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There is a reason that it is easy to do a house swap in Myrtle Beach, the houses prices are dropping at breath taking rates. Remember that during the real estate bubble, this is one of the places that saw building not to be believed. The entire county, over a 1000 sq miles, only has a quarter of a million permanent residents yet at at one point there were 1000s of homes under construction being built at unsustainable prices. When the bubble collapsed, so did the construction and now the prices are going with it. When you see 1/2 built abandoned beach front condo projects, that should be a wake up sign things are not good. If this isn't enough, go to the old part of Myrtle Beach. What should be some of the most expensive land on the East coast has devolved into a slum of drugs, crime and violence right on the beach.
I am from that area, my family still lives there and we, like most of the locals, would watch this in disbelief and knew the day was coming where there were going to be a lot of people holding the bag for this whole mess. So if someone is willing to swap a house with someone in upstate NY, then that ought to tell you something. Most Southerners would otherwise consider moving to hell a better choice. (I know it's not like that there.)
If you feel that you want to move to the Myrtle Beach area VS anywhere else in the Carolinas I have a few points for you:
Public Schools in SC and especially Horry county suck, period. I graduated 3rd in my class from HS down there but despite that, when I went to college, I found myself at a severe disadvantage to my peers. It was tough and I ended up dropping out before the first year was over. I eventually went back and got an engineering degree however my guess is most kids these days would not go back after being out of school for a couple of years. One of my siblings recently moved back and teaches part time in that school system. The stories she tells are heart breaking when you consider what it means to the future lives of these kids. Schools are a lot worse now than they were in the 1970s.
There is no real economy in Myrtle Beach beyond tourism. So if you are not financially independent such as being retired or have established family who can help you expect nothing more than boom and bust cycles on a yearly basis. If you are not a local, expect to be taken advantage of restlessly. This is what the tourist business does and the attitude translates towards everyone not from there. It's the reason that I moved to Charlotte after dropping out of college as I knew there was no economic future in Myrtle Beach for me. It provided the incentive and the means for me to return to college to get a degree. If I had stayed in Myrtle Beach, I would have never done this.
Don't buy real estate without renting a place for a year to see if you can take it or not. It's hot, humid, crowded full of rude tourists, expensive, and frustrating. The locals know how to avoid most of it, my guess is that most transplants don't.
If the above doesn't make you think about your decision to move there, then here is my last piece of advice. Don't let any real estate agent convince you to buy a piece of property west of the Intracoastal Waterway. Stay on the Myrtle Beach side of river..
I am not posting this to slam the place. I will always identify myself as being from MB, but I can't tell you how many stories I have heard over the years of people moving there to make a life for themselves only to find the place they thought they were moving to doesn't exist. If you are young and want to move into the middle class and raise a family, there are certainly better places in the Carolinas to do this.
If a good education is your priority, and your children aren't special need, then stay in NY. If you have special education children, then Horry County is good. They have a superb special ed system. They must have a HUGE budget or something, because my daughter received far better special education here than in NY, however I cannot say the same for my other 2 kids.
My post is 100% true. What I said was that greatschools.net rated Carolina Forest HS at a 9 out of 10 & St James HS at 8, St. James Elem. school is a 7. Check for yourself before you go calling someone a liar. I saw 30+ houses in MB & MI 2 months ago. Theres no comparison, MI is not cheaper unless you did happen to get yourself a trailer...
and... I wasnt bashing MI or St James schools. I said it would be the "ideal" place were it not higher priced than MB & theres not as much available.
The same priced home is 1/2 the size in MI.
I have not ruled it out though, still looking...
well for one greatschools.net does not tell half of what you really need to know
I did not say you were a liar I said your post is very incorrect..I am a realtor and have been for many years.I know how to compare homes.You post is incorrect. The variance you described between Carolina Forest and Murrells Inlet is false.
And I live in Prince Creek which is as far from a trailer as you can get ...
Hi, we are originally from fl, moved to vermont, and would like to relocate to myrtle beach or Charleston, what do sous chefs and servers make around these areas?
Hi, we are originally from fl, moved to vermont, and would like to relocate to myrtle beach or Charleston, what do sous chefs and servers make around these areas?
Sous chefs make very little. Maybe $7-$8 an hour (my ex made $7 starting out). Servers make $2.15 plus tips. In general be prepared to be layed off from September to March, and have 2+ jobs and bank every dime. You will be competing against high school and college students, people from other countries that come in on student work programs for the summer, illegal immigrants (of which there are lots of in our profession), and the general work force. Oh, plus the unemployed people who are willing to change jobs just to HAVE ONE.
Skip past Myrtle Beach. Find a better, more financially stable area if you're looking for constant employment.
Hi, we are originally from fl, moved to vermont, and would like to relocate to myrtle beach or Charleston, what do sous chefs and servers make around these areas?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pburgess68
Sous chefs make very little. Maybe $7-$8 an hour (my ex made $7 starting out). Servers make $2.15 plus tips. In general be prepared to be layed off from September to March, and have 2+ jobs and bank every dime. You will be competing against high school and college students, people from other countries that come in on student work programs for the summer, illegal immigrants (of which there are lots of in our profession), and the general work force. Oh, plus the unemployed people who are willing to change jobs just to HAVE ONE.
pburgess is right. My son is a cook and he joined us in Myrtle Beach in September. I thought with the the enormous number of restaurants in the area he would have little trouble finding a job. He spent a month going from place to place and they all told him the same thing, "come back in march". He did get VERY VERY lucky and found a job. He does make more than the $7 - $8 and hour that pburgess said but again he got very lucky. I would think around April it would become much easier to find work but to reiterate what pburgess said be prepared to be layed off in September. If you are looking after September be prepared to compete with all those who just got layed off. I don't want to discourage you, as it is a beautiful place to live (at least I think so). It is possible to find work, my son did, but it is not nearly as easy as one would think. Good Luck!
and I hated it. I'm from Long Island and lived in NYC for 5 years of my life, and my wife lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for years. After 9/11 my job no longer existed, so we made a quick escape to MB. We rented a 2 bedroom apartment for $600 a month. You can live VERY cheaply, however life was absolutely sucky. Not only was it slow, it was fake. We held off having kids just because the schools were so bad. Our neighbor from NJ said her kid got C's D's all through HS (she's from Tom's River, NJ) and now she got straight A's!) Scary? Well, I was in the corporate IT field, and the only job I could get was folding shirts at Broadway On the Beach for $7.00 an hour. My boss was 18 (I was a 35 yr old man at he time) I'll be honest, we were able to survive for 3 years until we could move back to Nassau County, but unless you are 55+, feel that working for 10+ years for a beautiful house in NY is worth the "cost" of moving down South, and shopping at an empty mall and Wal-Mart is your idea of entertainment, I wouldn't move here.
We moved from Long Island to the Syracuse area, OMG what a culture shock-I would live anywhere but here, the schools are HORRIBLE, the people do not like us DOWNSTATERS! I am looking into MB myself,have friends from LI that are now in Carolina Forest ans Love it!
We moved from Long Island to the Syracuse area, OMG what a culture shock... the schools are HORRIBLE, the people do not like us DOWNSTATERS! I am looking into MB...
Chuckle, chuckle..... It hurts so bad when I bite my tongue!
Oh come on PD! Don't hold back. I could use something entertaining to read on this boring, rainy day.
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I lived in MB for 3 years
