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Well, let's see... Hot & humid, flat lands, horrible economy, permanent population of about 27,000 whose taxes provide the infrastructure for an average of about 300,000 temporary population every summer, 3 bike weeks per year, lack of culture - well, that's not entirely true. When we need a culture fix, there's always Myrtle Manor. Offhand, I can understand leaving FL, but I cannot imagine looking at MB as an improvement.
I'm not a big fan of Market Commons primarily because most of the single family housing is very close together and you get less for your money than other areas. However, for those who want the life style that the Market Commons was designed for, it is very nice...just not for us.
Others on this board are more qualified than I am to comment on Murrells Inlet because they live closer than I do. We prefer to live closer to MB so that we can take advantage of the entertainment, shopping and other conveniences that MB offers. When we were looking for housing, we felt that Murrells Inlet was too far from MB for our tastes, but it IS a very nice area.
If you are looking to relocate permanently, I would think MI would be better (depending on your tastes). If you're looking for a place to live for awhile and then sell as an investment, the Market Commons might be a better choice. It depends on what your ultimate goal is.
What are your thoughts on Little River? My husband and I are seriously thinking of relocating to the area. We currently are living outside of the Charlotte, NC area but I have relatives living in NMB for the past 15 years and we have vacationed there quite often. The pull for my husband and myself it getting closer to the beach, we both grew up as children, close to the beach and we both miss it terribly. Charlotte is NASCAR land, 3 hours to the mountains and 3 1/2 hours to the beach. I am not a NASCAR fan but I do have children and grandchildren here. Employment isn't an issue for us and we might want to buy instead of rent. I don't want to live in MB and my sister strongly recommends outside of NMB but unfortunately she actually knows very little about Little River. She did say, as in all towns, she's heard there's some bad areas to avoid. We chose Little River because it's not far from my sister, but it's outside the hustle and bustle of tourist land.
We have lived in Little River (at Lafayette Park development) for almost 2 years and also have a vacation townhouse in LR for the past 8 years and love living in this area. I agree that it feels like it is outside the tourist hustle and bustle but it is just minutes to everything due to easy highway access 31/22/90 and of course 17. The roads make it easy to visit friends in Murrells Inlet and frequent trips to the restaurants or movies at Market Common or other areas of Myrtle Beach. It is also a 10 minute drive to the ocean.
We have lived in Little River (at Lafayette Park development) for almost 2 years and also have a vacation townhouse in LR for the past 8 years and love living in this area. I agree that it feels like it is outside the tourist hustle and bustle but it is just minutes to everything due to easy highway access 31/22/90 and of course 17. The roads make it easy to visit friends in Murrells Inlet and frequent trips to the restaurants or movies at Market Common or other areas of Myrtle Beach. It is also a 10 minute drive to the ocean.
Can you suggest areas (nieghborhoods) to stay away from (high crime, etc) in Little River? Did you rent there first before buying?
I am not familiar with any specific unsafe neighborhoods. There may be individual streets down country roads that you may not want to buy on - but I think a look around those will tell you what you need to know. Most of the neighborhoods are established "developments" - so there are homeowner associations that ensure that certain standards are maintained. We did not need to rent since we had already vacationed here for 8 years prior and felt that we had a good handle on the area.
Little River is a safe town and is definitely away from the hustle & bustle of downtown Myrtle, but yet you're still close enough to everything when you do want to go out.
Two communities you may want to consider are Heather Lakes and River Hills. Both offer a variety of different priced homes. If you want to spend more $$ Big Landing is a real nice gated community.
The places I would avoid in Little River are any communities more than say a 1/2 mile west of Hwy 17. Not that it's necessarily unsafe, but it's very rural, and too often joe redneck burns trash in his yard and sets off a wild fire. I'd stick to communities with a homeowners association along hwy 17 or east of it in Little River.
