation is limited to one bus service that only goes around limited areas within Greenville (they are supposed to be expanding the bus service into Mauldin & Simpsonville).......being that you mentioned Clemson I am not sure what their transportation is like but sure others will chime in on that. Being from NJ you are used to diversity and culture......diversity & culture in the upstate region of SC (and the state in general) is hugely lacking. Things like a good American history museum, beaches, amusement parks and tourist attractions are just not there. No major league teams....they are more into college sports. Restaurants are mostly chain places with a few unique one of a kind eateries here and there.
The Ugly!
South Carolina and particularly the upstate region of the state is a very conservative and religious place. As a result there are some laws that infringe on others freedoms. As an example, alcohol sales after 7 pm, Mon - Saturday are prohibited....liquor stores must close by 7 pm. Not sure about Clemson (probably the same) but in the Greenville area only restaurants within the city limits can sell alcoholic beverages on Sunday. People tend to be closed minded to new ideas or difference in opinion....especially when the opinion is that there is something negative about the area. When you are not born and raised in the south your opinion as an outsider is met with defensive behavior.
Seneca is definitely laid back in my opinion. More busy in the summer months due to the lake. Has some small restaurants & shopping. Anderson is not a far drive nor is Greenville. They have most everything you would need for every day "laid back" living. Lowes, Home Depot, Copper River is the larger steak house but there are a few places off the beaten path that the locals like as well. There should be quite a mix of different people as some people retire into the "Cliff" type communities while others choose to remain on their farms. Depends on what specific part of Seneca you are referring to.
If you have already bought a place in Seneca - I apologize. We used to live in Toccoa GA d/t my husband's job. Going to Seneca was the closest bigger town. It got old really quickly. There were few restaurants and not much shopping choice. Lake Keowee is nice but nothing going on there either. We live in east Greenville now and it is perfect. BTW we are from New England so know about taxes and bad weather.
Purchasing in Greer. Long distance purchase, but closing in 30 days.
Congrats! We bought a place in Greer too and finally moved in last day of Feb., or actually, I should say, we arrived the last day of Feb, but we're STILL moving in, renovations have taken longer than I anticipated
I think NewYorkBorn gave a good quick overview of Greenville. We too found the food higherhere than Miami. Miami doesn't have property tax on vehicles, nor do we have state tax which was one of the things I didn't realize about here and is definitely eaten away at DH's paycheck, that and with taking a cut in pay as his company doesn't pay up here as they do down there - didn't realize it would be such a difference
Utilities are higher here, but my bills are lower due to you being able to open the windows here and turn off the a/c - Miami, the a/c is still on in Dec! CPW is the utility company for where I am in Greer, not sure if all areas are the same. In FL there's only FP&L, here there's like 3 companies. CPW has your electric, water, gas and if you are on sewer, that too, all rolled in to one bill. When we bought here I only knew about Duke Power and thought everyone had Duke.
One of the things that we found great was that it didn't take 6 hours to get out of the state! Depending on where in Greer you are moving to, (I use Wade Hampton as the dividing line of North and South) you'll find you can be in NC in about 1/2 hr, and a trip over to ATL is just a couple hours, but only an hour to get in to GA. Charlotte is a little over an hours drive (90min to airport for us) and the TN border is about 2 hours away.
We also LOVE the beautiful downtown Greenville has - we NEVER went downtown unless we had jury duty in Miami. Definitely NOT a place you'd be proud to take visitors to. We've taken EVERYONE who's come to visit downtown. Just last week family from Montreal and FL came in and they all thought DT was beautiful, especially Falls Park
Best of luck in your new home. Hope you enjoy it as much as we have so far.
Purchasing in Greer. Long distance purchase, but closing in 30 days.
Greer is probably a good location since lot of people live there or near there. Might want to try visiting Brevard, Hendersonville, Asheville areas of NC, especially this time of year.
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Seneca is weak
