Looking into buying condo in SC

[TAG617]

Hey guys,

My brother and I are looking into buying a condo in SC in the coming year. We're leaning towards Hilton Head since we've been a couple times and have loved it. However we're open to other areas on the SC coastline, only basic requirements in "other areas" are that it be near golf (obviously) and near the beach (wife's requirement so very important).

If you have any location recommendations or ideas on where we should also look I'd love to hear em!

Thanks!

 

[ArtMBgolf]

Myrtle Beach has a big area to choose from and lots of golf.

In either place, take a trip(s) to decide which you like better and where in that town you like better.

If you join a private course, you don't want to be too far from it.

[krtgolfing]

Hilton Head and North Myrtle Beach would be recommendation. Proper Myrtle Beach (downtown) is a bad area right now.

[Used2PlayALot]

Why bad?

[krtgolfing]

Been a lot of shootings lately in that area. Most have been crazy late / early morning, so if you aren't out late you should be okay.

[caniac6]

Mt Pleasant would be a good location.

[BiggErn]

North Myrtle or maybe Pawleys Island. I like the Garden City area too but I’m not sure about if you’d have golf right outside your door. In N Myrtle you have Barefoot and that puts you on a lot of courses and within driving distance of a lot more, the Calabash area has a lot of good courses too. In Pawley’s you have True Blue (which has condos) and that puts you there with Caledonia, Heritage, and a few others.

[hangontight]

if you loved HH, you may not love MB area so much. But then again you may. Very diff IMO. Lots of variety on S Carolina coast from Myrtle, Kiawah, Edisto, Hilton Head. If you have not looked at Kiawah, check it out.

[caniac6]

The Pawleys Island area is a lot more like HHI than other areas of the Grand Strand. Good courses in that area, and not too far from a lot of the Myrtle Beach courses.

[Guest]

Isle of Palms is a fun area.

[mtrainor]

We bought a condo 3 years ago in Isle of Palms. 2 golf courses in community. Check out Wild Dunes port o call. You may like it. Rents well too if you care to do that. Close drive to good food and things to do in Charleston. Quiet not super crowded beach. If you need bigger than 1BR there are plenty of larger condos. PM if you need a contact there. Have a good realtor/property manager. Andddd if you are interested in a 1BR we may be open to selling and getting into something bigger. Good luck

[sheppy335]

I would say South Myrtle from Surf Side BEach and down would be great and still good golf courses. You also have Charleston or Kiawah Island has the best golf.

[SecondandGoal]

My wife and I wanted to buy in Hilton Head, but couldn't find a place that we could rent out in the summer, and have our dogs with us in the winter. My mother has lived in Myrtle Beach for years, and we know we don't like MB proper, but we wound up buying an oceanfront place in Murrells Inlet. It's less than 20 minutes to Caledonia/True Blue, maybe 10 to TPC and The International, 20 minutes to the central courses, 30 or so to the North MB courses (it's too bad that Indian Wells closed, it's 5 minutes away). We absolutely love it. So much better than MB proper. Not nearly as crowded, restaurants are as good or better, and so much good golf nearby. Even if my wife didn't golf, she'd still love the area. We went down to do some renovations on the place earlier this year, planning on being there for maybe 3 weeks, and wound up spending almost 3 months because the pandemic was so bad back home (MA).

If you've got any questions about buying in that area, let me know, I'd be happy to answer, and could put you in touch with a GREAT realtor. We rent our place out as well, I'd be happy to do a discounted week for you (or anyone else reading the thread) if you want to check the area out, just send me an IM.

[dcbogeyman]

We have vacationed in both HHI and Myrtle Beach (North End - Cherry Grove Section and South End - Pawley's Island) for years.  We decided in early 2019 to buy a home in the HHI/Bluffton, SC area.  We contacted a local Real Estate agent who gave us a lot of good input.  He convinced us not to live on the island.  (To many weather related evacuations - more than the HHI Chamber of Commerce will ever admit too - plus the HOA fees and assessments can be very burdensome.)  So we looked at a number of homes both new and existing in Bluffton, SC.  While we found a home we liked, we were concerned with the amount of new home building taking place in and around the Bluffton area. On our way home from HHI we stopped by to look at a new home in Pawley's Island we had seen on the Internet.  We bought it.  (After closing we rented it back to the builder to use as model home.  We will be moving in soon, as the lease expires in a few months.) 