As for Florida vs. Myrtle, I'm not sure which part of Florida you currently live, but if it's central Florida Myrtle would be a vast upgrade IMO. As one who lived in Myrtle for 5 years, vacationed in Myrtle for 20 years before that, and just two years ago moved to Florida there are only a few towns in Florida I would enjoy comparable to Myrtle (Sarasota, Naples, Ponte Vedra and West Palm). Sarasota is where I currently live but I actually have my home on the market and am planning to move back to Myrtle.
Little River is a safe town and is definitely away from the hustle & bustle of downtown Myrtle, but yet you're still close enough to everything when you do want to go out.
Two communities you may want to consider are Heather Lakes and River Hills. Both offer a variety of different priced homes. If you want to spend more $$ Big Landing is a real nice gated community.
The places I would avoid in Little River are any communities more than say a 1/2 mile west of Hwy 17. Not that it's necessarily unsafe, but it's very rural, and too often joe redneck burns trash in his yard and sets off a wild fire. I'd stick to communities with a homeowners association along hwy 17 or east of it in Little River.
As for Florida vs. Myrtle, I'm not sure which part of Florida you currently live, but if it's central Florida Myrtle would be a vast upgrade IMO. As one who lived in Myrtle for 5 years, vacationed in Myrtle for 20 years before that, and just two years ago moved to Florida there are only a few towns in Florida I would enjoy comparable to Myrtle (Sarasota, Naples, Ponte Vedra and West Palm). Sarasota is where I currently live but I actually have my home on the market and am planning to move back to Myrtle.
Hi there, longtime MB visitor and past owner too. Since you know a lot about Florida, I thought I might ask if you know why there are so many houses in foreclosure in the Cape Coral area? I know it's random but I thought I could help out someone.
Yeah Cape Coral was basically "ground-zero" for the housing collapse, with many foreclosures & short sales as a result. My aunt still lives there and last time I visited there a couple years ago there were vacant homes & lots all around. Quite sad.
I think the reason why Cape Coral took the brunt of this hit was because prior to the bubble they were one of the fastest growing regions in the country, and as a result probably built too many homes for speculation purposes. So naturally once the climate changed they took the biggest hit.
Well said!
We are finally getting ready to make the move to the Grand Strand!
Some comments we have heard:
" Aren't you afraid of hurricanes?" ----well we now live in Maryland and Super Storm Sandy caused over $10000 damage to our house. So you never know what might be coming your way.
"It's so hot and humid there." ------ We had sooooooooooo many days over 100 degrees here last year so really no different . Summer just lasts longer in SC
I am looking forward to NOT dealing with 20inches of snow at a time, temps in the 20s for months ......
I know this is an old post but I am a fellow Marylander and am looking to move to Myrtle Beach in a year. Actually, we are also considering Florida but leaning more toward MB. Can you tell me how you like living there versus Maryland?
I know this is an old post but I am a fellow Marylander and am looking to move to Myrtle Beach in a year. Actually, we are also considering Florida but leaning more toward MB. Can you tell me how you like living there versus Maryland?
As a person who has lived in both Florida and MB I am all for heading back to Myrtle Beach.
For many reasons we felt more "at home" and more comfortable in MB then here in Florida.
We spent 5 years in Florida, moved to MB for 2 years, decided we wanted to come back to Florida and now see it was a mistake.
We are looking to move back to MB in the near future.
I have asked in this forum of those who have lived in both and 99% have either answered in my thread or PM me and they prefer MB to Florida.
Some say Florida is a slow laid back life, no so in my opinion.
Very aggressive drivers, people and people never come out of there homes.
If the weather is nice we are outside, not sitting in the home.
I have no issues with the weather here in Florida actually, the hotter the better for us.
Weather is just one important factor but many others for us are a better quality of life overall in MB then here in Florida.
We live in a clean nice area in central Florida right now but if we go out of our area 20 miles we are into some sprawl that seems to be everywhere here in Florida.
In MB you have a few small pockets of sprawl but here sprawl is every direction.
We are looking at visiting MB soon to make sure we want to head back to Myrtle by spending a week or so in MB.
Mind is made up but need to double check and spend time in MB before making final decision.
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You are from Maryland?
