Thinking about local costs and other expectations for relocating (Myrtle Beach: cul-de-sac, fit in)

[madmaxnj]

I’ve found this website to be a valuable resource in the past, and have been spending some time here the past few weeks reading a number of posts, some rather old now, about people in a similar situation. After living my life in NY and NJ, I’ve began thinking about retiring early and moving to the Grand Strand. I was previously planning on working till 60 or so and staying up here. But what started with changes at work led to some economics homework and realization that I can punch out even earlier if I lower my living expenses. If I lower my property taxes from $12,000 a year to $1,200 a year, that is a significant savings right there. To further this plan however, I need to get a better estimate of other living expenses in the Grand Strand area. To start off with, I would be purchasing a house for cash, or contingent on selling my home here in NJ. Looking at realtor.com I see the types of home we are looking for. In order of priority: 3 car garage (between the 2 of us we’ll have 2-3 cars and 2-3 motorcycles, and a lot of tools), community pool, 3+ bedroom, 2 bath, recently styled build preferred but not mandatory, screened porch, outside patio. I see these a few years old or new construction listed between 300-400K. I’d be looking closer to 300K if I move sooner (2024), or closer to 400K if I work longer and move later (2026).

I prefer to estimate conservatively (on the high side), so if anything I have a surplus of cash. Here’s what I’m guessing for monthly expenses, help me out if I go astray.
Property Taxes: $100. It’s hard to tell online. Some listings on realtor or zillow look like they don’t even pay property taxes, and then some are a thousand or more a year. Any idea why?
Electric: $225. I’m guessing this will be peak AC or peak heat, and less in the transition months.
Homeowners Ins: $100 or less, again just based on realtor.com estimates. Not sure how valid these are.
Water: $55. I think I read that on here somewhere, again, a peak number during summer with the sprinklers going.
HOA: $100. We are looking for a place with a community pool. She wants to hang out there and make friends with the neighbors, and I don’t want to take care of a pool. Would also like a clubhouse with a gym, but I could do a gym membership nearby if needed. The home gym setup I have now probably won’t fit in the size house we are looking for. Do HOAs like this typically cover landscaping or garbage pickup, or would those be additional? If I do need my own landscaper (all of these communities have really small property lots, not a fan there), how much would that be? Of all the HOA listings I’ve seen, I’ve never seen a shed, and I imagine the HOAs restrict that, so you can’t have a place to store your own yard tools.
Cable/internet/phone: $225, this is what I pay now. About right?

Any other expenses I might not be thinking of? Food, restaurants, gas, entertainment and other home ownership expenses are all based on what we do and where we go.

She’ll still be working, likely from home (graphic designer) and may bring her laptop with her to work by the clubhouse, or coffee shops, or the lanai, or whatever. When not working she’ll be at the pool and making and hanging out with new friends. I’ll likely be tinkering in the garage during the day, riding one of the Harleys, going to car shows, making myself a regular at the biker bars in Murrells Inlet, etc. If we have a nice community pool, we’d more likely do that than the beach. But we would go to the beach now and then as something different to do. Go out to eat. See a band at the House of Blues or SBB. Shoot some pool. All the things we’d like to do now, but I often don’t have the time because I’m too busy working.

What’s it like living in these communities with smallish properties? That’s one of my big concerns. I don’t want to hear everything coming from my neighbors, and I’m sure they don’t want to hear me either. Are they biker friendly? I always try to be respectful of my neighbors when it comes to noise. I try to keep the music loud enough that I can hear it but low enough that you can’t. I don’t excessively idle or rev the bikes at home when coming or going, just enough to get their juices flowing and I’m on my way. If I’m working on something, that might make a little extra noise, but I won’t be doing it in the early morning or late in the day either.

Any real world lessons I’m missing here? Appreciate any words of wisdom.
Thanks

[blueherons]

The Grand Strand, on the whole, is very biker friendly. You may want to base yourself out of the south end of the area. Surfside to Murrells Inlet.

[Retire in MB]

So much depends on the type of development you live in and the area you live in.

Home prices here are rising (part due to demand, part due to lumber costs).
Here in Myrtle Beach city garbage is collected by the city, in other areas you either take your trash to the dump yourself or pay for a service to pick it up.
An HOA with a pool and clubhouse will run more than $100 month (I pay $200), this includes maintenance of the common areas. The more amenities you have the higher the HOA. It will be more in a gated community.
For most single family homes you maintain your own landscaping (there are exceptions but these homes will be smaller and with very little yard.
Most HOAs do not allow sheds, lawn equipment is kept in the garage. Most garages are 2 car, you will pay a premium for a 3 car.
Some HOAs have strict rules about doing auto maintenance in the garage.
Make sure you understand all the HOA rules before you buy anything - ask for a copy of the CC&R BEFORE you put in an offer.
Insurance depends on location - west of the Intercoastal will be less than east of it, but make you check out the flood zones - some of the west of the Intercoastal communities flood with disturbing regularity. Flood Insurance (if you can get it) is extra.

