Scouting trip recommendations? (Lancaster, Fort Mill, Welcome: for sale, hotels, new home)

[Dreamingofbeaches]

Hello Everyone,
Another "Moving to Fort Mill" post (sorry!)

We've been looking into moving to the area for several years and are finally in the position to make that move as soon as we sell our house and find a new one. SO, we're coming down to scout within the next month or so.
We have a few goals 1)Get to know the area. The perks, the downfalls, the places that make Fort Mill special. 2)Find a few neighborhoods that we really like. (Yes I have followed threads, some relevant, some not) We will have to move fast once we get an offer on our house which likely means a good deal of the process will occur online. If we have specific neighborhoods that we're looking at the process will be much easier. 3)Get our kids excited about moving there. They aren't hating the idea but not loving it either. (Middle school aged) What are some good spots to show them?

What we're looking for in a neighborhood: 250ish price range, an active community with a pool, 4 bedrooms, close to some decent outdoor activities and shopping (basic shopping- groceries, home goods, etc). Really just a place with a nice feel and welcoming neighbors. Commute to the city isn't really important. My husband will be working remotely and I'm sure I can find a job in relatively close proximity to wherever we wind up. Schools are very important but it seems like you can't really go wrong there from what I've read?

Also, we need a hotel recommendation for while we're down there. Reasonably priced, not shady, with a pool and breakfast.

Thank you very much in advance!

[Girl]

The new Hampton Inn & Suites in Fort Mill right by Baxter is your best bet. It's BRAND NEW.
Hampton Inn & Suites Hotel in Fort Mill, SC

Neighborhoods to look at:

Waterstone
Knightsbridge
Sutton Place
English Trails

The $250K range is getting tougher to find, but I believe all four of those neighborhoods have pools, decent sized homes in that price range, and are family-friendly.

Spicewood and Lakebridge are other neighborhoods near that price range, but not sure if they have neighborhood pools.

I know Waterstone, Spicewood and Knightsbridge have TONS of middle-school aged kids. I'm sure the others do as well. Really, the whole area is booming, so it will be hard to find a subdivision that ISN'T filled with kids of various ages.

All schools in Fort Mill are fantastic, with plenty of school activities including a variety sports and marching band (which is HUGELY popular in FM). Lots of churches with active youth groups (if that interests you). YMCA in Baxter Village is huge, but there are also town sports if they don't want to do school sports. Anne Springs Greenway for horses, hiking and kayaking. Lots of festivals all year long.

It's a fun place to be. Small, but good.

[Dreamingofbeaches]

Thank you so much - great starting points for us!

[SCCoqui]

A house went up for sale in our neighborhood that meets your criteria but if you're not ready to buy yet it won't be available for long.

The 250 ish price range sells really, really fast here!

[Dreamingofbeaches]

Thank you! Anyone have thoughts on Indian Land? There seems to be more there in our price range... but there's usually reasons for that. If we need to bump it up a bit, we will.

[Girl]

Indian Land schools aren't quite as good as Fort Mill/Tega Cay. They are good, but not AS good. It's a bit "further out" in terms of commuting into Charlotte, but is closer to Ballantyne, which is a big shopping area. Growth is BOOMING there in terms of both residential and commercial. There will definitely be many, many more housing choices in your price range in Indian Land.

[zetaetadg]

I, personally, would not choose Indian Land at this point because of the schools. While they are good, they are overcrowded. IL is building and expanding to meet demand, but they are much more behind the curve than Fort Mill. The other issue with Indian Land is that they are not a town and therefore all school funding decisions are made in Lancaster. Not an ideal situation, IMO.

[Taylor21]

Welcome, we were in your shoes and had researched, blogged and scouted out like you and your family. We finally sold our home in Upstate NY and purchased a fairly new home in Lake Ridge. We are set to close at the end of June. We are really excited, even our three boys, two teenage and the ten yr old. They realize after speaking to everyone and all our visits down there, that the quality of life is just soooo much better than where we live now, and of course the taxes and weather blows NY away. As NJCoqui said, 250's are really hard to find because of the red hot market, but if you really do your research, you will find something. The most important thing is finding a good RE agent that knows the area. We found someone that went above and beyond for us and took the time to show us around and educate us about the area. i will pass that name and contact info. If your interested, just IM me and I will gladly pass it along. Good luck with the sale of your house!

[Dreamingofbeaches]

Thank you and good luck to you! I'm sending a pm

[Gapeach69]

We have a lot of kids in our neighborhood (WhiteGrove) and you can find homes in your price range. We don't have a neighborhood pool though. All the schools in FM are good. I like our neighborhood because we have trees and the houses aren't right on top of each other.