 

Why we chose the Pawley's Island house over the Bluffton house: Pawley's Island area has little to no room for large production builders such as Pulte to build large tract housing, read - laid back area. We are a ten minute drive to the Pawley's Island beach which has plenty of public parking.  While I like and enjoyed playing many of the golf courses in and around HHI, the Grand Strand has about three times as many courses.  Dinning - HHI wins here but, Pawley's Island and Murrel's Inlet have some very good choices.  Our home has no HOA fees.  I can get to 10 golf courses in 3 - 10 minutes.  (I plan on purchasing a MB Golf Passport which offers local home owners reduced greens fees and joining the range plan at True Blue.)

 

We have been to Kiawah Island.  It's got some great golf courses but limited in number and pricey too.  It is pretty isolated (45 minutes from Charleston - which has great dinning).   

 

[jpbova]

1 hour ago, dcbogeyman said:

We have vacationed in both HHI and Myrtle Beach (North End - Cherry Grove Section and South End - Pawley's Island) for years.  We decided in early 2019 to buy a home in the HHI/Bluffton, SC area.  We contacted a local Real Estate agent who gave us a lot of good input.  He convinced us not to live on the island.  (To many weather related evacuations - more than the HHI Chamber of Commerce will ever admit too - plus the HOA fees and assessments can be very burdensome.)  So we looked at a number of homes both new and existing in Bluffton, SC.  While we found a home we liked, we were concerned with the amount of new home building taking place in and around the Bluffton area. On our way home from HHI we stopped by to look at a new home in Pawley's Island we had seen on the Internet.  We bought it.  (After closing we rented it back to the builder to use as model home.  We will be moving in soon, as the lease expires in a few months.) 

 

Why we chose the Pawley's Island house over the Bluffton house: Pawley's Island area has little to no room for large production builders such as Pulte to build large tract housing, read - laid back area. We are a ten minute drive to the Pawley's Island beach which has plenty of public parking.  While I like and enjoyed playing many of the golf courses in and around HHI, the Grand Strand has about three times as many courses.  Dinning - HHI wins here but, Pawley's Island and Murrel's Inlet have some very good choices.  Our home has no HOA fees.  I can get to 10 golf courses in 3 - 10 minutes.  (I plan on purchasing a MB Golf Passport which offers local home owners reduced greens fees and joining the range plan at True Blue.)

 

We have been to Kiawah Island.  It's got some great golf courses but limited in number and pricey too.  It is pretty isolated (45 minutes from Charleston - which has great dinning).   

 

100%

 

I wouldn't spend $1 to buy a place in myrtle beach.  Place seems to be getting worse everyday.

[caniac6]

2 hours ago, dcbogeyman said:

We have vacationed in both HHI and Myrtle Beach (North End - Cherry Grove Section and South End - Pawley's Island) for years.  We decided in early 2019 to buy a home in the HHI/Bluffton, SC area.  We contacted a local Real Estate agent who gave us a lot of good input.  He convinced us not to live on the island.  (To many weather related evacuations - more than the HHI Chamber of Commerce will ever admit too - plus the HOA fees and assessments can be very burdensome.)  So we looked at a number of homes both new and existing in Bluffton, SC.  While we found a home we liked, we were concerned with the amount of new home building taking place in and around the Bluffton area. On our way home from HHI we stopped by to look at a new home in Pawley's Island we had seen on the Internet.  We bought it.  (After closing we rented it back to the builder to use as model home.  We will be moving in soon, as the lease expires in a few months.) 

 

Why we chose the Pawley's Island house over the Bluffton house: Pawley's Island area has little to no room for large production builders such as Pulte to build large tract housing, read - laid back area. We are a ten minute drive to the Pawley's Island beach which has plenty of public parking.  While I like and enjoyed playing many of the golf courses in and around HHI, the Grand Strand has about three times as many courses.  Dinning - HHI wins here but, Pawley's Island and Murrel's Inlet have some very good choices.  Our home has no HOA fees.  I can get to 10 golf courses in 3 - 10 minutes.  (I plan on purchasing a MB Golf Passport which offers local home owners reduced greens fees and joining the range plan at True Blue.)

 

We have been to Kiawah Island.  It's got some great golf courses but limited in number and pricey too.  It is pretty isolated (45 minutes from Charleston - which has great dinning).   

 

Pawleys is a great area. We like to come to Litchfield in the off season. The downtown area in Georgetown is a nice place to walk around, and we really enjoy Brookgreen. 

[ChiefRTR]

+1 on Mtrainor with IOP.  Wild Dunes has been our spot throughout "quarantine" (Links Course > Harbor Course).  

