Parents have a question about moving to NC or SC

[BeachLove]

They are open to areas within three hours of the coastline. They've shown interest in the city of Raleigh, NC and surrounding areas. Delaware, MD. The area along the border of NC / SC near the coast. They also listed an area in SC called Georgetown. They want to lower their monthly costs substantially from what they pay for a home now. Home budget will be up to 200k if they buy.

Here's the list of wants/ Must haves:
walkable community with sidewalks
safe to walk in the evening/ early morning
Near shops, malls, grocery
Lots of at least .25 acre
Cost under 200k (I'd like to see it under 160k since I may be assisting with the down payment + initial costs) I could also be purchasing the home while they pay the mortgage as rent to me. We are talking about things. Nothing is decided. I'd prefer to see them in a condo. Don't think I'll win that battle just yet.
3 Bedrooms/ two baths
1500sq ft minimum
No town homes

Likes:
Mostly brick home


Any advice ? Good zip codes or communities to look at? I told them I'd ask for advice and hopefully we can go tour a couple areas later this year. The plan is for their current home to be rented for a year. They move in with me scared1 during that year to save up money. Thankfully the house is big enough and they respect my space.

 

[excitedfamof4]

I would stay away from Raleigh, b/c price per sq/ft is high for housing and traffic is horrible. I would look more towards the SC coast. The cost of living is much less in SC than NC, and you can get more house for your money. Georgetown, Summerville, Goose Creek are all great areas really close to the beaches too.
Good luck with your decision!

 

[LaurLaur04]

28328. Clinton. An hour from the beach, an hour from Raleigh. Right in the middle! Small town but there are restaurants and shopping available. Great school system too!

 

[LaurLaur04]

Don't recommend Raleigh....TERRIBLE traffic and cost of living is ridiculous!

 

[LaurLaur04]

One more thing lol I just sold my brick 3 bed 2 bath home 2000 sq ft four 143,000. It was sitting on an acre and a half and had its own wired garage and everything So you could find a great house for under 200k!

 

[wishing4PA]

Maybe ... Beaufort?

 

[kirrrby]

If they're showing interest in Raleigh have them think about outlying areas. I'm from Durham, 27703 area out towards a large lake called Falls Lake. Houses in that area are about $120,000 (older construction) and $180,000 (newer construction) and you get tons of acreage.

I wouldn't suggest Georgetown, SC mainly because you're right near all of the Myrtle Beach stuff. Trying to get anywhere on the interstate around that area is a pure pain in the butt unless you take 17 all the way and get onto 95 further away from Myrtle Beach.


If your parents are initially looking for a place near the beach and easy access to shopping and stuff to do, look into Craven County, NC (New Bern to be exact, possibly Havelock). It's a nice area, I lived off of Hwy 17 for a few years. There is tons to do, and it's about an hour from Atlantic Beach and Emerald Isle.

 

[HeatherC]

Bluffton, SC 29909!

My parents retired there a couple years ago. It is under a half hour to the beautiful beaches of Hilton Head Island. Every possible convenience...stores, restaurants, theatre, etc. It is 30 minutes from Savannah and two hours from Charleston. Also thirty minutes from Beaufort.

They live in a retirement community called Sun City. It is HUGE! People drive their golf carts around. Great community center, their own library, grocery store, multiple pools, on golf courses, tons of activities from baseball, woodworking, crafts, exercise classes, etc. It is like a well equipped college campus for anyone 55 or over.

There are also other communities in Bluffton, but this is the largest.

If they don't like a retirement community, I would highly suggest Hilton Head Island...gorgeous beaches, golf and tennis galore and paved biking/walking trails all over the island.

Also very easy to get to either...Exit Hardeeville right off Route 95.

Housing prices can run anywhere from $100k upwards.

My parents house is over 2500 sq ft...single story and they paid $240k. It is HUGE for two people and I know you could find a nice size home for much less.

Hope this helps! And if worse comes to worse, it is a great vacation spot to check out.

 

[KTSMOM]

I wouldn't consider Raleigh. I live in Raleigh and love it, but based on your parents criteria, it wouldn't be the place for them to live. However, there is a lovely city right outside of Raleigh called Wake Forest. You can get more house for your money than Raleigh. It's a smaller community that is very safe and has plenty of places to walk. There is no mall that I know of in Wake Forest, but it's only about 15 minutes from one of the newer malls in Raleigh. Might want to check that out for them.

