Community Forums

RVGuy1966 · 06-09-2015, 06:25 PM

Anyone hail from SC?

DW and I are at the end of our ropes with Jersey living and are looking to head down south.

Anyone have pros and cons?

andy29847 · 06-09-2015, 07:30 PM

Pros - little or no snow, land cost low, cost-of-living low

Cons - hot humid summers

SC has mountains and beaches and other stuff in between. Greenville has the most industry and is probably our best all around city. Columbia is a government town, so the economy is reasonably stable. Charleston is a big tourist town but I wouldn't want to live there. Myrtle Beach is our Rivera and it is crowded in the summer.

What are you looking for?

RVGuy1966 · 06-09-2015, 10:07 PM

Im thinking I would put my house up for rent or lease and move down there with my rv. I work remote so I can do it anywhere there is internet.

I hate Jersey....

been here since birth and cant wait to leave...

andy29847 · 06-10-2015, 08:38 AM

Where there is internet.....

That will be the hard part. Campground internet is normally sub-standard. I'd think about surfing with my phone as a hot spot and look at coverage maps for good locations.

dwhit · 06-10-2015, 08:45 AM

Biggest change is property taxes for us. We pay $600 on a 2400sq ft home on two acres valued at $185K in SC. In NY we were paying $11,700 for a frame house on 1/2 acre. School taxes in NY are out-of-control. We saved so much we bought an RV and we're home maybe 5mos/year.

JMonroe · 06-10-2015, 10:48 AM

Property taxes are generally lower in SC, however, lower property taxes are not universal. They built a new high school in our district of Laurens county and it almost doubled the property taxes on our RV lot from higher than they should have been to insane. The mill rate is a much higher than any of the Wisconsin communities we ever lived in and Wisconsin, while not in the same class as NY or NJ, is no slouch when it comes to sucking money out of your wallet. By the way, your cars, trucks, RV, boat, etc are all subject to property tax too.

All that said, it's a beautiful state populated by generally good people with diverse geography. You just need to decide if you prefer coastal, mountain or the "upstate" lifestyle.

wa8yxm · 06-10-2015, 04:47 PM

Many campgrounds are internet non existant.. I belong to Thousand Trails and thus use the 2 week in 2 out plan.. Carolina Landing (Fair Play, 3 mils from Georgia) has DSL but... Well it dos not take much to load it down.

Plus I speak very unkindly of folks who use park internet for their business.. If it's for business BRING YOUR OWN BANDWIDTH

T-Mobile is spotty..does not work at Carolina landing
4G in parts of the COE park I stay at.(Just now I can not recall it's name..Oh,, Twin Lakes) and solid in the County park (South Cove) I also stay at.. South cove in the off season you can stay a long time for around 15/night..Lots of private Campgrounds in area as well, Some "Christian" some non-discriminating...Do not know their internet abilities.

Suggest Verizon or T-mobile or AT&T in that area.

I can direct you to a few Catholic Churches

I like that area (Upstate) and usually winter there. But am now in S.E. Georgia.

The palce I'm at now has fairly good internet.. Cable I think from the bandwidth I get. Few users (i'm the big one) you could work here.

wildtoad · 06-10-2015, 05:20 PM

Been here most of my life. Great beaches, nice mountain areas, good food, good folk. Have many friends who have made the move from northern, western areas and they are here to stay. Living in Blythewood we are a couple of hours to either beach or mountains, close to the capital of Columbia, and only 90 miles from the Charlotte area. Does get hot in the summer but can play golf most of the year. Very seldom do we get snow or ice but when we do kind of shuts the place down. Taxes aren't too bad compared to other places. Sales tax on transportation limited to $300 but do have a personal property tax that can be steep. I been all over the country and there are many great places. Have not seen one I'd rather live in though.

franknj · 06-10-2015, 05:40 PM

@rvguy1966 we are in the same frame of mind. NJ has lost its luster for me and we are looking to move as well. Out of control taxes are only one factor. Was a good place to grow up long ago. Now is not then...so much I could say but will hold my tongue instead. Good luck in you're search. I'm looking in KY,TN and PA as well as the Carolinas.

nothermark · 06-10-2015, 05:46 PM

If you get out of the Boston - Washington corridor things get a lot better fast taxwise. I would not be looking at one place. Rather I would plan on moving around monthly for a while and see what looked good. As a very general rule less taxes=less services. Maybe less than you are comfortable with.

If you are working via internet I think you will find it gets costly to go wireless. OTOH if you are month to month somewhere you might find it worth you while to sign up with a cable company or phone company.

Boomster · 06-13-2015, 01:23 PM

The fact that you want to get out of New Jersey is a good thing.
I live in upstate New York on the Vermont state line...my taxes are not bad because this is an agricultural area. Prior to retirement I lived in Connecticut and the taxes drove me out...it took about $17,000 a year in taxes to live on 2 acres in a nice home....now I pay about $5,000 a year (including school taxes) to live on 20 acres in a nice home. I like this area......my son lives in South Carolina....everything is cheaper there...homes...taxes...everything!.....BUT....the re is always a "BUT".... You very well may find the heat and humidity too much to tolerate....late spring, summer and early fall are very hard to take....not my idea of how to live!
If you like extreme heat and humidity then the Carolinas are for you....explore the hills of West Virginia. A friend of mine moved there from New York when he retired and loves it!!
Your trailer is mobil....if you don't like one place try another....real estate ownership restricts mobility....avoid it until you find your paradise!!

Good Luck and Happy Camping!

RVGuy1966 · 06-13-2015, 02:38 PM

Im planning on leasing my home for a two year lease to anyone interested, I know may be asking a lot but theres plenty of city people looking to rent or lease summer beach property. i am literally 1 block from the free beach so its perfect for someone like that and I am converting what property I have in front to a driveway so there is no upkeep of grass for the city minded folk who hate that stuff anyway.

DW and I will tool around for a while in different parks in different states until we find the right one and still retain our initial property in case we decide to go home.

I work remote at night so bandwidth is usually better and I will be using my own mifi, looking into maybe tieing two together or just have one for my business line and the other for the PC...

its a good time to give this a try as we bought the RV cash and its only 2 years old so we have dont have a payment every month and the rent money from the lease of our home should pay our mortgage with money to spare to pay a handyman to keep the place in order.

its not set yet but were itching to get the heck out of dodge.

NY Camper 86 · 06-15-2015, 11:08 AM

I am from Upstate NY. Been here in South Carolina for almost 10 years. I do miss the snow and in July its a bit too hot for me but other than that it is nice down here. Might be worth taking off for a week and coming down and exploring to see where you might enjoy being. I am at a nice point that puts me between Charleston, Beaufort, Hilton Head, and Savannah. It is nice here! Let me know if I can help!

sprayman · 06-15-2015, 02:48 PM

we are heading down July 19,15 for. a little over 2 weeks maybe longer.

we are looking in the Longs/Conway area. Have 2 realtors sending

me MLS listings. Homes look Plenty of listings for most price ranges.

Any comments about these 2 areas we should know about

We are aware of the heat, we are retired and may just head north

for the real hot weather.

Jim