South Carolina...

EmmyLou · #1 02/01/13, 01:22 PM

My husband is finishing up his 30 years with the town and we are thinking of heading south. We presently live in NY where the cost of living is through the roof

.

We do have a small two bedroom summer home near North Myrtle beach SC. We are seriously thinking of selling our home here and moving there.We have no mortgage on either home so we don't have any debt to worry about. We are 48 and 50 and have no small children so schooling is not an issue. We live very frugally now and think Carolina would be the best bang for our buck.

In SC the cost of living is much lower, a much longer growing season, there is more freedom of your own property, and there is NO SNOW...lol.

For those of you who live in or around the SC area can you give us some encouragement or have anything negative to add we may be overlooking?

Please any and all advice feel free to share. Thanks so much!!

Kmac15 · #2 02/01/13, 02:10 PM

I moved from the coast of SC inland and never regretted it. The joke is, I haven't been evacuated since we moved. I love SC for the winters, ability to garden for 10 months out of the year and the life style. I am close to Aiken just 2 hours from Charleston. I hate the heat in summer and the sand for a yard.

Raven12 · #3 02/01/13, 02:22 PM

If you have family in NY, then you may consider a place closer. The around 8+ hour drive will get old real fast if you have kids or grandkids to visit in NY. Not to mention if there is an emergency it's not like a 20 min drive.

I do love SC. I have family there and used to live in the state. Don't move to the Greenville area if you don't like snow.

Helena · #4 02/01/13, 02:29 PM

Near the ocean sounds wonderful on this snowy day in PA. Our daughter ives in Lexington, SC fs it. Housing ior several years now with her family and really loves it. Housing is much less and taxes are really low..Wish you the best in your decesion...

MO_cows · #5 02/01/13, 03:13 PM

Sounds like you guys have done really well for yourselves, congrats! A house and a vacation home paid for, and retiring so early. Color me jealous. Could you maybe lease out your NY home for 6 months or a year and make sure you like SC well enough to live there before committing to the move?

Fire-Man · #6 02/01/13, 04:00 PM

I have been living in SC all my Life(57 years) and I can not think of anything Negative----except for the Tourist--LOL--and Hurricanes. I live close to a Little town called Aynor, about 30 minutes from your NMB Home. Personally I would not want to live east of the Intercoastal Waterway. If I had a place East of that I would sell it and move inland 20 to 30 minutes. Like Loris, Aynor, Conway, Marion, Mullins, Nichols to name a few. There was 27 acres of high land advertised for $35,000 a few weeks back close to the town of Marion. Seems Marion County's land sells alot Cheaper than Horry County.

Someone mentioned Gardening 10 months---I garden 12 months out the year.

I am sure you know that ALOT of families have moved here from up North.

Snow, if we see Snow we get so excited---2 years ago when it snowed some My Mother-in-law at 76 and I at 55, got out in the snow throwing snow balls and making a snowman----just like two kids---my wife hates the Cold--LOL. We Did have some fun!!

EmmyLou · #7 02/01/13, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MO_cows

Color me jealous.

Oh please don't be! We started young is all. We bought a relatively inexpensive house back in 1987 when the market was down for our area. Now I couldn't move to our area (50 miles north of NYC) if I wanted to. That's good for us though, when we sell

Took a 25 year mortgage and paid it off a bit early. The house in Carolina was passed down to us from my family.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire-Man

I have been living in SC all my Life(57 years) and I can not think of anything Negative----except for the Tourist--LOL--and Hurricanes. I live close to a Little town called Aynor, about 30 minutes from your NMB Home. Personally I would not want to live east of the Intercoastal Waterway.

HEY!! You are actually really close to us in SC. We are in Longs right near Loris. We are west of the Intercoastal by Highway 9. My dad use to say he would start planting in Feb. the sun was that warm by then. Would love to hear anything else you can share as you are almost exactly in our destination. Thanks so much!

Fire-Man · #8 02/01/13, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EmmyLou

HEY!! You are actually really close to us in SC. We are in Longs right near Loris. We are west of the Intercoastal by Highway 9. My dad use to say he would start planting in Feb. the sun was that warm by then. Would love to hear anything else you can share as you are almost exactly in our destination. Thanks so much!

I am very familiar with Longs, I have a niece that lives in that area. I had a CB Friend that lived in that area too some years back. Longs was growing pretty fast until the economy dropped. If you like "Junk" type Auctions there is one I go to about every Wednesday morning just outside of Loris. "Junk" meaning mainly used, yardsale type stuff, Sometimes Good Items and some people bring Junk That I feel they got out the dumpsters-LOL. The Good out weighs the bad so I been going to this sale since the early 1980's. There was one Auction I Loved to attend east of Longs Right at 31 and 9---I went to it for several years then it closed down(lost Lease) for a while then reopened at the Little River Flea Market which hurt its Business.

Talking about gardening, I have been eating Broccolli out the garden all winter(its about finished now) also our Southern Favorite-Collards. I got Cabbage we been eating, turnips and mustard. I recently planted my garden/snow peas, onions and potatoes, There is something growing in my garden year round.

