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I live in north central Maryland. I recently retired earlier than I’d have wanted. My wife and I both enjoy our pontoon boat that we keep on a small lake in southern PA. We live on a country road with postcard views front and back. In our County, Carroll County, there is low crime overall and none in our area. I think there was one murder last year in Carroll County.
Since retiring, I find that hibernating from December through April is not how I want to spend the rest of my life. Since my wife seriously hates cold weather SC seems like a good tradeoff between where we are now and the heat in Florida. Plus there is opportunity to access the intra-coastal(sp) waterway in a pontoon boat as well as lakes such as those along the Georgia line.
We’d like to keep the boat and have access to slow water.
We pay $2800 property tax in MD, and $1,200 a year for heating oil. The electric bill is $210 per month plus we burn a good bit of wood. Point being we need a cheaper area from a tax and utility perspective.
Anderson County looks real nice. Can anyone suggest areas in Anderson or Abbeville Counties to look?
You need to look at Oconee County (one county to the north) - Lakes Keowee and Jocassee are much nicer than Hartwell
Very few homes here (if any) are heated with oil - also, your SC property taxes should be less (of course, depending on the value of your home) - however, you currently pay $230/month in property tax (IMO that's a bargain there in MD - do you live in a rural area and/or own a small home?)
You need to look at Oconee County (one county to the north) - Lakes Keowee and Jocassee are much nicer than Hartwell
Very few homes here (if any) are heated with oil - also, your SC property taxes should be less (of course, depending on the value of your home) - however, you currently pay $230/month in property tax (IMO that's a bargain there in MD - do you live in a rural area and/or own a small home?)
I live in a rural-like area 40 minutes from Baltimore. Is that area, Oconee County, cooler than Anderson or about the same? What's nicer about those lakes compared to Hartwell? I was thinking I'd need to stay a bit from Clemson to avoid higher property values.
Is that area, Oconee County, cooler than Anderson or about the same?
No, the Upstate of SC has fairly uniform weather/temps. Once you get into far northern Oconee, Pickens, and Greenville counties, elevation rises quickly (to over 3,000 feet) and temps can drop 10+ degrees. From there, crossing into North Carolina, is a much different climate.
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What's nicer about those lakes compared to Hartwell?
Please google both Lakes Keowee and Jocassee. As you may not know, Lakes Keowee/Jocassee have much less variable water levels than Hartwell. Frankly, I don't understand the appeal of Hartwell - it's water level seems to always be low (sometimes, extremely low) - it's greatly impacted by drought conditions. Finally, Lake Keowee is pristine - on a clear day, this lake looks blue.
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I was thinking I'd need to stay a bit from Clemson to avoid higher property values.
Clemson, with a population of 14K, has a tiny municipality footprint. The vast majority of housing stock will be in the county (with low property taxes). Of note, Clemson lies (mostly) in Pickens County. Anderson, a much bigger city (than Clemson), lies (of course) in Anderson County.
Last edited by drfranklin; 05-03-2013 at 12:38 PM..
Thanks! We're planning a quick run down soon so I'd like to narrow the serach area a bit. We took the coastal areas off our list. My family is from JAckson County NC 7 miles East of Sylva, so I'm familiar with mountain areas.
I would avoid Anderson County, we checked it out before relocating to the Greenville area and it is pretty dumpy. Another area to avoid like the plague is Spartanburg, its even worse than Anderson! Last Fall we were around Lake Hartwell and the water level was still very low, many docks were sitting on dry land, which used to be covered by water. I also read somewhere that there are serious water contamination issues on Hartwell (Please correct me if I am wrong). We know some people who bought land on Lake Keowee and they love it there compared to the old place on Hartwell.
The Anderson area really is a pretty nice place to live. It's just the right size, cost of living is low, and it's close enough (but not too close) to amenities in Greenville or Atlanta. But, unfortunately, over the last few years the water levels in Lake Hartwell have gotten low and stayed there. I concur that Lake Keowee is a nicer lake than Hartwell by just about any measure.
The levels on Keowee fluctuate as well due to it having the Nuclear Power Plant. I love Keowee but have a lot of friends who love Hartwell. If you choose Hsrtwel you may want to check out Townville. Small, quiet town. Depending on how far you want to be from shopping, etc for Keowee there's the town ofvWalhalla, west Union or Salem. The homes on the North end of the lake tend to be more pricey & that end is busier & the water is more choppy due to the close proximity of the mtns. Just personal preference, I like the South end. Just ask a lot of questions, especially from the neighbors. If you buy in a cove on either lake you may not have deep water.
I don't have the nerves for living on the water. It sounds nice to walk out back and hop on your boat, but you also have to live with the remote chance of floods and the opposite when the water level drops. Me myself, I'd prefer to rent a slip for most of the year or in worse case just get used to towing my boat. It costs us $900 a year to tie up at Marburg Lake outside Hanover PA in Codorus State Park and that is from April 1st to Oct 30th. The lake is retsricted to no more than 20 HP. We like to poke around the lake at 4mph.
We are definately moving out of Maryland so we need to start getting down there and seeing these areas. We're sure now that it's the north west part of the State--beyond that we're open to suggestions.
You may want to look at some of the surrounding areas at some smaller lakes. Lake Rabon, Cunningham, Robinson or Saluda. We trailer our boat as well as my husband does not like leaving it. It is common here as lots of people do. I'm sure I'm missing naming a few & I'm sure others will help. We live about 40-45 minutes from the lake.
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