 

[Oceangrace24]

Lexington, SC would have everything you are looking for.

 

[luv2mickey]

Bluffton, SC 29909!

My parents retired there a couple years ago. It is under a half hour to the beautiful beaches of Hilton Head Island. Every possible convenience...stores, restaurants, theatre, etc. It is 30 minutes from Savannah and two hours from Charleston. Also thirty minutes from Beaufort.

They live in a retirement community called Sun City. It is HUGE! People drive their golf carts around. Great community center, their own library, grocery store, multiple pools, on golf courses, tons of activities from baseball, woodworking, crafts, exercise classes, etc. It is like a well equipped college campus for anyone 55 or over.

There are also other communities in Bluffton, but this is the largest.

If they don't like a retirement community, I would highly suggest Hilton Head Island...gorgeous beaches, golf and tennis galore and paved biking/walking trails all over the island.

Also very easy to get to either...Exit Hardeeville right off Route 95.

Housing prices can run anywhere from $100k upwards.

My parents house is over 2500 sq ft...single story and they paid $240k. It is HUGE for two people and I know you could find a nice size home for much less.

Hope this helps! And if worse comes to worse, it is a great vacation spot to check out.

My parents also live in this Sun City Retirement Community and love it! There is a lot to do, they have clubs for anything your interested in and very easy to meet people.

 

[poohguys]

This may be a little too far south for them, but in laws live in Woodside Plantation in SC. It is about 1/2 hr north of Augusta GA and is 2 1/2 hrs to Charleston. It is a nice gated community. Some sidewalks. There are walking paths and trails. Lots of different kinds of houses to chose from. There are even lots available to they could custom build. Shopping is right outside the gates- little mall, grocery store, Wal-Mart, Target etc. Once they hit 65 they do not have to pay school taxes anymore. Hope you find something you are all happy with.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

I wouldn't consider Raleigh. I live in Raleigh and love it, but based on your parents criteria, it wouldn't be the place for them to live. However, there is a lovely city right outside of Raleigh called Wake Forest. You can get more house for your money than Raleigh. It's a smaller community that is very safe and has plenty of places to walk. There is no mall that I know of in Wake Forest, but it's only about 15 minutes from one of the newer malls in Raleigh. Might want to check that out for them.

We live in Wake Forest

It is a great place to live. No mall but as the PP mentioned we're about 15 minutes from a good sized mall that is in Raleigh (Triangle Town Center). Raleigh has casually extended itself up to the boarder with Wake Forest so you can literally stand in Wake Forest and throw a rock to hit part of Raleigh.

We do have a Wal-Mart (1.7 miles from my house) a Lowe's, Home Depot, PetSmart, Target all the major stores it seems (or enough so you're really not missing anything). A very nice safe, financially and environmentally responsible town.

We love it. Downsides that I can think of (we came from CT) - don't love having a Home Owner Association - do love the pool in the neighborhood but sometimes the regulations are a pain. Also in our area (not in all areas of Wake Forest) the houses are a bit cookie cutter (we had a great old Victorian home in CT built in 1919 loads of character).

 

[kirrrby]

We live in Wake Forest

It is a great place to live. No mall but as the PP mentioned we're about 15 minutes from a good sized mall that is in Raleigh (Triangle Town Center). Raleigh has casually extended itself up to the boarder with Wake Forest so you can literally stand in Wake Forest and throw a rock to hit part of Raleigh.

We do have a Wal-Mart (1.7 miles from my house) a Lowe's, Home Depot, PetSmart, Target all the major stores it seems (or enough so you're really not missing anything). A very nice safe, financially and environmentally responsible town.

We love it. Downsides that I can think of (we came from CT) - don't love having a Home Owner Association - do love the pool in the neighborhood but sometimes the regulations are a pain. Also in our area (not in all areas of Wake Forest) the houses are a bit cookie cutter (we had a great old Victorian home in CT built in 1919 loads of character).

They do have some older historic homes out towards the christian college though with a lot of character.

