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My husband and I are currently considering buying a business in Myrtle Beach. One of the things that has us concerned is the amount of crime. I have been reading this forum so i know that the figures are skewed. We live very close to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg TN and we understand "Tourist Fever". Where you have brought a copious amount of cash to have a good time, but leave your brains at home.
I guess what i am wondering is, does the crime affect the businesses in MB? I am assuming that most of the crime is drug related, and that if you don't associate with those types of people, you are pretty safe in your home, but is robbery a problem for businesses.
Also, we are thinking about living outside Myrtle beach proper in a quieter area. Of course we'd like to be as close to the beach as we can, but our budget allows for around 250K for a house, so we understand that we will have to travel some way to get to the beach.
We don't have kids, so schools aren't really an issue, but we do have grandkids, and would like to live in a safe area where they can play outside. I have other questions, but i don't want to overwhelm all in my first post Thank you in advance for any information!
Safety of your business will depend on what type of business it is. If it's a convenience store....well, nowhere is safe if you own a convenience store. But, if it's a business that's around other businesses and keeps normal hours and decent clientele, it's generally safe.
For $250K, you can find a nice, safe neighborhood 4-5 miles from the beach (or closer depending on what you're looking for). South of MB...Surfside, Garden City, Murrells Inlet, Forestbrook, Arrowhead are all places you should be able to find something. North of MB, Cherry Grove, Little River are generally good as long as you don't go too far inland.
Safety of your business will depend on what type of business it is. If it's a convenience store....well, nowhere is safe if you own a convenience store. But, if it's a business that's around other businesses and keeps normal hours and decent clientele, it's generally safe.
For $250K, you can find a nice, safe neighborhood 4-5 miles from the beach (or closer depending on what you're looking for). South of MB...Surfside, Garden City, Murrells Inlet, Forestbrook, Arrowhead are all places you should be able to find something. North of MB, Cherry Grove, Little River are generally good as long as you don't go too far inland.
Hi CTYankee,
Thank you for the reply. No it's not a convenience store and i absolutely agree with you about the safety of those.
I was glad to hear that we could find something that close! As i said, we don't have kids, but we would have our grandkids visiting (we have 3) so I think a 3rd bedroom would be a must. We visited Murrells Inlet the last time we were there are thought it was very pretty. We were just on vacation and hadn't thought about moving there at the time, so we didn't look at housing options while we were there.
I'm a little nervous about HOA fee's and of course we would have to take that into account in our budget. Is there an average range for them? I know that they will be different depending on the community, but i wondering what are some you had heard of?
Most crime is tourist related, some drugs, but a lot of alcohol related stupidity. It also raises and fall's based on the type of tourist that come to vacation at MB, the families with small kids, the campers, the seniors, are the general tourist, you'd expect. But during holidays like spring break, memorial day, labor day, and independence day is when you'd notice a spike of petty crimes, to more drug related.
HOA fees vary widely. Our neighborhood only has 49 homes, a pool and two ponds, trash pickup, streetlights and a gate...all of which increase the expenses especially with a small number of homes. Our HOA is $83/month. The neighborhood we lived in when we first moved here had several hundred homes, a pool, playground, tennis courts and multiple ponds but the fees there were $45/month. More homes=greater income for the HOA which can lead to lower cost per home. I have a friend who lives in a community and the HOA is $125/month. HOA fees just depend which community you choose, the number of homes, the amount of amenities and how efficiently the HOA is run.
Taxes are so low here compared to the north that you can think of the HOA fee as sort of a tax just for your community and your taxes/HOA fees are still significantly less than where most people came from.
One piece of advice regarding HOAs...well, actually two pieces of advice. Get a copy of and thoroughly read the HOA Rules/Regulations/Covenants before you buy to make sure you can live with/abide by the rules. If you don't like the rules...don't buy. Also, take a look at the finances and reserves for the community. Inadequate reserves result in special assessments when big ticket items are needed or things not getting fixed if the assessment is not approved.
HOA fees vary widely. Our neighborhood only has 49 homes, a pool and two ponds, trash pickup, streetlights and a gate...all of which increase the expenses especially with a small number of homes. Our HOA is $83/month. The neighborhood we lived in when we first moved here had several hundred homes, a pool, playground, tennis courts and multiple ponds but the fees there were $45/month. More homes=greater income for the HOA which can lead to lower cost per home. I have a friend who lives in a community and the HOA is $125/month. HOA fees just depend which community you choose, the number of homes, the amount of amenities and how efficiently the HOA is run.
Taxes are so low here compared to the north that you can think of the HOA fee as sort of a tax just for your community and your taxes/HOA fees are still significantly less than where most people came from.
One piece of advice regarding HOAs...well, actually two pieces of advice. Get a copy of and thoroughly read the HOA Rules/Regulations/Covenants before you buy to make sure you can live with/abide by the rules. If you don't like the rules...don't buy. Also, take a look at the finances and reserves for the community. Inadequate reserves result in special assessments when big ticket items are needed or things not getting fixed if the assessment is not approved.
Thank you. how you explained the HOA system makes sense. We have always lived in a rural area that didn't have hoa fee's. We had also been looking at the Hilton Head SC area, but the HOA fee's are of course higher especially if it is a golf community.
Those fees are VERY reasonable....We have a place in Barefoot Resort...and our HOA is $315 monthly. It covers all outside maintenance of grounds and buildings (except painting your front door!!), trash pick up, cable/phone/internet, water/sewer, pool, ponds, roads, insurance on the buildings (outside), etc. The only bill I have to pay is electricity.
Our community is pretty safe...but it's certainly not "in the country"....pretty well developed and tight on personal space.
Your home destination will depend what you are looking for. I am relatively young (I hope) with a young family so I have lived in kid overrun neighborhoods. Down here, I have never spent 200k on a house and i have never lived farther than 2.5 miles from the ocean. Now it is not a gated community or anything but it has been areas filled with young and old alike; and safe. I think the others have covered HOA fees spot on. The only thing i would add is that some areas (not your typical neighborhood) will market as no HOA fee's and while they are technically correct, they charge a lot rent fee. You don't own the land. Those lot rents may have some amenities and will range 400-700+ per month. That is the way most manufactured home neighborhoods are and also some other east of 17 'villages.' Follow the other advice here and you'll be fine.
...The only thing i would add is that some areas (not your typical neighborhood) will market as no HOA fee's and while they are technically correct, they charge a lot rent fee. You don't own the land. Those lot rents may have some amenities and will range 400-700+ per month. That is the way most manufactured home neighborhoods are and also some other east of 17 'villages.' Follow the other advice here and you'll be fine.
Hi, a few years after the fact but wonder if I can add a question based on your answer.
I am seeing these "manufactured home neighborhoods" all over the country that are renting the land underneath the purchased home, and was wondering what your/other's experience/knowledge is... do they offer a lease with fixed, regular increases? If not, how much notice do they (have to?) give before increasing the rent?
Its usually expensive to move the house if you don't want to pay the rent increase, correct, thus most people move?
Thanks for any feedback for this apartment liver trying to leave NYC...
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