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Hi everyone, just wondoring if you think Murrels inlet or North Myrtle is better for over 65. I am retired and like to have access to activities but do not want to live my days stuck in traffic which I do now in Boston. On the other hand, do not want to be so remote in a new state for the first time that I will not be able to meet people and make friends. My husband will stay home and piddle so I would be on my own. Is Murrells inlet or North Myrtle beach a better place to retire but stay active and meet friends?
Any other areas on the grand strand that you would recommend would be appreciated or those that I should stay away from. We visited Pawley's island but my husband felt that was too remote and marshlike for his taste.
LOL...with either one you don't need to worry about the kind of traffic you have in Boston!!!
Either one is a good choice for your criteria although I'd qualify that answer with "it depends on where" you actually pick to live in each. If you were to pick an area in NMB out toward Loris or Little River, it would be a little bit of a drive to the beach and activities so you'd need to pick an area closer to the ICW or east of the ICW. Barefoot might also be a nice choice.
Murrells Inlet is nice and you probably have a wider choice of developments/housing than NMB. MI doesn't really have much beach (except Huntington Beach State Park)...Garden City is your best bet.
Stay away from Carolina Forest...traffic there is not good especially on the weekends/early morning-late afternoon. You might check out Forestbrook (that's where we live). It's close to everything in and around MB with good access to Rt 31 which allows us to get to NMB activities in about 20 minutes. We can get to Murrells Inlet activities in about 10-15 minutes. We do quite a bit in MB and Market Common and if we lived in NMB, I feel we would miss out on the stuff on this end of the beach. We do quite a bit in the NMB area as well (not as much as on the south end(, but it's easy to get there when we see something we want to do.
I highly recommend renting the first year you move down to make sure you like the area you pick. It's tough to buy a house in what you think is the area you like only to find out that after you've been here awhile that you like another area better. We rented first and, other than having to move an extra time, it was the best decision we could have made. We found that the area that we thought we wanted to live in had much more traffic/congestion during tourist season than we would have wanted.
Whether taxes are high, low or moderate is all relative to what you're paying where you live now. My parents moved here from the mid-atlantic and their taxes were about the same. We moved here from CT and taxes are much lower.
Income tax is progressive with a top rate of 7% although most people pay less than that...depends on your income. Sales tax in the MB area depends on where you live as there are various "special taxes" for certain areas but you can expect to pay between 8% and 10% with various items being exempt (groceries/prescription drugs, etc.) Property taxes on a 2000 sq ft house in most grand strand locations runs about $800 if you are a resident of the county. If the house you own is a vacation home and you are not an official resident, taxes on the same house would run around $2500. If you are over 65, there is an additional discount on your taxes of about $150-200.
There is a personal property tax (cars, boats, etc.) which many other states have but I've heard a few people complain about the tax because the state from which they move did not have one. The tax is based on the value of your vehicle. I have 2 older cars and the tax and licensing fee is only about $150/year on each but that's pretty low compared to the tax on newer cars.
CTyankee54 - Thank you very much for your useful and informative response. I appreciate it.
Taxes are relative to what I am currently paying, but also relative to other states I am considering. Taxes/COL are not the only concerns, but they are high ranking concerns. So, thank you.
If you live in the south near the coast, hurricanes are always a concern. We had our first hurricane-free year this year in the past 7 years. However, you always have plenty of notice of an incoming hurricane. Just pack up and go for a short vacation when one comes.
If one cannot deal with the hurricane risk, one should not move near the coast.
Thank you for the reply I want to buy a home/townhome there, so that I can eventually retire in MB or nearby areas. Is Conway safer than Murrell's Inlet in terms of hurricane prone damage to houses/structures?
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I want to buy a home/townhome there, so that I can eventually retire in MB or nearby areas. Is Conway safer than Murrell's Inlet in terms of hurricane prone damage to houses/structures?