 

[shells4]

I don't know alot about the cost of housing in Georgetown. But I do know we love that area and would love to move there in a few years. We spend at least a week each year at Pawleys Island, about 10 miles north of Georgetown. Someone mentioned Georgetown getting too much traffic from Myrtle Beach. As long as we didn't work in MB, the traffic wouldn't bother us in the least. We haven't really noticed any traffic problems in Georgetown. We try to avoid MB at all cost, but love some of the small communities south of it and rarely have a problem with traffic. Even if the traffic was an issue, it would only be about 2 1/2 months a year.

 

[kimsuenew]

Bluffton, SC 29909!

My parents retired there a couple years ago. It is under a half hour to the beautiful beaches of Hilton Head Island. Every possible convenience...stores, restaurants, theatre, etc. It is 30 minutes from Savannah and two hours from Charleston. Also thirty minutes from Beaufort.

They live in a retirement community called Sun City. It is HUGE! People drive their golf carts around. Great community center, their own library, grocery store, multiple pools, on golf courses, tons of activities from baseball, woodworking, crafts, exercise classes, etc. It is like a well equipped college campus for anyone 55 or over.

There are also other communities in Bluffton, but this is the largest.

If they don't like a retirement community, I would highly suggest Hilton Head Island...gorgeous beaches, golf and tennis galore and paved biking/walking trails all over the island.
Also very easy to get to either...Exit Hardeeville right off Route 95.

Housing prices can run anywhere from $100k upwards.

My parents house is over 2500 sq ft...single story and they paid $240k. It is HUGE for two people and I know you could find a nice size home for much less.

Hope this helps! And if worse comes to worse, it is a great vacation spot to check out.

That is the area we plan on moving to when DH retires! The entire area is beautiful

 

[TIMLEO007]

We also live in Wake Forest, NC
about 2 1/2-3hrs to beach and 4hrs to mountains.....we love it here. The area is building up and growing, very nice neighborhoods being built, traffic is not bad, about 30mins to downtown raleigh, 45 to airports.

There are many older homes as well in a nice price range still. Weather is nice year round, people are friendly for the most part as well. I moved to NC from Tampa FL and have not looked back. I guess traffic and crowds is all relative, but I still consider Raleigh a "small city"

QUOTE=Good Morning Dewdrop;48574688]We live in Wake Forest

It is a great place to live. No mall but as the PP mentioned we're about 15 minutes from a good sized mall that is in Raleigh (Triangle Town Center). Raleigh has casually extended itself up to the boarder with Wake Forest so you can literally stand in Wake Forest and throw a rock to hit part of Raleigh.

We do have a Wal-Mart (1.7 miles from my house) a Lowe's, Home Depot, PetSmart, Target all the major stores it seems (or enough so you're really not missing anything). A very nice safe, financially and environmentally responsible town.

We love it. Downsides that I can think of (we came from CT) - don't love having a Home Owner Association - do love the pool in the neighborhood but sometimes the regulations are a pain. Also in our area (not in all areas of Wake Forest) the houses are a bit cookie cutter (we had a great old Victorian home in CT built in 1919 loads of character).[/QUOTE]

 

[BeachLove]

Maybe ... Beaufort?

They also mentioned that area! Is it nice?

 

[BeachLove]

Keep the info coming! I'll be printing it out for my parents to see.


Question about Raleigh and Wake forest. How bad is the traffic and the cost of living since a few of you mentioned it? It seemed like a good middle ground area to live between the beach and city life(shopping malls, etc.). We looked at a forum about different areas and this one had people raving about the area.

 

[kirrrby]

Keep the info coming! I'll be printing it out for my parents to see.


Question about Raleigh and Wake forest. How bad is the traffic and the cost of living since a few of you mentioned it? It seemed like a good middle ground area to live between the beach and city life(shopping malls, etc.). We looked at a forum about different areas and this one had people raving about the area.

Raleigh can be extremely busy. But Wake Forest has a small community feeling in the most part. They have a very active farmers market, a dog park, and as we've mentioned plenty of shops nearby. You're also near Falls Lake, which is a large lake that has boat launches everywhere. I did a search on Remax for $180,000 and under and found plenty of updated homes in very reasonable price ranges (almost 15 pages worth of 3 bd/2 bath houses). The good thing also is in Wake Forest you have a chance of getting a larger acreage, but you have options on lot size.