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That flood insurance website is very nice, thanks for posting that! :-)
Only thing I am wondering though is that it is for rates/claims up until 2014 or so it says (*National Flood Insurance Program premiums are reflective of policyholders in December 2014). There was a major flood last year so I wonder if that changed these rates at all? Not sure if you wold know that.
Wife and I are looking in Crystal River Plantation, coming down in August to tale another look and feel the heat! :-)
Thanks for those websites!!
George
Great links! I spoke to our State Farm Agent that we will be using there. She was a HUGE help! Told us that certain areas they can't insure and just to call her up with the address of the home. I am not a fool, I pay out 200K, I am darned sure going to have home owners insurance. She said some areas can run high, $2k. But in areas that are less prone to flooding etc, we should be able to get it under that. So we'll be giving her calls during our search to figure them out.
Now to figure out the costs of the vehicles for personal property taxes. Is there a place we can get that ahead of time? We have two 2011 vehicles and a 2009. One still has a loan, don't know if that makes a difference or not. Oh and the camper which is a 2014. What other taxes should we be aware of? Or licensing requirements? That seems like it'll be my job again to drive a school bus and I talked to Horry County School transportation today, so I want to make it down before Christmas to get into a training class for SC.
You can't believe how the stress from picking a place to call our final home has been lifted. I can focus now on the things to be done here and get to it.
Please if you have any other advice, pass it along. It'll be nice to call the area home. I appreciate everything that you all have given to me during our search. It's been a long time coming.
Tax on cars , from what I have read, is about 1% of the book value. If you look on the motor vehicle department website they have the info. Sorry I'm on my phone now so do not have that link handy.
Ballpark estimate- if your car has a book value of 12k tax is about $120. It drops each year as book value goes down. New car costing 40k tax is about $400.
Ok here's another question. My middle daughter is concerned as she tried living there for a brief time over our choice. Her reason? She said the crime there is getting really bad. Gangs are very present, that the whole vibe has really changed. How true is that? Now I'll never want to live within the city limits because I know there's been issues there for years being a tourist destination. Don't sugar coat it, want to hear real opinions on it. I know crime can happen anywhere. Heck, the 9th dangerous city in America is only 9 miles from where I live and I do go there, I just know what areas to stay away from completely.
I do read the paper online, I see the mugshots. Wish our local paper would do that. Which areas do you avoid there? Besides right in the city? I've yet to go to the boardwalk they built based upon what I've heard about what has happened around that area. Fill me in please.
Ok here's another question. My middle daughter is concerned as she tried living there for a brief time over our choice. Her reason? She said the crime there is getting really bad. Gangs are very present, that the whole vibe has really changed. How true is that? Now I'll never want to live within the city limits because I know there's been issues there for years being a tourist destination. Don't sugar coat it, want to hear real opinions on it. I know crime can happen anywhere. Heck, the 9th dangerous city in America is only 9 miles from where I live and I do go there, I just know what areas to stay away from completely.
I do read the paper online, I see the mugshots. Wish our local paper would do that. Which areas do you avoid there? Besides right in the city? I've yet to go to the boardwalk they built based upon what I've heard about what has happened around that area. Fill me in please.
I believe the property tax on vehicles is more like 2%. July, 2015 I registered a 2011 Honda Odyssey mini van and the tax was a little over $300. I had just bought in for well under the book value which was about $15,700.
I live in Myrtle, right on the Surfside line. Traffic is bad. Its getting worse and worse I think . We basically don't drive much on weekends as the tourists come and go.
You mention not wanting an HOA. To that I say almost all the houses have one and for good reason. Also prices are really on the rise here. You will have a hard time at $ 200 to find a house.
Also keep in mind most of the housing stock is about ten years old or newer. That said a small old ranch in surfside can probably be found, but not under $ 200K.
The reason I like this area is its drivable back up north in one day. Its a two day trip from Florida and Georgia ( in my opinion). Plus, the weather is awesome, way better than tropical Florida.
Jobs down here also do not pay well at all. The best I can get is 11 dollars less an hour than I made in Massachusetts.
Best of luck!!
As to the crime, I think its way overblown here. I feel safe. I came from Massachusetts ( a nice area) and see less crimes here than there. Don't forget, the area explodes with 11 million people in the summer, the crime stats are not accurate because they are not based on a true number of people.
Yes there are gangs I guess. I have not seen or heard about any. Yes there are murders here, way less than in Mass though.
There are obvious areas you stay out of and the crime doesn't seem to be following me to the areas I visit.
Not worried
As to the crime, I think its way overblown here. I feel safe. I came from Massachusetts ( a nice area) and see less crimes here than there. Don't forget, the area explodes with 11 million people in the summer, the crime stats are not accurate because they are not based on a true number of people.
Yes there are gangs I guess. I have not seen or heard about any. Yes there are murders here, way less than in Mass though.
There are obvious areas you stay out of and the crime doesn't seem to be following me to the areas I visit.
Not worried
I don't know if it is over blown. We've been coming to Surfside for 18 years. We've seen in the paper and news a huge up take in arrests, murders, etc. It's a tourist town. It attracts people who are not always the best.
Now that being said, we do like the area. I don't go into the "city" area at all. I prefer away from the crowds of tourists. That's why we've been looking into Surfside, Conway, Murrell's Inlet areas. We thought about Calabash, until a friend whose parents lived there were robbed 3 times. Decided, nope. And he was a former police chief so it wasn't like he was not being careful there either.
So give me areas to NOT look at with a realtor. Let's face it, they want a commission. They don't always steer you clear of a area that's not where you'd want to live.
Did you take a look at the area you are interested in on spotcrime.com? You can see the crimes by area and move around to various areas. Hint - when you sign up on the site, use a junk email so you won't be bothered by emails.
Did you take a look at the area you are interested in on spotcrime.com? You can see the crimes by area and move around to various areas. Hint - when you sign up on the site, use a junk email so you won't be bothered by emails.
Wow, glad we DIDN'T buy years ago in Carolina Forest. What the heck happened over there? Eek! Interesting to see where the majority of the crime is. I wasn't expecting it some much over in Garden City either. Good site to check-thanks!
A word of caution on that site, sometimes the it seems that there are a lot of incidents near hospitals, but some police reports will just use the hospital's address if they are taking the statement at the hospital.
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I appreciate everything that you all have given to me during our search. It's been a long time coming.
Myrtle Beach
Crime
