Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
thanks for all the great replies! We are in Florence SC this weekend, and we have have meet with a few key people around the Town of Florence. We are very pleasantly surprised, and we would consider living in West Florence. We are now looking at homes in a community called Botany (I think this is how you spell it) and we are looking at another place in Oakdale Country Club. Older very nice, updated homes.**It's amazing how affordable the property taxes are!!! one is $300-$600, the highest one we looked at was only $1100. I paid almost $7000 iper year in NY, and $2300 in Tampa FL. Florence is actually very similar to my home town in western NY- and it feels like home. All the blogs about Florence, I can see where they are coming from now- So we may need to drive a little to get the the "Key" places like beaches, or outlet malls, or higher end retail. People don't relize that even in Tampa FL- you need to drive about on hr south to the keys like anna marie island for nice beaches or to clearwater St Pete to get to the other nice beaches.. Yes you have disney too, but sometimes taking a vcation in Florida is more fun than living there. The traffic is horrendous! Driving around Florence is a brewze- so amazing. I'm just thinking about all the time we will have for the family and the time to travel on weekends to places like myrtle beach or charleston, or other places.. All in all- we just want a slower pace of living, more tiem for family and friends, and the affordability to provide for the the family!!! Tahnks all for all your input... Again keep the information and replies coming!!! take care ((lots of typos -getting late))
Rent for awhile before you buy. I grew up in Georgetown and could not wait to escape. Most of my classmates either left the area entirely or moved to Pawleys Island or Murrells Inlet. Would avoid Andrews-lived there for a year.
Also, small towns in SC are very insular and super conservative. Few, if any, offer good restaurants, entertainment, etc. Governments tend to be dominated by very old "life-long residents." Stay close to cities of 10,000 population or more.
Williamsburg County is one of the poorest in the state.
Conway is the county seat for Horry Co, which is dominated by Myrtle Beach.
You have really got a hard decision to make.
Rent for awhile before you buy. I grew up in Georgetown and could not wait to escape. Most of my classmates either left the area entirely or moved to Pawleys Island or Murrells Inlet. Would avoid Andrews-lived there for a year.
Also, small towns in SC are very insular and super conservative. Few, if any, offer good restaurants, entertainment, etc. Governments tend to be dominated by very old "life-long residents." Stay close to cities of 10,000 population or more.
Williamsburg County is one of the poorest in the state.
Conway is the county seat for Horry Co, which is dominated by Myrtle Beach.
You have really got a hard decision to make.
But, with Williamsburg County the taxes are lower than other counties and she is between Charleston and Florence which seems a logical place to live. I am happy that she chose Florence, though.
When you look at an area for the first time it is easy to overlook things you might not like because you try to see the glass as half full all the time. Make sure to make a note of all the things that you think "won't matter" because after you get moved and the novelty of the new town wears off, and it is too late to move elsewhere very easily, you WILL wish you had taken into account the things you brushed under the carpet.
You probably made the best decision by going with Florence. I actually looked at a map of SC and have driven over almost all of the state. The only solution would have been somewhere along I-95 as even US 52 would have been a terrible commute -and lots of speeding tickets.
Be prepared for a property tax hike. Houses are assessed at time of purchase bsed on sale price, at least until new law takes effect. Even then it will go up. Also, because of the new property tax laws, municipalities, counties and school districts will be forced to raise everyone's property taxes.
We are officially moving September 3rd to Florence!
So we are making the move-- we will be renting and living in Florence. 3.5 miles to my work and the kids schools. It was very hard finding rentals in West Florence! When we were up there a few weeks ago, we drove all around the area. We will be living in 29505 zip. The area reminds me of Western NY--Quiet, small....The kids will go to South Florence H.S, and Southside Middle School. We had our heats set on West Florence Schools but we really didn't have alot of other choices-- After begging, bargaining and pleading and working with a very well known agent in Florence we found something really nice! He has gone above and beyond for us! Thanks for all the great info- we are just praying that all goes well.
We did almost bought a home, but decided not to make anything that final-- so we have mobility to move if we decide South Florence is not for us. We are very hopeful and know that everything will be ok.
Welcome to the Pee Dee! As someone stated previously, if you do decide to buy a home the property tax will be recalculated based on the sales price. Also, there is an annual property tax on automobiles.
We can't wait until the move is over.. so we can unpack and settle in. I appecriate all the information and FYI's regarding property taxes. Atleast, renting for a while will give us the ability to assess the area, and housing for a while. Actually I've worked in mortgage for many, many years.. So I'm very familiar with property taxes and how they are assessed.. but I can't imagine the taxes being worse than what we paid in over priced NY.. $7000.00 a year.. Yeah, this is not a typo. lol. Anyway, we found a home- and if it suits us we can buy it, or move on to a different one.
OK-- back to packing I go....
Thanks and God Bless all!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are officially moving September 3rd to Florence!