[CTyankee54]

Housing prices are skyrocketing here so who can say where they will be in 2024...they might continue to escalate or there might be a leveling or even a crash. I can say that your estimate of $300K for what you are looking for is on the low side depending on the square footage you need. You should budget closer to $350K-$400K in today's market. If you are looking at new construction on the realtor sites, you may be seeing the "starting at" price which gets you a roof over your head with carpet/vinyl plank, etc. The pictures of the new homes you see have every imaginable option and options are not cheap and are not included in the "starting at" price.



Regarding your other questions:
Taxes...if you move here and become a permanent resident, $100/month or less should be about right. If you want to buy early while you're still living in NJ, the county soaks non-residents so count on about 3x the resident taxes.

Electric...you're about right but maybe on the high side. Depends on how high or low you keep your thermostat.

Homeowners insurance...until recently I would have said your estimate was on target but we just found out that the best value insurance company just stopped writing in SC and rates from their next competitors are significantly higher. Plan on at least $150/month or more.

Water...ours is $30/month with no irrigation. Can run $100/month depending on how often you water your lawn.
HOA...Your estimate probably is about right but it depends on the community. For example, the Seasons community runs $400/month. Our community runs $46/month. The higher fees typically include garbage pickup, front lawn mowing, pool, roads (if it's a gated community the roads are private), gate maintenance, street lights, etc. Our low fee includes the pool, tennis courts and a few other minor items. We pay for trash separately ($25/month) but you can also take your own trash to the recycling center a couple of miles away and save the $25. Most HOAs prohibit sheds so get rid of all your excess stuff before moving here because storage in most houses is extremely limited (no basements). MOST OF ALL, get a copy of the HOA Covenants and Rules BEFORE you sign any contract to make sure you can live within the rules. Some HOAs are very strict on what they allow while others are more flexible. For example, our current HOA prohibits house flags (except for the American flag) except for major holidays. Our previous community had no prohibition on flags at all.

Cable/Internet...extremely variable based on internet speed requirements and cable packages/premium channels selected. You're probably in the ballpark, though.



Smallish properties...there's small and then really small. They are starting to allow lots with five foot setbacks on the side so you only have 10 feet between houses. When we moved here, 10 foot setbacks were more common which provides for more breathing room. My advice is to be very selective and have a clear vision of what you will and will not accept. For example, we will not accept a house that backs up to another house with a berm or section of scraggly bushes or trees separating the properties. We look for houses which are offset or on a cul-de-sac which helps with not looking right into your neighbors' porch when you look right or left. We prefer to be on a pond which keeps the house behind you at bay. Most HOAs do not allow privacy fences but if that's important to you, look for one that does. Another thing to be very careful with is looking at what might be built around you. Just because there's a huge stand of trees that's not part of your development out your back door today doesn't mean it will be there tomorrow (if probably won't). Every piece of land that can be developed is being purchased and houses built as fast as they can put them up. It's needed because, on average, there are 25 families PER DAY moving to Myrtle Beach.


Younger neighbors are usually more tolerant of motorcycle noise than retirees...



Other real world lessons....SC is a very red state politically. Taxes and living expenses are lower than the NE for a reason. I advise people that move here to remember what they left behind and avoid voting for the same things that caused you to leave in the first place. When looking for a house, if you have an opportunity ask someone in the neighborhood how they like it/what don't they like/what's the HOA like, etc. You'll tend to probably spend more eating out than you currently do just because there are so many options. It gets REALLY hot and humid here. Imagine your hottest, most humid week in NJ and that's what it's like here from mid-May to mid-Sept. BUT, the winters are nice. Find out where the back roads are because you're going to need them in the summer when the tourists are here. If you live east of the Intracoastal Waterway, you probably are not going to be able to avoid tourist traffic.



Lastly, I always advise people who are considering moving here to do two things.

1. Visit multiple times and don't do any tourist things. Explore neighborhoods, look for grocery stores, shopping, and the types of things you do every day and how far they are from where you're considering living. We made multiple trips before we moved here and looked everywhere from Little River all the way to Murrells Inlet before we chose an area.

2. Rent first to make sure you like the area you think you like. It could save you thousands if you find that you made a mistake on the area you thought you liked.