When you get moved do you have enough room and/or have any plans for a garden or animals?

vicker · #9 02/01/13, 06:29 PM

The only thing I don't like is the heat and the gnats. I live about 2/3 way between Charleston and Columbia. As someone else said, you may not like the sand.

EmmyLou · #10 02/01/13, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire-Man

When you get moved do you have enough room and/or have any plans for a garden or animals?

Definitely!! We have over an acre and are keeping our fingers crossed that the lady behind us (who owns acres) will sell another. We are outside of the city limits so we have no restrictions...YAY!! Chickens here we come. My dad kept is as a gentleman's farm when he was alive. We have fruit and pecan trees as well. He also had a huge garden. Well, huge from a NY standard...lol.

You will have to tell us where that auction is we love JUNK!! We used to go to the auction in Cherry Grove back in the day run by Clemmons I believe. It was every Friday night. Loved it! Thanks again for all the great info. Anything you can share is so helpful!

Oh and Vicker...I love the sand!! All we have here is rocks and more rocks. Makes gardening a bit difficult!

plowhand · #11 02/01/13, 06:56 PM

We sold a farm in 98 between the waterway and Surfside and moved to NC, just across the line. I'm still just about a 40 minute drive to the beach.

I like this part of the world, family's been here since before the revolution. If I had it to do over again, I think I'd head for a real rural part of Tennesee, Missouri,or Kentucky. Before 2008 this place was beginning to turn into a bedroom community for the beach. I wish everybody prosperity, but it's getting old being overrun everywhere.

Fire-Man · #12 02/01/13, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vicker

The only thing I don't like is the heat and the gnats. I live about 2/3 way between Charleston and Columbia. As someone else said, you may not like the sand.

Vicker, do you have alot of sand in your area? I have a farm here that was called "The Sand Farm" but other than one 1/2 acre spot right in the middle of a 12 acre field all the rest of the land is good farming land---not black dirt but good growing dirt. The 1/2 acre spot looks like beach sand and will not grow anything-----I have often joked that a Space Ship must have landed there many years ago and killed all the soil---LOL.

Gnats are here too but what we call "yellow Flies" aggravate me more than the gnats.

I deal with the heat, During the hottest days of Summer I try to do what I need to do on the farm from day break till Noon, then later in the evening. Those early PM hours can get ruff working outside. Seems worse now than 20 years ago---LOL.

vicker · #13 02/01/13, 08:59 PM

A little west of me is the Sand Hills, towns and communities are Swansea, gaston and Sandy Run. It's mostly sand up there and scrubby trees. Here it varies. Some spots are like the spot you are talking about, just white sand that nothing grows on, but the rest is nice sandy loam. I'm in St. Matthews.

Fire-Man · #14 02/01/13, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EmmyLou

Definitely!!He also had a huge garden. Well, huge from a NY standard...lol.

Well we do about 1 1/2 acres of garden and some of that area is tilled in and replanted up to 3 times during the year.

Is that a Huge Garden in NY Standards? LOL

Fire-Man · #15 02/01/13, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vicker

the rest is nice sandy loam. I'm in St. Matthews.

Thats what my soil is mainly, sandy loam. I have never visited your town, but I know where it is.

vicker · #16 02/01/13, 10:41 PM

It's good soil, can take all the organic matter you can give it, but grows good veggies. You ever have much luck with potatoes? I've never tried,and don't much care, just curious. Around Cameron, just east of me, they have really black soil.

Raven12 · #17 02/02/13, 05:16 AM

You would like the Clemson/Oconee/Jocassee area, Vicker. The little corner of Appalachia.

MushCreek · #18 02/02/13, 05:31 AM

It can be VERY hot in SC. We're in the far west corner, near the mountains, and we hit an official 107 degrees last summer. It's not that snowy here; every few years you might get enough snow to last past noon. I love snow, and am still waiting to see my first flakes here.

Fire-Man · #19 02/02/13, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vicker

You ever have much luck with potatoes?

I have decent luck with them. Last year was my best year, I planted about 20lbs of red and 20 of white. We steal alot of potatoes as they are growing to get some of the golf ball and smaller size to cook in with the garden peas etc. I sometimes dig up the whole plant and pick off some then replant it and water---it will wilt for a couple days but it will catch back up and continue growing. I did not weigh our final digging but my 60" wide frontend loader bucket was piled over twice. We eat potatoes, give potatoes to family and friends, put alot of them in the freezer as french fries, dried some and I just planted a 5 gal bucket of the smaller ones and there is still potatoes in my potato house laying in the hay. Probably froze this morning.

SkizzlePig · #20 02/02/13, 07:38 AM

EmmLou, my wife and I moved to South Carolina three years ago and LOVE it.

Here's my take:
1. Be prepared to run your air conditioning the entire month of August ... night and day.
2. You'll have to get used to 60 degrees being COLD. :-)
3. Glad you're not from the city, you'd have a much harder time being accepted
4. Cost of living in SC is about 85% ... compare that to 150% average for New York state and you'll be saving a ton of money.

Welcome to South Carolina!