 

Edited April 7 by ChiefRTR

[sheppy335]

On 8/21/2020 at 2:43 PM, jpbova said:

100%

 

I wouldn't spend $1 to buy a place in myrtle beach.  Place seems to be getting worse everyday.

They are in the south away from downtown MB were issues are coming from. That area is not run down, it is very nice and well taken care of down there, plus not all of MB is run down and bad most downtown areas have issues in any city. 

[SecondandGoal]

On 9/8/2020 at 1:42 PM, sheppy335 said:

They are in the south away from downtown MB were issues are coming from. That area is not run down, it is very nice and well taken care of down there, plus not all of MB is run down and bad most downtown areas have issues in any city. 

 

Agreed. My place is in Murrells Inlet, and that area (along with Pawley's Island) is fantastic. MB proper is too crowded for my taste, but the problems have definitely quieted down.

[TAG617]

Wow, I forgot to turn on notifications for this post.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys. Looks like we'll definitely be checking out Pawley's Island and Murrells inlet. The guys are planning on a trip down there for next years golf trip so maybe we can plan to visit one of those places.

 

Thanks for all the feedback much appreciated!

[greyman09]

Stay out of Myrtle. Very dangerous. I would echo Isle of Palms. Awesome place. DM for any other questions. We bought our place two years ago and it is perfect. 

[DallasDonkeys]

Check out Seabrook island. It’s right next to kiawah. 45 minutes to Charleston but you get a nice quiet island with good golf right around there. 

[HackerDave]

We have owned a condo in Hilton Head (Palmetto Dunes) for about 25 years.   Some of the posts above leave me scratching my head.   

 

The first question you have to ask is if you want to rent it out when you are not there.   Oceanfront is expensive (as it is anywhere) but very doable if you plan to rent it out.   POA fees and property taxes are outrageous.   Non-residents don't get to vote.  Who do you think pays the highest prop taxes?   Weekly rentals are pretty common on the island.  Somebody above said they couldn't find a unit that allows rentals and I had to shake my head.  I think there is ONE condo in PD that doesn't allow rentals and it is high end. 

 

As far as storms go, we have been hit once in 25 years (Matthew) but that means nothing.  We could get it 5 years in a row.   You really have to wrap your head around it.   We don't live there year round but are spending a lot more time there now.   It is an uncomfortable feeling.   Now, if some of you think Pawleys Island or MB are safer, I have some bad news.   In our 25 years, it sure feels that MB has been hit more often.  Yes, there will be evacuations every few years.  Its a barrier island for christ sake!!   If you can't get your head around that, then oceanfront is not for you!!  

 

 

[Kevlar10]

We bought a place on Kiawah this summer.  We've been going down there for the last 18 and we like it because it's not MB.  Being from NJ, MB is getting too much like the Jersey Shore.  Kiawah is a private island with security and the beaches don't seem to ever be too crowded.  The golf can be very expensive, but with a membership, the cost is reasonable.  Membership isn't as expensive as NJ courses and the quality is much higher.  If you are looking for nightlife, Kiawah isn't probably going to be your type of place, but there are many good restaurants on the island and close by.  I'm really looking forward to going down again after COVID starts to ease up.  For now, I'll just daydream and collect the rental income.

[JRSc]

Stay away from Litchfield. Terrible beach and golf. 
😄

[caniac6]

5 minutes ago, JRSc said:

Stay away from Litchfield. Terrible beach and golf. 
😄

Really bad restaurants, too! 

[SecondandGoal]

On 11/16/2020 at 7:59 PM, HackerDave said:

We have owned a condo in Hilton Head (Palmetto Dunes) for about 25 years.   Some of the posts above leave me scratching my head.   

 

The first question you have to ask is if you want to rent it out when you are not there.   Oceanfront is expensive (as it is anywhere) but very doable if you plan to rent it out.   POA fees and property taxes are outrageous.   Non-residents don't get to vote.  Who do you think pays the highest prop taxes?   Weekly rentals are pretty common on the island.  Somebody above said they couldn't find a unit that allows rentals and I had to shake my head.  I think there is ONE condo in PD that doesn't allow rentals and it is high end. 

 

 

 

Dave, apparently you missed the part about "...and have our dogs with us."

 

There are VERY few places that allow both short term rentals AND pets in Hilton Head. The ones that do are generally either too far away from the beach to really be viable as a rental property, in a crappy complex, or overly expensive. The ones that are decent, reasonably priced, rentable, and allow pets almost never come on the market.

Edited February 11, 2021 by SecondandGoal