Hi and GL on your move here to SC. I think it's a wonderful place to raise a family.
I've lived in Charleston and the surrounding areas my entire life, so will attempt to help you with my .02.
My husband and I have been married many years and two years ago started our family. We now have a 2 year old, happy and sweet baby boy.
When I became pregnant, we were living in Mt. Pleasant at the time. We already decided we wouldn't be staying there because of the extremely high property pricing. So, when we found out we had a new member on the way, then as good as any, was time to look seriously. We grilled all of our "local" friends, as well as on the internet.
Not only were we looking for a reasonably priced home. But on our "must have" list were the following: Best school district, lots of room to move, a neighborhood with lots of little ones and close to a lot of amenities (grocery, Target, restaurants).
One of the first areas we were directed to was the Dorchester county of Summerville. Specifically the "Dorchester II district for the highest rated schools. I would say 99% of the people we talked to (and there were a lot) directed us here. We also went on to look at North Charleston, Goose Creek and West Ashley as well.
After MANY days/months of looking, hands down it was Summerville for us.
We started looking aggressively with our list of wants and needs. Again, the very first neighborhood we visited was the one we came back to after endless searching. Guess it pays to listed to your "gut", huh? We sure would have saved some time. lol
We are a couple who both work full time and have a small child. So, for us, we knew we wanted new construction or a home that wasn't more than a few years old. Neither one of us are "handy" in the sense of fixing up anything, so not only did we not have to hire out a ton of work, we don't have time to take that on and we didn't want a money pit.
Another wonderful thing about Summerville, in my opinion, is that it is growing so rapidly. It wasn't 5 years ago that when you said you were leaving Charleston for Summerville it was considered a road trip. Even though it is less than 30 miles from Downtown and Mt. Pleasant. The access here now is unbelievably fast.
There are so many new developments going up and the cost of buying here is still very reasonable. While Mt. Pleasant is absolutely beautiful in some areas, Summerville is equally as beautiful at a small fraction of the price. Summerville still has a lot of old charm as well that is present, even though a lot of the homes are new.
Just to give you an idea on the homes, we ended up buying a new construction town home. It has 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and a screened porch and is 1600sf. A little over two years ago we paid $135,000. We looked at an almost an exact replica of this home in Mt. Pleasant. The only difference was that the one in Mt. Pleasant was 5 years old and didn't have a screened porch. The asking price on that home was $359,000! So, we got a newer home and a porch for $200,000+ less. I would say that's a pretty good deal!
The prices are going up and fast though, so if you want in on a home and want the best long term for the investment. NOW, is the time. Our home in the little time we've been here already appraises for 40k more than we paid for it.
When we considered the price to live here and the excellent school system it was a landslide winner for us.
Sorry to say so much...you must be awfully bored by now, lol.
I hope I helped in some way. Please feel free to ask if you have any other questions and I'll try to help with my opinion.
Best of luck to you wherever you go!
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